by Robert Bloch
She stepped into the bathroom, kicking off her shoes, stooping to slip her stockings off. Then she raised her arms, pulled the dress over her head, tossed it into the next room. It missed the bed, but she didn’t care. She unhooked her bra, swung it in an arc, and let it sail. Now, the panties—
For a moment she stood before the mirror set in the door and took stock of herself. Maybe the face was twenty-seven, but the body was free, white, and twenty-one. She had a good figure. A damned good figure. Sam would like it. She wished he was here to admire it now. It was going to be hell to wait another two years. But then she’d make up for lost time. They say a woman isn’t fully mature, sexually, until she’s thirty. That was something to find out about.
Mary giggled again, then executed an amateurish bump and grind, tossed her image a kiss and received one in return. After that she stepped into the shower stall. The water was hot, and she had to add a mixture from the COLD faucet. Finally she turned both faucets on full force and let the warmth gush over her.
The roar was deafening, and the room was beginning to steam up.
That’s why she didn’t hear the door open, or note the sound of footsteps. And at first, when the shower curtains parted, the steam obscured the face.
Then she did see it there—just a face, peering through the curtains, hanging in midair like a mask. A head-scarf concealed the hair and the glassy eyes stared inhumanly, but it wasn’t a mask, it couldn’t be. The skin had been powdered dead-white and two hectic spots of rouge centered on the cheekbones. It wasn’t a mask. It was the face of a crazy old woman.
Mary started to scream, and then the curtains parted further and a hand appeared, holding a butcher’s knife. It was the knife that, a moment later, cut off her scream.
And her head.
— 4 —
The minute Norman got inside the office he started to tremble. It was the reaction, of course. Too much had happened, and too quickly. He couldn’t bottle it up any longer.
Bottle. That’s what he needed—a drink. He’d lied to the girl, of course. It was true Mother wouldn’t allow liquor in the house, but he did drink. He kept a bottle down here, at the office. There were times when you had to drink, even if you knew you had no stomach for liquor, even if a few ounces were enough to make you dizzy, make you pass out. There were times when you wanted to pass out.
Norman remembered to pull down the Venetian blinds and switch off the sign outside. There, that did it. Closed for the night. Nobody would notice the dim light of the desk lamp now that the blinds were down. Nobody could look in and see him opening the desk drawer and pulling out the bottle, his hands trembling like a baby’s. Baby needs his bottle.
He tilted the pint back and drank, closing his eyes as he did so. The whisky burned, and that was good. Let it burn away the bitterness. The warmth crept down his throat, exploded in his stomach. Maybe another drink would burn away the taste of fear.
It had been a mistake to invite the girl up to the house. Norman knew that the moment he opened his mouth, but she was so pretty, and she had looked so tired and forlorn. He knew what it was to be tired and forlorn, with nobody to turn to, nobody who’d understand. All he meant to do, all he did do, was talk to her. Besides, it was his house, wasn’t it? Just as much as it was Mother’s. She had no right to lay down the law that way.
Still, it had been a mistake. Actually, he never would have dared, except he’d been so angry with Mother. He’d wanted to defy her. That was bad.
But he had done something far worse after he extended the invitation. He’d gone back to the house and told Mother he was having company. He’d marched right up to the bedroom and announced it, just as much as to say, “I dare you to do something about it!”
It was the wrong thing to do. She was worked up enough already, and when he told her about the girl coming for supper she practically had hysterics. She was hysterical, the way she carried on, the things she said. “If you bring her here, I’ll kill her! I’ll kill the bitch!”
Bitch. Mother didn’t talk that way. But that’s what she had said. She was sick, very sick. Maybe the girl had been right. Maybe Mother should be put away. It was getting so he couldn’t handle her alone any more. Getting so he couldn’t handle himself, either. What had Mother used to say about handling himself? It was a sin. You could burn in hell.
The whisky burned. His third drink, but he needed it. He needed a lot of things. The girl was right about that, too. This was no way to live. He couldn’t go on much longer.
Just getting through the meal had been an ordeal. He’d been afraid Mother would make a scene. After he locked the door to her room and left her up there he kept wondering if she’d start screaming and pounding. But she had kept very quiet, almost too quiet, as though she was listening. Probably that’s just what she had been doing. You could lock Mother up, but you couldn’t keep her from listening.
Norman hoped she’d gone to sleep by now. Tomorrow she might forget the whole episode. That often happened. And then again, sometimes when he thought she had completely forgotten an incident, she’d bring it up out of a clear blue sky, months afterward.
Clear blue sky. He chuckled at the phrase. There weren’t any clear blue skies any more. Just clouds and darkness, like tonight.
Then he heard a sound, and he shifted quickly in his chair. Was Mother coming? No, it couldn’t be, he’d locked her up, remember? It must be that girl, in the next room. Yes, he could hear her now—she’d opened her suitcase, apparently, and she was taking things out, getting ready for bed.
Norman took another drink. Just to steady his nerves. And this time it worked. His hand wasn’t trembling any more. He wasn’t afraid. Not if he thought about the girl.
Funny, when he actually saw her, he had this terrible feeling of—what was the word? Imsomething. Importance. No, that wasn’t it. He didn’t feel important when he was with a woman. He felt—impossible? That wasn’t right, either. He knew the word he was looking for, he’d read it a hundred times in books, the kind of books Mother didn’t even know he owned.
Well, it didn’t matter. When he was with the girl he felt that way, but not now. Now he could do anything.
And there were so many things he wanted to do with a girl like that. Young, pretty; intelligent, too. He’d made a fool of himself answering her back when she talked about Mother; now he admitted she had told the truth. She knew, she could understand. He wished she would have stayed and talked more.
As it was, maybe he’d never see her again. Tomorrow she’d be gone. Gone forever, Jane Wilson, of San Antonio, Texas. He wondered who she was, where she was going, what kind of a person she really was, inside. He could fall in love with a girl like that. Yes, he could, after just seeing her a single time. It was nothing to laugh at. But she’d laugh, probably. That’s the way girls were—they always laughed. Because they were bitches.
Mother was right. They were bitches. But you couldn’t help yourself, not when a bitch was as lovely as this one was, and you knew you would never see her again. You had to see her again. If you were any kind of a man, you’d have told her so, when you were in her room. You’d have brought in the bottle and offered her a drink, drunk with her, and then you’d carry her over to the bed and—
No, you wouldn’t. Not you. Because you’re impotent.
That’s the word you couldn’t remember, isn’t it? Impotent. The word the books used, the word Mother used, the word that meant you were never going to see her again because it wouldn’t do any good. The word the bitches knew; they must know it, and that’s why they always laughed.
Norman took another drink, just a sip. He could feel the wetness trickle down the side of his chin. He must be drunk. All right, he was drunk, what did it matter? As long as Mother didn’t know. As long as the girl didn’t know. It would all be a big secret. Impotent, was he? Well, that didn’t mean he couldn’t see her again.
He was going to see her, right now.
Norman bent forward across the desk, his head
inclined and almost touching the wall. He’d heard more sounds. And from long experience he knew how to interpret them. The girl had kicked off her shoes. Now she was coming into the bathroom.
He reached out his hand. It was trembling again, but not with fear. This was anticipation; he knew what he was going to do. He was going to tilt the framed license on the wall to one side and peek through the little hole he’d drilled so long ago. Nobody else knew about the little hole, not even Mother. Most certainly not Mother. It was his secret.
The little hole was just a crack in the plaster on the other side, but he could see through it. See through it into the lighted bathroom. Sometimes he’d catch a person standing right in front of it. Sometimes he’d catch their reflection on the door mirror beyond. But he could see. He could see plenty. Let the bitches laugh at him. He knew more about them than they ever dreamed.
It was hard for Norman to focus his eyes. He felt hot and dizzy, hot and dizzy. Part of it was due to the drinks, part to the excitement. But most of it was due to her.
She was in the bathroom now, standing there facing the wall. But she wouldn’t notice the crack. They never did. She was smiling, fluffing out her hair. Now she stooped, sliding down her stockings. And as she straightened up, yes, she was going to do it, the dress was coming off over her head, he could see the bra and panties, she mustn’t stop now, she mustn’t turn away.
But she did turn away, and Norman almost called out to her, “Come back here, you bitch!” but he remembered just in time, and then he saw that she was unhooking her bra in front of the door mirror and he could see. Except that the mirror was all wavy lines and lights that made him dizzy, and it was hard to make out anything until she stepped a little to one side. Then he could see her . . .
Now she was going to take them off, she was taking them off, and he could see, she was standing before the mirror and actually gesturing!
Did she know? Had she known all along, known about the hole in the wall, known that he was watching? Did she want him to watch, was she doing this to him on purpose, the bitch? She was swaying back and forth, back and forth, and now the mirror was wavy again and she was wavy, and he couldn’t stand it, he wanted to pound on the wall, he wanted to scream at her to stop because this was an evil, perverted thing she was doing and she must stop before he became evil and perverted too. That’s what the bitches did to you, they perverted you, and she was a bitch, they were all bitches, Mother was a—
Suddenly she was gone, and there was only the roaring. It welled up, shaking the wall, drowning out the words and the thoughts. It was coming from inside his head, and he fell back in the chair. I’m drunk, he told himself. I’m passing out.
But that was not entirely so. The roaring continued, and somewhere inside it he heard another sound. The office door was opening. How could that be? He’d locked it, hadn’t he? And he still had the key. If only he’d open his eyes, he could find it. But he couldn’t open his eyes. He didn’t dare. Because now he knew.
Mother had a key too.
She had a key to her room. She had a key to the house. She had a key to the office.
And she was standing there now, looking down at him. He hoped she would think he had just fallen asleep. What was she doing here, anyway? Had she heard him leave with the girl, come down to spy on him?
Norman slumped back, not daring to move, not wanting to move. Every instant it was getting harder and harder to move even if he had wanted to. The roaring was steady now, and the vibration was rocking him to sleep. That was nice. To be rocked to sleep, with mother standing watching you—
Then she was gone. She’d turned around without saying anything and gone out. There was nothing to be afraid of. She’d come to protect him from the bitches. Yes, that was it. She’d come to protect him. Whenever he needed her, Mother was there. And now he could sleep. There was no trick to it at all. You merely went into the roaring, and then past the roaring. Then everything was silent. Silent, silent sleep.
Norman came to with a start, jerking his head back. God it ached! He’d passed out there in the chair, actually passed out. No wonder everything was pounding, roaring. Roaring. He’d heard the same sound before. How long ago—an hour, two hours?
Now he recognized it. The shower was going next door. That was it. The girl had gone into the shower. But that had been so long ago. She couldn’t still be in there, could she?
He reached forward, tilting the framed license on the wall. His eyes squinted and then focused on the brightly lit bathroom beyond. It was empty. He couldn’t see into the shower stall on the side. The curtains were closed and he couldn’t see.
Maybe she’d forgotten about the shower and gone to bed leaving it turned on. It seemed odd that she’d be able to sleep with the water running full force that way, but then he’d done it himself just now. Maybe fatigue was as intoxicating as alcohol.
Anyway, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong. The bathroom was in order. Norman scanned it once again, then noticed the floor.
Water from the shower was trickling across the tiles. Not much, just a little, just enough for him to see it. A tiny rivulet of water, trailing across the white tiled floor.
Or was it water? Water isn’t pink. Water doesn’t have tiny threads of red in it, tiny threads of red like veins.
She must have slipped, she must have fallen and hurt herself, Norman decided. The panic was rising in him, but he knew what he must do. He grabbed up his keys from the desk and hurried out of the office. Quickly he found the right one for the adjoining unit and opened the door. The bedroom was empty, but the open suitcase still rested on the bed itself. She hadn’t gone away. So he’d guessed correctly; there’d been an accident in the shower. He’d have to go in there.
It wasn’t until he actually entered the bathroom that he remembered something else, and then it was too late. The panic burst loose, but that didn’t help him now. He still remembered.
Mother had keys to the motel too.
And then, as he ripped back the shower curtains and stared down at the hacked and twisted thing sprawled on the floor of the stall, he realized Mother had used her keys.
— 5 —
Norman locked the door behind him and went up to the house. His clothes were a mess. Blood on them, of course, and water, and then he’d been sick all over the bathroom floor.
But that wasn’t important now. There were other things which must be cleaned up first.
This time he was going to do something about it, once and for all. He was going to put Mother where she belonged. He had to.
All the panic, all the fear, all the horror and nausea and revulsion, gave way to this overriding resolve. What had happened was tragic, dreadful beyond words, but it would never happen again. He felt like a new man—his own man.
Norman hurried up the steps and tried the front door. It was unlocked. The light in the parlor was still burning, but it was empty. He gave a quick glance around, then mounted the stairs.
The door to Mother’s room stood open, and lamplight fanned forth into the hall. He stepped in, not bothering to knock. No need to pretend any more. She couldn’t get away with this.
She couldn’t get away—
But she had.
The bedroom was empty.
He could see the rumpled indentation where she had lain, see the covers flung back on the big four-poster; smell the faint, musty scent still in the room. The rocker rested in the corner, the ornaments stood on the dresser just as they were always arranged. Nothing had changed in Mother’s room; nothing ever changed. But Mother was gone.
He stepped over to the closet, ruffling the clothing on the hangers lining the long center pole. Here the acrid scent was very strong, so strong he almost choked, but there was another odor, too. It wasn’t until his foot slipped that he looked down and realized where it was coming from. One of her dresses and a head-scarf were balled up on the floor. He stooped to retrieve them, then shivered in revulsion as he noted the dark, reddish stains of clotted blo
od.
She’d come back here, then; come back, changed her clothes, and gone off once more.
He couldn’t call the police.
That was the thing he had to remember. He mustn’t call the police. Not even now, knowing what she had done. Because she wasn’t really responsible. She was sick.
Cold-blooded murder is one thing, but sickness is another. You aren’t really a murderer when you’re sick in the head. Anybody knows that. Only sometimes the courts didn’t agree. He’d read of cases. Even if they did recognize what was wrong with her, they’d still put her away. Not in a rest home, but in one of those awful holes. A state hospital.
Norman stared at the neat, old-fashioned room with its wallpaper pattern of rambler roses. He couldn’t take Mother away from this and see her locked up in a bare cell. Right now he was safe—the police didn’t even know about Mother. She stayed here, in the house, and nobody knew. It had been all right to tell the girl, because she’d never see him again. But the police couldn’t find out about Mother and what she was like. They’d put her away to rot. No matter what she’d done, she didn’t deserve that.
And she wouldn’t have to get it, because nobody knew what she’d done.
He was pretty certain, now, that he could keep anyone from knowing. All he had to do was think it over, think back to the events of the evening, think carefully.
The girl had driven in alone, said she’d been on the road all day. That meant she wasn’t visiting en route. And she didn’t seem to know where Fairvale was, didn’t mention any other towns nearby, so the chances were she had no intention of seeing anyone around here. Whoever expected her—if anyone was expecting her—must live some distance further north.