Vito is accompanying Win to the hospital. I understand
this wretched house has to be evacuated. Don’t worry,
we’re all but on our way.”
Returning to the living room, Judith began to pace
the floor.
“Take it easy,” Joe warned. “You’re listing a bit to
starboard.”
“I’m fine,” Judith snarled. “I didn’t dislocate, I
just . . . twinged.” She stopped by the piano at the far
end of the room. “I can’t believe this. Even if we don’t
get sued, we’re out of business for God knows how
long!”
“Come on, Jude-girl,” Joe urged, “try to relax a little.
It’s not like the place burned down.” He looked at
Dilys, who had her back turned to both Flynns and was
on her cell phone. “An APB has gone out on the mysterious cleaning woman. If there was one,” he added,
lowering his voice.
Dilys clicked off to face Judith and Joe. “Unfortunately,” she said, “the description isn’t very helpful.
Ms. Fleming thought the woman was wearing dark
clothing. The rest of her appearance is quite ordinary.
With all the new apartments and condos on this side of
the hill, there must be a hundred women like that
within three square blocks of here.”
Judith abruptly sat down on the piano bench. “No,”
she said slowly, “there’s only one.”
TWENTY
THERE WAS NO time for Judith to explain. The battalion chief came into the living room to consult
with the Flynns. His main advice was to contact
their insurance agent as soon as possible. Joe
agreed, saying he’d drive up to the top of the hill as
soon as the local office opened at ten.
“What about the damage?” Judith asked in a
plaintive voice. “How bad is it?”
“We’ll let you know as soon as we can,” the chief
said kindly. His name was Ramirez, and he spoke
with a slight Spanish accent.
Judith winced. “You’re sure we have to move out?”
Ramirez nodded. “It may not be for long. It’s the
water damage, mostly. That’s often the case with a
small fire. Only the bedcovers, curtains, and carpet
were destroyed. The rest of the fire merely scorched
the bed itself, the mattress, and one wall. By the
way, who tossed the room?”
Joe and Dilys both stared at Judith. “Um . . .” She
put her hands to her cheeks, which seemed to have
suddenly grown quite warm. “I forgot to mention
that. It must have been the intruder who knocked out
Ms. Best.”
SILVER SCREAM
323
Ramirez frowned. “So that’s what I heard someone
talking about. Where are the police?”
Dilys took a step forward. “I am the police,” she declared. “My backup should be along shortly. The patrol
cars are already on the lookout for the perp.”
The battalion chief seemed disconcerted. “You
mean . . . All these people in this house and no
one . . .” He gave himself a good shake. “Excuse me.
It’s a big house. In fact, haven’t you had a couple of
other 911 calls in the past few days?”
To Judith’s great relief, Dilys stepped in to spare the
Flynns the burden of an explanation. “To begin with,”
she said, guiding Ramirez out of the living room, “this
is a B&B. The current guests are somewhat unusual in
that they . . .”
The pair disappeared into the front parlor. Judith
glanced at the bay window. The ladder remained;
water still poured down the side of the house. Judith
couldn’t have felt worse if she’d suffered a physical
blow.
“What did you mean,” Joe inquired, “when you said
there was only one woman?”
“I’ll tell you later.” Judith noticed the guests leaving
their breakfast table. “My,” she said in sarcasm, “I’m
glad we didn’t spoil their appetites.”
Joe gave her a quick hug. “Hang in there. It’s going
on ten. I’ll head out now to see Fred Sheets at the insurance agency.”
Judith said something that sounded like “Mrph.”
A moment later Dilys stuck her head back into the
living room. “I’m going to confer with my backup.
They seem to have gotten lost.” She winked. “At
Moonbeam’s.”
324
Mary Daheim
“Great,” Judith said through gritted teeth, then threw
her hands up in the air. “Mother! I’d better tell her what
happened. She must be frantic.”
Gertrude, however, was in her usual place, leafing
through a film directory. “Hi, Toots,” she said, barely
looking up. “Abbott or Costello or whatever his last
name is brought this to me. It’s got all the directors and
actors and moving-picture people listed. It’s too bad
Joan Crawford’s dead. People used to say she looked
like me.”
“Mother . . .” Judith began.
But Gertrude interrupted. “Anyways, Dade—yes,
Dade, I remember his first name now—left me his card
and one from some woman named Fleming. She’s supposed to call me when she gets back to Los Angeles.”
The old lady pronounced it “Los Ang-elees.” “Boy,
there sure are a lot of names in this book.” She tapped
the cover. “I never heard of most of them.” Finally,
Gertrude looked at her daughter. “Where’s lunch?”
“It’s ten o’clock,” Judith said, then pointed to the
breakfast tray. “You didn’t eat all your eggs.”
“They have funny stuff in them,” Gertrude said.
“What did you do, mix the eggs with an old salad?”
Judith refrained from saying that Joe had made the
eggs. She also refrained from telling her mother about
the fire. As long as Gertrude’s deafness had obscured
the sirens, there was no point in upsetting the old girl.
At least not yet. Judith had other things on her mind.
Back in the house, the guests were scurrying about,
completing their packing, hauling their luggage downstairs. They seemed as eager to leave as Judith was to
see them go.
“Incredible,” Ben Carmody said to Judith as he put
SILVER SCREAM
325
on a black leather jacket. “How did Win set fire to her
room?”
Looking guileless, Judith shrugged. “Who knows?
Does she smoke?”
“Hell, no,” Dirk declared. “She’s no drinker, either,
at least not at nine in the morning.”
Judith kept mum.
“She’ll be fine,” Ellie said, hooking her arm through
Ben’s. “I’d like to work with her on All the Way to
Utah.”
“Win’s spunky,” Chips said. “Maybe she’ll be able
to leave for L.A. later today.”
Again, Judith made no comment.
Vito slipped a white envelope into her hand. “The
studio wants to compensate you for your trouble. This
is a promissory note for five thousand dollars. As soon
as everything is cleared up in L.A., you’ll get your
money.”
Judith’s smile was off center. “Why . . . that’s generous. I think.” For all she knew, the money would
cover only the caterers. Of course it was better than a
subpoena.
Dade was the last one out the door. He was halfway
down the steps when he stopped and turned around.
“Tell your momma I’ll be in touch. I’m pretty excited
about this project.”