Chapter 11 A Visit to the Sheriff
Sam and Lila sat in the room behind the shop, waiting for Arbogast to return.
'It's over an hour,' said Lila. 'Why isn't he back yet?'
'Maybe he found something important.'
Lila pushed back her chair and stood up. 'He's more than an hour late. He hasn't even called. I'm going to the Old Highway. I know he's found something. Are you coming with me?'
Sam stood up with a sigh. Til go. You stay here,' he said. 'Somebody must be here if Arbogast comes back.'
The motel was dark and empty when Sam arrived. He called Arbogast's name several times, but nobody answered. He looked up at the big house behind the motel, and saw somebody at the window. 'I guess that's the mother,' he thought. 'The old woman that Arbogast wanted to speak to.' He climbed the hill and tried the door. Again, no answer.
Sam drove back to Fairvale. 'There's nobody at the motel,' he told Lila. 'No Arbogast. No Bates. Just a sick old woman who couldn't answer the door.'
'I'm worried,' Lila said.'Something's wrong.'
'I agree,' said Sam. 'We have to tell the police. Let's visit Jud Chambers. He's the sheriff of this town. He'll be able to help us.'
The sheriff and his wife had to get out of bed to answer the door. It was late, but they asked Sam and Lila to come in. They listened while Sam told them about Marion and Arbogast.
'Arbogast phoned us to say that he wanted to go back to the motel. He wanted to speak to Mrs Bates,' said Sam. 'But that was three hours ago.'
'I didn't know that Norman had a wife,' said Mrs Chambers, surprised.
'No,' Sam explained.'It's an old woman. His mother.'
The sheriff thought for a. minute, then asked Lila: 'When did your sister disappear?'
'She left Phoenix a week ago.'
'How did you know that she came here?'
'She came to see me,' Sam explained.
'And she didn't say anything to you?' the sheriff was still looking at Lila.
'No. She just ran away.'
'From what?'
Nobody spoke for a moment. Then Lila said quietly:'She stole some money.'
'A lot?'
'$40,000.'
'Why didn't you tell the police before?'
'We wanted Marion to give back the money without telling the police.'
'Did this detective talk about the money when he phoned you three hours ago?'
'The money doesn't matter, does it?' Lila cried unhappily. 'I just want to find my sister!'
The sheriff sighed, and tried to look friendly.'What can I do?'
'I'm sure there's something wrong,' said Lila. 'At the motel, I mean.'
Mrs Chambers looked at Lila and she felt sorry for her. 'Why don't you telephone Norman at the motel?' she said to her husband.'
'It's late.'
'Oh, please call,' said Lila.
The sheriff sighed again and picked up the telephone.'Hello?'he said a few seconds later. 'Norman? It's Sheriff Chambers speaking. Listen, I have some people here. They're worried. Did you have any visitors tonight? ... No, not a customer ... a detective
Jud Chambers listened quietly for a minute, then put down the phone. 'Yes,' he said, turning to Sam and Lila. 'The detective was there tonight. Norman told him about the girl. The detective said thank you and left.'
'Without seeing Mr Bates's mother?' Lila asked.
The sheriff looked Lila straight in the eye. 'Norman's mother died ten years ago.' He said. 'She killed her lover, then she killed herself. It was in all the newspapers. Norman found them dead together, in bed.'
'But that isn't true. I saw her!' Sam cried.
'Yes,' Lila agreed. 'Arbogast saw her too.'
'Mm, 'Jud Chambers replied, looking at his wife. 'Very strange. If Norman's mother is still alive, who was the woman who killed herself ten years ago?'
Norman Bates put down the phone after speaking to Sheriff Chambers. 'The police will be here soon,' he thought. 'I must hide Mother before they come.'
He ran out of the office, up the hill to the old house, and climbed the stairs to his mother's room.
'Mother, I have something to say,' he said.
The old woman laughed. 'You're a stupid boy, telling me what to do.'
'Mother, it's important.'
'No. I will not hide in the fruit cellar. I'm staying here. This is my room and no one will ever take me away.'
'They'll come for you, Mother,' Norman tried to explain.'That man came after the girl. Now someone will come after him. Mother please, just for a few days, so that they won't find you.'
'A few days in that ugly old cellar? No! You hid me there once before. I'll never go there again. Now go away!'
But Norman wasn't listening. He picked his mother off the bed and carried her out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and into the fruit cellar.
Chapter 12 Room One
The next day, Sunday morning, Sam and Lila met Jud Chambers and his wife as they were coming out of church.
'Do you want to go to the motel with us?' Lila asked.
'I went before breakfast,' said the sheriff.
'What did Mr Bates say about my sister?'
'The same as he told your detective. I promise you, Miss Crane, Norman Bates is alone at the motel. I looked everywhere.'
'You didn't even see his mother?'
'No, I didn't. I'm sorry. If you want the police to help you, you'll have to make a report in the usual way. You can see me this afternoon, if you like. I'll be happy to help you.'
'Well,' said Sam, after saying goodbye to the sheriff and his wife. 'Maybe I was dreaming and Arbogast was lying. Perhaps I Saw a shadow on the curtain, that's all.'
'You weren't dreaming and Arbogast wasn't lying,' Lila told him. 'There's something wrong, and I'm going to the Bates Motel immediately. Come on.'
Sam and Lila drove quickly to the motel on the Old Highway. While Sam looked for Norman Bates in the office, Lila stayed outside. She was interested in the house on the hill. There was
something dark and strange about it, even in the morning sunshine. Suddenly she saw a tall, thin man at the top of the hill He stood still at first, then he began to walk quickly down the hill towards her. Lila called to Sam, who ran out of the office
Norman Bates wasn't surprised to see the young man'and woman outside his office. He walked down the hill towards them with his hands in his pockets.
'Do you want a room?' he asked them pleasantly.
'Yes, please,' said Sam.
'Then follow me,' Norman smiled, walking past them into his office.
'Is Room Ten okay?' he asked, taking the key from the small
cupboard on the wall behind the desk.
'I'd like to write my name in the book first,' said Sam 'Okay.' Norman took the book from under the desk and gave it to Sam.
While Sam was writing his name, Norman watched Lila She was looking at the list of names in the book. 'I know who you are,' Norman thought. 'You're looking for the man who came yesterday. Well, you can look. You won't find anything. I've hidden everything. And you'll never find my mother in the cellar. But I mustn't make any mistakes. I must be careful...'
He took the book and pen from Sam. 'Thank you,' he smiled. 'Now I'll get your bags.'
'We haven't got any.'
'Okay. I'll show you to your room.'
'Don't worry,' said Sam, taking the key.'We'll find it.'
When Sam and Lila were alone in their room, Lila sat on the bed and began to cry. 'I know something terrible has happened to Marion,' she said. 'Seeing that old house on the hill, the way that man kept looking at us. I can feel it.'
'I agree,' said Sam. 'But we need to find something to show the police. Let's go and search Room One. That's the room that Arbogast said she stayed in, isn't it?'
Sam and Lila opened the door and looked outside. They couldn't see anyone. Hoping that nobody was watching them, they hurried nervously back, past the other rooms, to Room One.
They searched everywhere for some information about Marion. Something to show that Bates knew where the money was, perhaps. They found nothing in the bedroom, so they went into the bathroom.
'That's interesting,' Sam said. 'No shower curtain.'
Suddenly, Lila noticed something. 'Look,' she said, picking a small piece of paper out of the toilet. It was wet, but she could still read something on it. 'It's a number. Forty thousand.' She looked at Sam. 'This shows us that Marion was here.'
'We know that already,' said Sam.
'You don't understand. It shows us that Bates knew about the money.'
'Okay. I'll talk to him,' Sam said, and walked towards the door.
But Lib stopped him. 'No,' she said. 'Let's talk to that old woman in the house. She told Arbogast something, and I want her ю teU me the same thing. You find Bates and talk to him. I'm going to talk to his mother.'
Sam wasn't happy about Lila's plan, but he agreed.
Opening the door, he looked out. 'It's clear,' he said to Lila. 'No one's watching. You can go.'
Sam quietly shut the door as Lila ran towards the hill. He found Bates in his office.
'Are you looking for me?' Bates asked.
'Yes,' said Sam, standing in front of Bates so that he couldn't see Lila. 'I'm bored — my wife's asleep and I wanted to talk to someone.'
'Good,' Norman smiled.'Come in and shut the door.'