with Winifred, who was hovering right behind her.
SILVER SCREAM
175
“Sorry,” Judith murmured.
Winifred ignored the remark as she hastened to
greet the newcomers, who barely acknowledged Judith’s presence as they entered the house.
“Dirk called me on his cell,” Vito said, his mouth set
in a grim line and his sunglasses hiding the expression
in his eyes. “We have to take a meeting. Now.” He
marched straight for the living room. “Ben, shut off
that damned TV. Where’s Dade? Where’s Ellie?”
“Dade’s out back,” Chips replied, his tone indifferent. “I think.”
Vito’s head turned in every direction. “What about
Ellie?”
“She went upstairs,” Winifred said in an unusually
meek voice. “I think.”
“I’ll get her,” Judith volunteered.
Vito gave a curt nod. “You do that. And clear the
room of any outsiders.” He particularly glared at Bill,
who maintained his stoic expression.
Joe had clicked off the television set. “Let’s give
these people some space,” he said amiably.
Hands in his pants pockets, Bill meandered out of
the living room. Renie, however, balked.
“Why don’t you hold this session in a regular meeting room at the Cascadia Hotel?” she demanded.
“There’s the Regency Room, the Rhododendron
Room, the—”
Bill turned around, grabbed his wife by the scruff of
her neck, and hauled her away, muttering, “Don’t
make trouble.”
“Hey,” Renie protested, “they’re such big shots, I
just thought they’d rather . . .”
Halfway up the stairs, Judith didn’t hear the rest of
176
Mary Daheim
her cousin’s contrary reasoning. Going all the way
down to the end of the hall, she rapped on the door to
Room Six. When there was no response, Judith’s heart
skipped a beat. Originally, Angela and Ellie had shared
quarters. Then Angela had moved into Bruno’s room
with Dirk. Could Angela and Ellie also have shared a
habit, one that would overcome their apparent dislike
for one another?
Judith knocked again, much louder. When there was
still no answer, she turned the knob and held her
breath.
Ellie was lying on the double bed, wearing headphones and tapping out the beat of a song only she
could hear. The young actress looked up in surprise as
Judith moved into the room.
“What’s up?” she asked, removing the headphones.
“Are the Wienie Wizards here?”
“No,” Judith replied in relief. “But Mr. Patricelli,
Mr. Mayne, and Ms. Fleming are. Mr. Patricelli has
called a meeting in the living room.”
“Oh, drat!” Ellie switched off the CD player and
slid off the bed. “What a busybody! When are the wienies coming?”
“Not until after five,” Judith said.
“But it’s only three o’clock,” Ellie responded. “How
am I going to sit through a stupid meeting without my
wienies?”
“I’m sorry,” Judith said, then frowned. “Don’t you
want to know what happened to Angela?”
“Not really,” Ellie said, slipping into a pair of white
mules decorated with multicolored beads. “Angela’s
on a collision course, if you ask me.” She paused to
glance in the big oval mirror attached to the dressing
SILVER SCREAM
177
table. “Is she dead?” The question was asked without
much interest.
“No,” Judith said. “But I gather it was a close call.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Ellie responded, yanking at shafts
of her long jet-black hair. “Look at this—why can’t I
do what my stylist does to make this cut look right?
Oh, I’ll be so stoked to get back to Cosmo in L.A. They
should have let me bring him with me.” She gave her
hair a final tug. “Next time, I bet they will.” Her small,
perfect lips curved into a smug little smile.
“Next time?” Judith echoed.
“I mean,” Ellie said, turning away from the mirror,
“next time I have to make a special appearance. You
know—like this premiere.” Suddenly her usual perky
expression disappeared. “Except I don’t know if All
the Way to Utah will get made. At least not soon. You
know—with Bruno dead.”
The title struck a familiar chord with Judith. “I’ve
heard of that,” she said. “What’s it about?”
“Pioneers,” Ellie replied, picking up a pink cashmere cardigan that matched her pink cashmere shortsleeved sweater and tossing it over her slim shoulders.
“The Old West. You know—action, adventure, sex, big
rocks, bonnets, seagulls, Mormons.”
“Fascinating,” Judith commented, though it sounded
like a bit of a mishmash. “Do you have a big part?”
“Very,” Ellie said, joining Judith at the door. “I not
only play the female lead, but my name should go
above the title.”
“Really?” Judith knew that was good.
“Really,” Ellie said over her shoulder. “Got to scoot.
Vito can be an awful pest. Besides, I really need to talk
to him.”
178
Mary Daheim
Judith took the back stairs. Renie was in the kitchen,
studying the contents of the refrigerator.
“What’d you do with all those leftovers?” she asked.
“We put most of them in the freezer,” Judith replied.
“There are still some cheeses and slices of Italian ham.”
“Good,” Renie said, checking the crisper drawers.
“I’m starved. I didn’t eat a serious lunch.” With a gesture of triumph, she held up some smoked Gouda and
a package of prosciutto. “Pass the crackers, coz.”
Judith fetched a box of table wafers from the cupboard. “Where are the husbands?” she asked.
“Eavesdropping in the front parlor,” Renie answered, putting two round slices of Gouda on top of
the ham.
“Ah,” Judith remarked. “That’s good.”
“Bill’s taking notes,” Renie said, making a sandwich out of the crackers.
“Did you get anything interesting from Ellie Linn?”
Judith inquired, sitting down at the kitchen table.
Renie opened a can of Pepsi and sat down across
from her. “You mean besides how much she hates Angela La Belle and Dirk Farrar?”
“And why is that?” Judith asked.
“Professional jealousy of Angela,” said Renie, after
swallowing a big bite of her concoction. “Maybe genuine dislike. Conflict of personalities. It can happen in
any business.”
“What about Ellie’s feelings for Dirk?”
Renie shrugged. “Couldn’t say.” She ate another
mouthful.
Judith took a pumpkin-shaped cookie from the jar
on the table. “Did Ellie mention a film called All the
Way to Utah?”
SILVER SCREAM
179
“Yeph,” Renie replied, still chewing. “Geb wha?
Ewwie’s muvver wode the scwip.”
“Her mother wrote that script?” Judith, who had
learned long ago to decipher her cousin’s words when
she spoke with a mouthful of food, was surprised at the
information. “I actually saw that script someplace. I