“He could be a switch-hitter,” Bill responded.
“What about Ben Carmody?” Judith asked.
“Ben’s a different case,” Bill said. “He usually plays
villains. Isn’t the role in the Utah picture his first
leading-man opportunity?”
“I guess,” Judith said, “though I don’t think all the
different parts he played in
guys.”
“That’s not the same,” Bill pointed out. “Ben Carmody has built his reputation as an actor, not as a star.
You see the difference?” Like any good professor, he
waited for the others to nod their understanding. “As
for Ellie, you may be right, Judith. She’s not only
young, but grew up in a prominent family. I suspect
that her past is relatively blameless.”
But Renie didn’t agree. “She may have run over a
cripple. She could have done drugs. She might have
gone off on a lark with some friends and held up a convenience store at gunpoint.”
Bill gave his wife a withering look. “She may have
been the homecoming queen and won a scholarship to
Yale. Let’s assume she’s in the clear. You’re just being
contrary.”
“True,” Renie admitted, not looking the least contrite. “Still, I think there must be something unsavory
about Chips. And where did he get a name like that
anyway? It’s got to be a nickname.”
“You may be right,” Bill said. “Midwesterners are
very good at hiding things they don’t want others to
see, especially their dark side.”
Bill ought to know, Judith thought, since he was a
Wisconsin native. “Who’ve we left out?” she asked.
“Winifred?”
“Yes.” Bill tapped the circle nearest to Bruno’s.
“What do we know about her background?”
“I think she was a Demure,” Judith said, walking
over to the stereo, where she had slipped the tape behind a rack of CDs. She related Renie’s discovery
along with Winifred’s reaction. “I’m sure it’s her,” Judith concluded, “but she doesn’t want it known.”
“Ah,” said Bill.
“I remember them,” Joe put in. “They were a onehit wonder. Vivian used to sing their song when she did
her piano-bar stints. ‘Come Play with Me,’ wasn’t it?”
Judith gave her husband a censorious look. “I’m
sure she did.”
Joe waved a hand. “It was her job. At least I had a
spouse who worked. Sometimes.”
“She only worked because she got free drinks,” Judith asserted.
“Truce!” Renie shouted, holding up both arms like
a football official signaling a touchdown. “No fighting,
no biting. Let’s go back to Winifred.”
