The Curious Incidents at Grand Show Place Cinema

Chapter 3

Candace arrived for work later that evening.

"Candace, you would not believe the morning I had," Edward started.

"What happened?" Candace queried.

"For starters, check out Theatre 1 and 3," Edward said.

Candace looked puzzled and went to check out the theatres. She laughed when she saw the images on the screen.

"It is creepy but funny, too; it should be a big hit for Halloween," Candace chuckled.

"Ya, well, get this, the electrician tried several bulbs, and they all do the same thing, funny strange, I would say," Edward countered.

"Do you remember when I went to the U.K. on vacation? I saw a medieval sculpture on a church in Peterborough, U.K. that looked like that. It is where Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, is buried. I think I still have a picture of it on my phone."

Candace showed the image to Edward.

"Well, maybe if you really stretched your imagination, I could see the resemblance," he mused.

"Maybe it followed me home," Candace giggled.

Edward laughed as he made his way up to the projection room. A long steep stairway led up to the dimly lit projection room. On the left side was a stack of old dusty film projectors and parts that the theatre still had, which narrowed the already narrow space, but there was still ample room to get by. The new digital projectors were on the right side for theatres 1 to 4. On the left was the projector for theatre five at the end of the long room. The faceless rag doll sat beside Projector 1. Edward looked at the doll and wondered what it was doing there. He was just about to dim the lights for theatre one when a shriek came from below. He looked through the tiny opening to see the shriek's source. All the colour went out of his face, and the hair stood on the back of his neck.

Candace called from the bottom of the stairs.

"I am coming," He yelled as he tried to compose himself.

"Did you hear that? A woman in theatre one is really ticked off at us for scaring her little girl," Candace whispered as she rolled her eyes.

"I sure did hear it, AND I saw it," He affirmed.

"What do you mean you saw it?" Candace probed, somewhat concerned now.

"The creepy figure was moving across the screen; it is giving me the shakes," He replied, holding out his hand.

"Seriously?" Candace was feeling creeped out now.

"Well, I wish I could tell you about my conversation with the police today. At least you might not be so skeptical. Offer the woman a refund." Edward suggested.

"I did, but she wants the manager to explain himself for the stunt. Wait, what about the police?" Candace asked.

"It was related to the arrest they made last night. That's all I can say. I will go see the lady with the child." Edward nervously hurried away.

Edward told the woman and the little girl that it was a loose filament in a batch of defective light bulbs causing the effect and that they would replace the bulb as soon as they could get some new bulbs. The little girl still wanted to leave, so the woman took the refund and left. Candace approached Edward at the end of the night when everyone was gone.

"What did the police say today that has you so worked up?" She queried.

"It is that obvious? You must promise you will not let a word of this out." He implored.

Candace watched the playback of the theatre surveillance video. "How is that possible?"

"The jail video shows the same thing; the woman is missing," Edward shrugged.

"Missing? I thought they put her in jail." Candace's voice filled with concern.

"They checked her jail cell this morning, and there was no sign of her anywhere," Edward replied.

Candace and Edward did not sleep very well that night.