Joe calmed down first. “So Winifred’s ashamed of
being a Demure? Why?”
“Because,” Judith suggested, still bristling a bit,
“they only had one big hit?”
“Another person deeply affected by failure,” Bill
murmured. He used the purple pen to make some
marks by Winifred’s circle. “Yet,” he continued, making a squiggle with the orange pen, “she rebounded to
become Bruno’s assistant, a position of great power.
So why,” he concluded, adding a chartreuse slash,
“wouldn’t Winifred be able to laugh off her early experience in the music world?”
“Bill,” Renie inquired, “have you any idea what all
those marks mean?”
“Of course.” With an expectant expression, he gazed
at the others as if waiting for the brightest student to
give the correct answer. “Well?”
“Because,” Judith said slowly, “there was something
shameful about that experience.”
Bill nodded approval. “There has to be. What could
it have been?”
“Guesswork,” Joe said in a disgusted voice. “That’s
all we can do is guess. That’s not a professional approach in law enforcement.”
“We don’t have anything else,” Renie pointed out.
With a hopeful expression, Judith turned to Renie.
“You couldn’t find it on the Internet?”
“I doubt it, coz,” Renie said.
“Then there has to be another way,” Judith declared,
getting up from the sofa and heading out of the room.
“Hey,” Renie called after her cousin, “what are you
going to do?”
Judith turned just before she reached the entry hall.
“I’m about to crash the dinner party. Anybody care to
join me?”
“Hey,” Bill said sharply, “I’m not finished yet.”
“Later,” Judith shot back. “I feel useless. I’m frustrated. I’m getting out of here.”
“Don’t act like a moron, Jude-girl,” Joe said with a
scowl. “You can’t go barging in on those people like that.”
“Look,” Judith said, almost stamping her foot but
afraid to, lest she jar her artificial hip, “we’re running
out of time. The guests may be gone by tomorrow.
You’re not the one who worked your tail off to build
this B&B. Do—or don’t do—what you want, but I’m
not sitting around waiting for a bunch of L.A. lawyers
to fleece us.” She turned on her heel and headed for the
back hallway to get her jacket.
“Wait for me!” Renie cried, hurrying after Judith.
