Chapter 3 Bates Motel

Marion woke up suddenly. A policeman with a thin mouth and large dark glasses was looking at her through the car window. Without thinking, she sat up and turned the key to start the car. The policeman knocked on the window and told 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 driving papers please?'

Marion turned away from him and opened her bag. The policeman tried to watch over her shoulder, but he didn't see the white envelope full of money. She hid it carefully under her bag, then handed him her driving papers. He studied them 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 driving mirror, she noticed that the police car wa: following her. She drove slowly so that it could go past, but i stayed behind her. 'Why's he following me?' Marion thought nervously. 'Has Mr Lowery reported me already? If he has, I'll have to sell this car as 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 and asked about changing her car for another one. While the man from the garage was looking at her old car, Marion walked out into the street to buy a newspaper. Then she noticed the policeman with the dark glasses. He was standing by his car across the road, watching her.

Marion didn't look at him. She bought a newspaper and looked through it quickly. '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 to frighten 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 white envelope. She came out and gave the money to the man, who looked at her strangely. Then she jumped into her new car.

'Just a minute, miss.'

Marion's heart jumped. She looked round quickly, but it was only another man from the garage. He was carrying her coat and suitcase.

'You left them in your old car,' he explained, putting them in the back of her new one.

As Marion drove away, the policeman crossed the road and stood next to the man 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, it began to rain. Tired and hungry, she looked hard through the window for somewhere to stay the night. She couldn't see anything in the heavy rain. No lights 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 by the side of the road. At first she thought she was dreaming. A hotel, here, in the middle 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 my lucky night.'