“Adelaide!”

“Adeline?”

“No, Adelaide!”

“Adelaide! Got it!”

The two women stared at each other as realization sunk in….slowly. It felt like watching a movie in slooowww….motion. Their brains felt like thick molasses, trying to find all the clues and piece them together.

They both had the only names on the serial killer’s letter to the police.

They were not the only ones at the party of course.

But they were the only two people who didn’t know anyone else at this party. They’d bonded over that fact at first. But now they stared at each other as their visions faded, their plates of cakes clattered to the floor, and somewhere they heard a balloon pop as they hit the floor simultaneously.