Marion woke up suddenly. A policeman with a thin mouth and large darkglasses was looking at her through the car window. Without thinking, she sat upand turned the key to start the car. The policeman knocked on the window andtold her to stop. Marion opened the window and looked at him nervously. 'Is anything wrong, miss?' the policeman asked. 'No. I was feeling tired so I stopped the car.' 'Why didn't you stay at a hotel? There are lots of hotels near here.' 'I only wanted a rest,' said Marion. 'Why? Have I done anything wrong?' 'No, miss,' the policeman replied, but he wasn't happy. 'Can I see your drivingpapers please?' Marion turned away from him and opened her bag. The policeman tried towatch over her shoulder, but he didn't see the white envelope full of money. Shehid it carefully under her bag, then handed him her driving papers. He studiedthem for a minute, gave them back and, without a word, returned to his car. Marion started her car immediately and drove away. Looking in her drivingmirror, she noticed that the police car was following her. She drove slowly so thatit could go past, but I stayed behind her. 'Why's he following me?' Marion thoughtnervously. 'Has Mr Lowery reported me already? If he has, I'll have to sell this caras soon as I can and get another one. I don't want anyone to follow me to Fairvale.' At last the police car stopped following her, and turned off along another road.About an hour later Marion arrived in a small town. She stopped at a garage andasked about changing her car for another one. While the man from the garage waslooking at her old car, Marion walked out into the street to buy a newspaper. Thenshe noticed the policeman with the dark glasses. He was standing by his caracross the road, watching her. Marion didn't look at him. She bought a newspaper and looked through itquickly. 'Good,' she thought. 'There's nothing in the paper about me or the money.Nobody knows yet. That policeman doesn't know anything. He's just trying tofrighten me.' She went back to the garage and showed the man the car that she wanted. 'Don't you want to try it first?' he asked. 'No thank you,' Marion replied. 'I'm in a hurry. How much will it cost?' 'Your car, and seven hundred dollars.' Marion went to the washroom and took seven hundred dollars from the whiteenvelope. She came out and gave the money to the man, who looked at herstrangely. Then she jumped into her new car. 'Just a minute, miss.' Marion's heart jumped. She looked round quickly, but it was only another manfrom the garage. He was carrying her coat and suitcase. 'You left them in your old car,' he explained, putting them in the back of hernew one. As Marion drove away, the policeman crossed the road and stood next to theman from the garage. 'Did she seem strange to you?' the policeman asked. 'Very strange,' the man agreed. Marion drove across the desert all day, then up into the hills. As it got dark, itbegan to rain. Tired and hungry, she looked hard through the window forsomewhere to stay the night. She couldn't see anything in the heavy rain. Nolights along the road, no other cars. 'I think I'm on the wrong road,' she thought.'If I turn round and find the highway again, I'll soon find a place to stay.' Suddenly, as she was looking for a good place to turn the car, she saw a light bythe side of the road. At first she thought she was dreaming. A hotel, here, in themiddle of nowhere? Impossible. She closed her eyes and opened them again. Yes,it was true. A small sign shining in the night: BATES MOTEL. 'I don't believe it,' she said to herself as she drove towards the sign. 'This is mylucky night.'
