A wooden cabinet behind the counter had mail and telegram cubbies corresponding to the hotel’s original guest rooms. Now only the top two rows were used for sorting mail and messages for Liz, Aunt Amelia, Betty, Captain Netherton, and Iris.
She thought about the constantly disappearing housekeeper. Iris was hard to warm up to. Aunt Amelia must have felt sorry for her for some reason or another to have hired her. Liz often heard the housekeeper tell whomever would listen that she “ran” the hotel, not “Old Lady Holt.” It wasn’t any of Liz’s business how much the housekeeper earned at the Indialantic, but she knew room and board came with the job and she didn’t want Aunt Amelia to be taken advantage of.
Then she remembered that those in glass beach houses shouldn’t throw seashells. Wasn’t she doing the same thing as Iris? Freeloading off of her father and great-aunt? Liz had some money saved up from the proceeds of her book and the sale of her loft, but her father had refused to let her sink it into the Indialantic. Not that Liz had spent much time in the past cleaning the guest rooms, but how hard could it be to vacuum, dust, fluff pillows, and leave a couple of mints on each bed? Then Liz stopped dead in her tracks, when she remembered Regina and the list. She suddenly wished Iris the best. It would be interesting to see the unflusterable Iris tackle Regina’s list of demands. She had glanced at the list last night, stopping after she read the first item: Fresh Parboiled Tuna Three Times a Day. It looked like the mystery of the species of Regina’s pet, Venus, had been solved—she must be a feline.
Liz left the lobby and continued down the hallway to the screening room. When she opened the door, it was dark inside. Only a faint light spilled onto the back row of seats from the projection booth. She felt her way down the aisle. As she got closer to the screen, she saw the outline of Aunt Amelia’s head, front row and center. Liz slid into the seat next to her and took her soft, ring-bejeweled hand in hers. “What are you doing sitting here in the dark?”
“I was getting inspiration for the Spring Fling by watching the episode of My Three Sons, where Ernie tries to raise money for a charity event at school, spends some of the proceeds on a candy bar, then is called into the principal’s office.”
“Let me guess, you played the principal?”
“Nope. The secretary. Complete with cat-framed glasses on a pearl chain and an angora twinset that had me sneezing from all the little rabbit hairs I inhaled. It took eight takes for a one-line speaking part.”
Liz jumped. A voice from the other side of Aunt Amelia said, “Ernie Douglas, does your father know you’re here?”
“Barnacle Bob, you scared the crap out me!” Liz scolded.
He seemed to enjoy Liz’s reaction and kept repeating, “Does your father know you’re here? Does your father know you’re here?” The parrot did a perfect imitation of a young Aunt Amelia.
Aunt Amelia said, “Behave, BB. You have to be nice to Lizzy.”
“Nice to Lizzy. Nice to Lizzy. Scared the crap out of me!”
“Silence, rude boy,” Aunt Amelia scolded, then turned to Liz. “Our weekend event is such a great idea. Thank you, my lovely. All the emporium shopkeepers are on board, except for grouchy Edward. He’s worried someone might steal one of his gold coins. I told him, this is a sleepy barrier island where crime is nonexistent and everyone knows each other. You must agree that Edward’s the spitting image of Cesar Romero in The Computer Who Wore Tennis Shoes. That Kurt Russell was such a charming young man, and those adorable dimples…”
“Hmmm, love Kurt Russell, but I beg to differ. I think Edward looks more like Vincent Price than Cesar Romero.”
“Romero.”
“Price.”
Aunt Amelia laughed. “I guess it’s a draw. What’s funny is that both Price and Romero were characters in TV’s Batman—Romero as the Joker and Price as Egghead.” She stopped and said, “Here I go again. Rambling on about the past. How do you put up with such a crazy auntie?”
“Oh, that’s pretty easy,” Liz said. “I’m your biggest fan.”
“I only met Vincent Price once on the set of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Well, I didn’t meet him per se, but I’m sure he winked at me. My favorite episode of his was ‘The Perfect Crime.’ Price’s character is an egomaniac detective who is proud he’s never committed a crime…”
“I remember when we watched that one! A lawyer tells a detective that he sent an innocent man to his death, the detective kills the lawyer in a very original way—thus creating the perfect crime.”
“Whomever Edward reminds us of, he sure is a cranky-puss.”
“He and Regina would make a good couple,” Liz said. “I feel sorry for David Worth.”
“I’m sure no one put a gun to his head to marry her. Her family has owned Castlemara for generations. It’s such a shame they are going to tear it down.”
“Maybe the Barrier Island Historical Society will stop them. We might look bad to the locals, harboring the Worths. Betty said there are rumors that Regina killed her father.” Liz purposely put the bug in Aunt Amelia’s ear in case she felt any future regrets about kicking the woman out, especially if Regina continued with her unrelenting demands.
“Percival II was an old man with a bad heart. I’ve heard the rumors, but I don’t believe them for a
