her dinner over a couple of hours ago. It seems that
none of the Rankers clan showed up. Arlene was furious—right up until she insisted she hadn’t wanted to
see any of them in the first place.”
“Dear Arlene.” Judith sighed, collapsing next to Joe
on the sofa. “A sea of contradictions. And a heart as big
as Alaska.”
“So what good did all your sleuthing at Capri’s do
for you?” Joe asked, putting Bill’s chart aside.
“I’m not sure,” Judith said, suddenly hearing her
stomach growl. “Goodness, I haven’t eaten in hours.
What’s left from the caterers?”
Joe peered at her. “You look beat. Let me fix you a
drink and bring you something to eat. How about
Winifred’s field greens and Chips’s chicken pot pie?”
“Sounds wonderful,” Judith said, slipping out of her
shoes as Sweetums crept up to the sofa. “I should see
Mother, but I’ll wait until I get my second wind.”
Joe had gone into the kitchen when the doorbell
sounded a minute later. Wearily, Judith trudged to the
front door. Eugenia Fleming and Morris Mayne stood
on the front porch with three small trick-or-treaters.
The youngsters, who had an adult waiting on the sidewalk, chorused their Halloween greeting. Eugenia
practically trampled them as she entered the house.
“It’s very damp out there,” she complained. “Did
Vito mention that he and I and Morris are staying in
your vacant rooms tonight?”
“I’m . . . not . . . sure,” Judith replied, scooping
candy bars out of a cut-glass bowl in the entry hall. She
stepped aside as Morris barged his way inside. Judith
scowled at him, then addressed the children. “Two
ghosts and a witch,” she said, dropping two chocolate
bars into each of the three pillowcases. “Very scary.
Don’t get a tummy ache.”
The children said thank you with varying degrees of
confidence, then turned around and ran off to join their
adult companion. Judith managed to flag down Eugenia before she reached the second landing of the main
staircase.
“Excuse me,” Judith said, “but the rooms aren’t
made up yet. It’s been a very busy day. Besides, there’s
only one vacant room. Bruno’s,” she added, lowering
her voice. “We’ll have to see if Ellie or Winifred or
Chips or Dade will consent to share a room.”
“Chips and Dade wouldn’t share a bomb shelter if
a nuclear device went off,” Eugenia retorted. “You
might have better luck with Win and Ellie. Just tell
