eating. Perhaps the group had finished its most recent course.
“What about
Judith heard Dade Costello snort.
Vito waited a moment to reply. “Your script?”
to star darling Ellie.”
“I can’t answer that right now,” Vito said, smooth as
ever. “There hasn’t been time for anyone to make that
decision.”
“Who makes it?” Amy Lee’s voice had grown strident.
“Bruno’s production company,” Vito replied.
“Isn’t that a weird setup?” Ben Carmody put in.
The actor sounded uncharacteristically harsh. “Bruno
had no second in command. He thought he was immortal.”
“That’s not true,” Winifred said in a strong, stiff
voice. “If anything happened to Bruno, I was to take
over. I already had, when he was in . . . the hospital.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Ben’s voice brightened. “Then I
guess any big decisions would be up to you, Win.”
“Not necessarily,” Vito interjected. “I suspect that
Winifred’s powers are limited to such situations as
Bruno being temporarily out of the picture. So to
speak.” No one laughed except Dirk Farrar, and the
sound wasn’t pleasant. “There are two other factors involved, one of which is the studio’s agreement to put
money into
dead—let’s not mince words—Paradox would be free
to pull out.”
“They wouldn’t dare!” Amy Lee cried. “They made
a commitment!”
“It’s not legally binding when the producer dies,”
Vito asserted. “But the other factor involves the heirs
to Bruno’s estate. Winifred, do you know if he made a
will?”
“Why . . .” Winifred’s voice sounded faint. “No,”
she went on slowly, “I don’t believe he did.”
“It figures,” Dirk snarled. “From A to Zepf. Bruno
thought he was the Alpha and the Omega, with no end
in sight.”
“Stop that!” Winifred shouted. “You’re angry because you and Bruno got into a big fight and Ben
ended up with the leading role in the
“Let’s stop wrangling and back up here,” Heathcliffe broke in, his voice sounding like that of a man
obviously used to exercising authority. “What’s this
other factor, Mr. L.A. Lawyer?”
Vito cleared his throat. “That was what I was getting
