will stay in Room Three. You take Room Six. I’ll make
it up as soon as I have something to eat.”
Eugenia leaned over the banister, her bust looming
like two large water balloons. “Now would be preferable.”
Judith was about to snap back when Joe appeared in
the entry hall bearing a tray with a Scotch rocks, a
steaming chicken pot pie, a generous salad, and a hot
roll.
“Take a seat, Jude-girl,” he said as the doorbell rang
again. “Dinner is served.”
Judith shot Eugenia a frigid look and returned to the
living room. Morris Mayne was reclining on the sofa,
his shirt and tie loosened and his suit jacket covering
the coffee table.
Joe stared down at the publicist. “Get the door, will
you, Morris? And move that jacket. My wife’s dinner
is going there.”
Morris looked affronted. “Pardon? I’m a guest, not
a servant.”
With a nimble move, Joe lifted one foot, caught the
jacket on the toe of his shoe, and dumped it on the
floor. “Maybe you didn’t hear me. Get that door. If you
want to lie down, use the stiff’s room. It’s behind Door
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Number Three. Move it. I’m not in one of my good
moods.”
Morris moved. He scrambled for his jacket, gave
Joe a wary glance, and scooted out of the room. Sweetums, who had been napping by the sofa, woke up and
chased Morris all the way up the stairs.
Judith beamed at her husband. “I always find it exciting when you play bad cop.”
“Maybe we’ll both have a chance to get excited
when this crew of loonies gets the hell out of here,” Joe
grumbled. “Now sit and stay. And eat. I’ll take care of
the trick-or-treaters.”
“How many have we had so far?” Judith asked.
“About thirty,” Joe replied, heading to answer the
doorbell on the second ring.
By the time her husband returned, she’d eaten half
of the pot pie with its flaky crust and chunks of tender
chicken. “Were they cute?” she asked.
“It was some of the Dooleys,” Joe said, referring to
their neighbors whose house was across the back fence
by the Flynn garage. “I can never tell if it’s their kids,
grandkids, nieces, nephews, or just some strays they’ve
picked up.”
“Darn. I’d like to have seen them,” Judith said, tackling the field-green salad.
“You wouldn’t have wanted to see some of the bigger ones,” Joe said. “About half an hour ago there was
a scarecrow and a cowboy who were as tall as I am. I’d
swear they were old enough to vote.”
“Candy hogs,” Judith said with a smile that quickly
turned into a frown. “Did you say a scarecrow and a
cowboy?”
“Right,” Joe responded. “Why do you ask?”
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Mary Daheim
“A Wizard of Oz scarecrow? Was the cowboy wearing snakeskin boots?”
“As a matter of fact he was,” Joe said.
“They were here last night.” Judith took her first sip
of Scotch. “Doesn’t that seem odd?”
Joe shrugged. “As you said, candy hogs. That’s the
problem with Halloween falling on a Sunday. It becomes a holiday weekend instead of just one night.”
Judith didn’t respond. But she was more than curious. She was alarmed.
Joe had offered to make up the rooms while Judith
finished her meal and put her feet up. He’d just come
downstairs when Dirk, Ellie, Chips, and Ben returned
to Hillside Manor. With a few succinct words, he explained the new room assignments. Ellie didn’t seem
pleased.
“Win’s such a fussbudget,” she said with a scowl.
“At least Angela didn’t care if my clothes weren’t hung
perfectly in the closet.”
Judith apologized for any inconvenience. “I had no
idea that Mr. Patricelli, Mr. Mayne, and Ms. Fleming
were all going to stay here tonight instead of at the
hotel downtown.”
“The Cascadia is in a pickle,” Chips Madigan remarked. “We’ve got about fifty people there who can’t
leave town, and some tour group is coming in from
Japan tonight. They’re overbooked.”
So, Judith thought, was she. There were other hotels, some high-class motels, and probably even a few
B&Bs that were empty on a Sunday night. She had the
feeling that it wasn’t a lack of vacancies that had
brought the trio to Hillside Manor, but Paradox Stu- SILVER SCREAM
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dios’ desire to keep certain persons under Vito’s eaglelike eye.
“Is it possible,” she inquired, recalling what she’d
overheard the attorney say in the private dining room,
“that you’ll all be going back to L.A. tomorrow?”
“Maybe,” Chips replied.
“Let’s hope so,” Ben Carmody put in.
“We’d damned well better be out of here by tomorrow,” Dirk growled, then turned on his heel and
stomped upstairs.
A smiling Ellie watched him disappear. “Goody.
Now we can watch Ben’s movie on TV.” She turned to
Judith. “It’s okay, isn’t it? Chips directed. You might
want to see it, Mrs. Flynn. The Virgin Vessel. It comes
on in five minutes, and it’s really creepy. Perfect for
Halloween.”
Judith vacillated. “I’ll watch the first part while I
finish my dinner. But then I have some work to do.”
Joe volunteered to turn on the set. Ellie assumed her
usual perch on the window seat, even though it meant
she had to lean a little to see the screen. Chips
sprawled on the sofa across from Judith, and Ben settled into one of the big armchairs.
With the screen coming to life, Joe had just put
down the remote when there was a knock at the back
door. He went out through the French doors and appeared a few seconds later with Renie.
“I’m bored,” Renie announced as the movie’s opening credits appeared on the screen. “Bill’s exhausted
from meeting the future in-laws, so he’s going to bed
even earlier than usual. I don’t feel like reading, and
there’s nothing on TV,” she continued, stopping in the
middle of the room and blocking the screen. “Once the
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Mary Daheim
baseball season is over, there’s not much I want to see
on television.”
“Keep it down,” Ben called out.
“Did you pay for your seat?” Renie sneered.
“Get out of the way,” Ellie demanded. “You’re
blocking the screen.”
“Read a book,” Renie shot back as she refused to
budge. “Improve your mind.”
“Coz?” Judith forced a tense smile. “Our guests are
actually watching a movie. Or trying to. Would you
mind sitting down?” She patted the empty sofa cushion
next to her.
“They are?” Renie shrugged. “What movie? There
are some of them that I actually like.”
“The Virgin Vessel,” Ellie said, no longer annoyed.
“It’s really, really scary. We should turn out all the
lights.”
“Atmosphere!” Chips exclaimed, jumping up and
hurrying around the room to turn off the four lamps
that were burning. “How’s that? Fog outside, witches
flying on broomsticks, the whole Halloween scene.
Could it be more frightening?”
“I hate frightening movies,” Renie declared. “They