“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
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
