Renie said, breezing through the narrow hallway.
“Where are the nuts I’m supposed to observe?” Bill
asked in his rich, carrying voice.
Judith winced. “In the living room. We’re expecting
at least one more, I understand. Remember Morris
Mayne from last night?”
“The publicist?” Renie said, hanging her jacket on
the antique coatrack.
“The very same,” Judith replied. “And Vito Patricelli, the studio lawyer.”
“What happened to the agent, Eugenia Whateverher-name-is?” Renie asked.
Judith sighed. “I forgot about her. Who knows?
Maybe the entire crew from the Cascadia will show up
eventually.”
“Let’s watch TV,” Bill said upon entering the living
room. “There’s a pretty good NFL game on.” As the
guests stared at him, he marched over to the entertainment center next to the bay window, opened the oak
doors, and switched on the big-screen television set.
“Who’s a Packer fan?” he asked, being a Wisconsin native.
“I am,” Chips Madigan declared.
“I hate the Packers,” Dirk Farrar asserted.
Dade actually expressed some interest. “Who are
they playing? The Falcons, by any chance?”
Angela rose from the sofa. “I hate football. I’m not
watching.” She sailed past Judith and Renie, heading
for the bathroom off the entry hall.
“Me neither,” Ellie said, slipping off the window
seat. “I’ve never understood how all those great big
men like grabbing each other. It’s not natural, you
know.” She wandered off into the dining room.
“The observation period?” Judith murmured to
Renie.
“That’s right,” Renie said. “Bill insists you can tell
quite a bit about people by the way they watch—or
don’t watch—sports. Have you chatted up Ellie or Angela yet?”
Judith shook her head. “Only Winifred. Dade’s the
one I’d really like to talk to. Maybe if Green Bay isn’t
playing Atlanta, he’ll get bored.”
“I’ll tackle Ellie,” Renie said, making motions like a
football player. “You can grab Angela when she comes
out of the can.”
While her cousin went into the dining room, Judith
slowly paced the entry-hall floor. A couple of minutes
passed. Angela didn’t reappear. Judith fiddled with the
guest registry and the visitor brochures she kept on the
first landing. Still, Angela didn’t come out of the bathroom. Judith began to wonder if the actress might
