“Darn. I’d like to have seen them,” Judith said, tackling the field-green salad.
“You wouldn’t have wanted to see some of the bigger ones,” Joe said. “About half an hour ago there was
a scarecrow and a cowboy who were as tall as I am. I’d
swear they were old enough to vote.”
“Candy hogs,” Judith said with a smile that quickly
turned into a frown. “Did you say a scarecrow and a
cowboy?”
“Right,” Joe responded. “Why do you ask?”
“A
“As a matter of fact he was,” Joe said.
“They were here last night.” Judith took her first sip
of Scotch. “Doesn’t that seem odd?”
Joe shrugged. “As you said, candy hogs. That’s the
problem with Halloween falling on a Sunday. It becomes a holiday weekend instead of just one night.”
Judith didn’t respond. But she was more than curious. She was alarmed.
Joe had offered to make up the rooms while Judith
finished her meal and put her feet up. He’d just come
downstairs when Dirk, Ellie, Chips, and Ben returned
to Hillside Manor. With a few succinct words, he explained the new room assignments. Ellie didn’t seem
pleased.
“Win’s such a fussbudget,” she said with a scowl.
“At least Angela didn’t care if my clothes weren’t hung
perfectly in the closet.”
Judith apologized for any inconvenience. “I had no
idea that Mr. Patricelli, Mr. Mayne, and Ms. Fleming
were all going to stay here tonight instead of at the
hotel downtown.”
“The Cascadia is in a pickle,” Chips Madigan remarked. “We’ve got about fifty people there who can’t
leave town, and some tour group is coming in from
Japan tonight. They’re overbooked.”
So, Judith thought, was she. There were other hotels, some high-class motels, and probably even a few
B&Bs that were empty on a Sunday night. She had the
feeling that it wasn’t a lack of vacancies that had
brought the trio to Hillside Manor, but Paradox Stu-
dios’ desire to keep certain persons under Vito’s eaglelike eye.
“Is it possible,” she inquired, recalling what she’d
overheard the attorney say in the private dining room,
“that you’ll all be going back to L.A. tomorrow?”
“Maybe,” Chips replied.
“Let’s hope so,” Ben Carmody put in.
“We’d damned well better be out of here by tomorrow,” Dirk growled, then turned on his heel and
stomped upstairs.
A smiling Ellie watched him disappear. “Goody.
Now we can watch Ben’s movie on TV.” She turned to
Judith. “It’s okay, isn’t it? Chips directed. You might
want to see it, Mrs. Flynn.
