me finish explaining my chart.”
“You’re right,” Judith said, sitting down on the sofa
arm. “Really, I
While Bill wrestled with his unwieldy chart, Joe reluctantly turned off the TV as a mushroom cloud exploded over Hiroshima. Bill picked up his bamboo
skewer just as Renie burst into the living room.
“Hey!” she cried. “I found something. There’s a
whole Web site devoted to
Judith turned to look at her cousin. “What does it
say?”
“I don’t know,” Renie replied. “It’s kind of long, so
I’m printing it out.” She saw her husband with his chart
and pointer. “Oops. Sorry, Bill. Am I interrupting?”
“You usually are,” Bill said with a long-suffering
air.
“Go ahead,” Joe urged, nodding at Bill. “I’d like to
hear this, too. It might help me . . . cogitate.”
“What’s that new section?” Judith asked, noting that
two more circles had been added.
“Morris Mayne and Eugenia Fleming,” Bill replied
with a tap for each of the turquoise circles.
“You’re right,” Judith said. “We can’t ignore them.
They were here last night, too. What else can you tell
us?”
“I’ve been thinking about this,” Bill began, tapping
the corner of the chart. “We’re talking about Hollywood, and we should keep a few things in mind. One
is power. Who has it here? Bruno, of course. He was
one of the most powerful men in the movie industry.
That’s a very exclusive club. Who else, then?”
Judith felt she was in the classroom with Bill, and
automatically raised her hand. “Winifred? She was so
close to Bruno.”
Bill nodded solemnly. “That’s right. If nothing else,
Winifred would have had the power to say yes to a proposal or a script. Anyone in Hollywood can say no. But
saying yes is a risk. Winifred was probably able to do
that because of her close association with Bruno.”
“Then Eugenia would have power, too,” Judith conjectured, “because she’s Bruno’s agent?”
“Only to the extent of allowing access to the people
in her stable,” Bill replied. “Eugenia also represents
Dirk, doesn’t she? The amount of her power depends
more on her clients’ clout.”
“What about Morris?” Joe asked.
“Morris Mayne is a studio flack,” Bill said, tapping
the smaller of the circles in his addendum. “Morris can
be replaced on a whim. The only way publicists have
any power is if they’re keeping a secret. Let’s say, covering up for Angela’s overdose today.”
“Blackmail,” Joe said. “Morris is more likely a victim than a perp because he knows too much. Blackmailers are always vulnerable.”
