Ok, everyone, ready to finish this story?

Mike: Yeah, sure.

Peter: Yes, I am.

Micky: Ready.

Davy: So am I.

*We open at Micky and Lauren's house on Halloween night. Black and orange streamers adorn half the first level. Other assorted Halloween decorations are hung about.*

Mike: (He's back in his cowboy outfit; carries out a bowl of orangy punch) Boy, are the kiddies going to be surprised when Val and Daph bring them back from trick-or-treatin'!

Peter: (In his Beast costume; arranges trick-or-treat bags) I think they'll love it.

Emma: (In her cowgirl costume; brings out a plate of various cookies) Here's the last of the dessert trays.

Mike: Those sure look good, darlin'. Hey Mick, where's Lauren?

Micky: In the bathroom. She'll be out shortly.

Mike: Oh. Again?

Emma: It's the pregnancy.

Peter: How is that going, anyway?

Micky: She's doing great.

Bob: Hey, everyone. Happy Halloween!

Mike: Oh hey, guys! Where you been?

Bert: Just came from another party.

Mike: Ahh. Em an' Pete n' Val n' I are goin' out to a Halloween party for adults with a bunch of our friends after the kids have their party. Lauren and Daphne kindly volunteered to kid-sit tonight, so Mick and Davy will be joinin' us.

Peter: And we do appreciate that, Lauren.

Lauren: *As she sits next to Micky* You're very welcome, Peter.

Bob: What happened with Regina and Mamie DeLis and the house?

Mike: (Shrugs) They're still workin' on gettin' a full confession outta Regina as of this mornin'. She's admitted that yeah, she did off Mamie to get the house. She hasn't admitted to killin' her past husbands yet.

Peter: We did find out from Honeywell why everyone was in such a snit. He told us this morning that Mamie had changed her will. She left the house to the CIS as training grounds and lodging for out-of-town agents on assignment.

Emma: Her family, to put it quite simply, thought she'd lost a couple of marbles.

Mike: (Shrugs) It ain't my first choice of things to do with that house, but it beats parkin' lots or a hotel. At least someone will be able to really use it.

Bob: What about the rest of the family?

Peter: Beatrice is in the clear. She wasn't thrilled with her sister's decision, but she did love her and had no intention of killing her. In fact, I think she was a lot more upset than she wanted to admit. She said she's going to look for another site for the home for elderly performers and name it after her sister.

Mike: Those two kids who wanted the museum are in the clear, too. All they did all night was neck. The Butler and a couple of other servants saw them throughout the entire incident.

Emma: Martin and Tommy are innocent of everything except for unimaginative costumes and bad taste in women. Regina's apparently been stringing Tommy along for months, despite her very wealthy and very old and influential husband.

Bert: What about Henry? I liked him.

Peter: (Rolls his eyes) Henry's in jail for fraud and for a long list of health and construction infractions on his buildings. His trial is set for next month, but I imagine he'll be spending some time in jail.

Bert: How about Violet and Dil?

Mike: Mamie left them money, clothes, and other property in her will...if they both clean up their acts and find real jobs.

Emma: I think she left money and property to Beatrice, too.

Bob: How about that Aunt Petunia who kept eating? What was the story with her?

Micky: She was Henry's wife. She had no idea what he was doing. Petunia's just a housewife whose main interests are cooking, cleaning, and eating.

Emma: She sure did a lot of that! Did you two eat Al's entire buffet?

Micky: Most of it.

Bert: How is Al? Did they ask him a lot of questions?

Micky: He's okay. They seemed to have asked him about the same amount of questions they asked us.

Mike: We'll find out more tonight. We invited him to the party.

Micky: *Nods* Yeah. He said he's been working straight for a couple weeks, so we thought he'd appreciate the night off.

Emma: He's going to help us with some food crafts for the kids, then go out with us.

Mike: He'll keep Mick and Davy amused, if nothing else.

Micky: *Grins* Yeah.

Bert: How did the party go after Honeywell left?

Mike: Great! Honeywell and Daniel managed to talk the cops out of sending us to jail with Henry for assaulting officers in the course of their duty.

Bob: What was with Daniel? How does he fit into this?

Emma: We don't know the whole story yet, but yes, he was Mamie's contact. She got him the job there undercover. She was going to give him her will and the evidence against her family and tell him her suspicions, but apparently, Regina got to her before Daniel could. He's the one who called Honeywell in, too.

Mike: (Grins even wider) And I was able to keep the kantana. Violet said most of Mamie's property that wasn't going to the CIS or of use to her or Dil would be auctioned off. She and Beatrice said that since I liked the thing so much, I could have it. It's real, too. Mamie apparently picked it up from a Japanese actor whose ancestor was a samurai when she filmed a movie on location in Japan.

Emma: (Frowns) I wish that could have happened without Mamie dying. She was a truly wonderful woman. She didn't deserve for some bimbo gold-digger like Regina to kill her.

Micky: That's for sure.

Mike: (Gives Emma a squeeze) She lived a long, full life, Em. I wish we could have gotten to know her better. She was a smart lady.

Emma: (Nods) She knew someone in her family was after her, her secrets, and the house. Regina's husband doesn't just own hotels. He also has contracts with several military operations and owns factories that make war equipment.

Mike: Bet she and her ol' hubby heard about those plans from buddies and wanted to take a peek at them.

Emma: I still miss her, though. She told me some great stories about her time in Hollywood and as a spy when we were in the ballroom. She was a great lady, and full of life.

Mike: And that's how we'll remember her. Not for tonight and how she died, but how she lived.

Peter: That's all anyone can ask. Mamie left quite a legacy.

Mike: Think of it this way, darlin'. The house is gonna stay in one piece. Honeywell told me that the CIS will restore it and the grounds and keep on the staff. Even Daniel will get to keep his job. Hopefully, Violet and Dil will have some inclination to do something with their lives, and Beatrice will get her old folks' home. The people who didn't do the right things with their lives are in jail. Those kids will find somewhere else for their museum. There's plenty of old mansions in the Southern California area.

Emma: (Sighs and sits next to Lauren) It's not just that, though I am still really upset about Mamie. This story just didn't work out the way I wanted it to. (Makes a face) Doesn’t help that this one was fully my idea, too. We developed it a couple of months ago when I realized we didn’t have a Halloween story and I wanted to do something more related to the holiday than last year’s main story.

Mike: That happens with stories, Em. Sometimes they take on lives of their own.

Lauren: That's right.

Emma: I wanted to do a real mystery, like the "Clue" game, with lots of "whodunnit" and everyone telling their sides of the story. (Shakes her head) I get all these elaborate ideas, and they sound great on paper...but they just don't work out when you actually write them.

Mike: She's still upset about that, even after we talked about it last night.

Emma: I love reading mysteries, and I thought a good, spooky mystery would be a great Halloween story. (Makes a face) I guess being a fan of mystery novels doesn't mean you can really write one.

Mike: Come on, darlin'! The end came out great!

Emma: But the middle was a total muddle. Neither of us could keep track of who was who or what was going on.

Lauren: Well, certain other mysteries were total muddle overall, but were still great.

Emma: Maybe this will look a little better when I edit it.

Lauren: I'm sure it'll be just fine.

Mike: Em, everyone tells you this. Don't be so hard on yourself. I do it, too. You ain't perfect.

Micky: Nobody is...though I'm pretty darn close.

Mike: Sure you are. (Emma laughs)

Emma: Thanks, Micky. I needed that.

Micky: Anytime, but I'm not sure what was funny.

Peter: Micky, you're something else.

*Micky just grins.*

Bert: Here's something that'll cheer you up. What was your favorite part of this story?

Emma: Talking to a real movie legend.

Peter: Attending a party in a mansion owned by a real movie legend.

Mike: Swimmin'.

Lauren: The party.

Micky: Swimming.

Peter: Valerie enjoyed the party, too. She mentioned it to me later that she almost wishes the house had been turned into a hotel, just so we could rent that fabulous ballroom.

Mike: Maybe the CIS would be willin' to rent it for special occasions.

Micky: We should suggest it to Honeywell.

Mike: It would be extra money in the CIS' till.

Bob: Mike, you seem a little more friendly towards Honeywell now that all of you came out of one of his missions fully intact.

Mike: (Rolls his eyes) Yeah, but that don't mean I'll jump right into another one if he asks again. We ain't spies.

Peter: I'll agree with Michael. This job worked out all right, but I can point to several times the CIS has gotten us into trouble.

Emma: We'll see next year, guys.

Bob: Speaking of...what do you have planned for the rest of this year?

Emma: (Grins) Next month will be our long NaNoWrite story.

Lauren: Yeah, we "won" the NaNoWriMo last year, and we hope to do it again this year.

Emma: The NaNoWrite program encourages people to write a 50,000 novel by the end of November. The play story went so well last year, we're hoping to do another extra-long story again this year.

Mike: Not another play!

Emma: No, not another play. Something a bit simpler.

Mike: How simpler...and how many of us will end up like Mamie?

Emma: No one's going to die...but I will add that the devils will be making their last appearance this year.

Bert: That's right, they never show up at Christmastime.

Peter: They're apparently not big Christmas fans. The spirit of the season drains them and makes them cranky.

Micky: Which goes to prove that they are devils.

Emma: Oh, and Al will be appearing in the next story and in fact, will be a big part of the first half of the story.

Mike: What do you mean? (Sighs) Never mind. We'll find out, right?

Emma: Right.

Mike: Man, all I want to do is stay home, spend some time with my kids, and work on some ideas for my company.

Emma: Sorry, baby. We're traveling next month.

Peter: I can't travel. I have work.

Bert: How is your job going, Peter?

Peter: So far, so good. I'm not so sure I'm crazy about some of the principal and staff's more conservative views, but the kids are great.

Bert: How about you, Mick? Doing anything special, or sticking with the Boyce and Hart concerts for now?

Micky: Sticking with the concerts for now. *shrugs* The usual stuff.

Emma: (Looks at Lauren) Maybe we'd better cut to the video. It's getting late. The kids should be here any minute.

Lauren: Yeah, let’s do that.

Mike: Em, you finish off this month.

Emma: Thanks, Baby. (Turns to the camera) We at Dream World hope all of our readers have a really safe and happy Halloween.

Peter: You can find more mysteries, both fictional and real-life, online and at your local library.

Emma: See you next month! (Everyone waves as we hear the sound of little voices and fade out on the group in Micky's house.)

(Fade in on stark black and white as "Salesman" plays. The boys all wear white sweaters or turtlenecks. Emma wears a white blouse.)

(Mike sits to the side, with Emma leaning against him. Peter and Micky mess with an updated version of the synthesizer.)

*Davy shakes maracas, dancing around Peter and Micky at the synthesizer.*

(Emma smiles a little as Lauren, wearing a white scoop-neck sweater, joins them and sits next to Micky at the synthesizer.)

(Special effects filter throughout the video. We fade in and out on various members of the group. The screen gets wavy, and then we get flashes of light across the screen.)

(The camera work is a bit shaky, too, and keeps pulling in and out on the various members of the group.)

(The camera fades out slowly on the group as the song does. Mike gently puts his arm around Emma and rubs her shoulder.)

*Micky plays the synthesizer over Lauren's shoulders, his head resting against hers.*

(The camera fades out completely on the two as they enjoy Micky's work.)

(Fade in on a black and white version of the "Happy Halloween from Dream World!" with dripping-blood font. Cut to the credits. "Through the Looking Glass" plays over scenes from the "production." We end with a still of the entire group and their kids in their Halloween costumes on Micky's patio, including little Austin, and the worlds "A Raybert Production" in dripping blood font.)