Silver Scream: A Bed-And-Breakfast Mystery Read Online Free PDF

replied with what appeared to be a genuine smile. “Face it, I was up against some pretty tough competition.”
    Judith was startled by Carmody’s benign appearance. She was so used to seeing him as the embodiment of evil that she scarcely recognized him. He was tall and lean, much better looking in person than on the screen. Judith shook Ben Carmody’s hand and also received a warm smile.
    Like Dirk Farrar, the next arrival ignored Judith and the others. Unlike Dirk, the pencil-thin black woman in the gray Armani suit glided over the threshold as if she had wheels on her Manolo Blahnik pumps. Once inside, she joined Bruno Zepf, who had migrated into the front parlor. The woman closed the parlor door behind her, leaving the cousins and Arlene staring at each other.
    Last but not least was a small, exotic creature who apparently was communing with the squirrels in the maple tree near the front of the house.
    “Who is that?” Arlene inquired, her pretty face perplexed. “She reminds me of someone.”
    “Ellie Linn-MacDermott,” Renie said. “Except I think she’s dropped the MacDermott.”
    “Y-e-s,” Arlene said slowly, “that’s who she reminds me of. Ellie Linn-MacDermott. I’ve seen Ellie in two or three movies. Funny, this girl’s a dead ringer for her.”
    “She is Ellie Linn,” Renie responded, making way for the chauffeurs, who were carrying in the luggage. “She has a role in The Gasman .”
    “Oh!” Arlene’s hand flew to her mouth and her blue eyes widened in surprise. “Of course! The actress! Or is it hot dogs?”
    “Both,” said Renie, then jumped out of the way as the wheels of a large suitcase almost ran over her foot. “Her father, Heathcliffe MacDermott, is the Wienie Wizard of the Western World.”
    Arlene again looked puzzled. “But this girl…” She waved an arm toward the young woman who was trying to coax one of the squirrels down from the maple tree. “She looks Chinese.”
    “Her mother’s from Hong Kong,” Renie said. “Or Shanghai. Or someplace like that.”
    Judith excused herself to show the drivers where to stow the luggage upstairs. When she started down again, Angela La Belle met her on the second landing.
    “Where’s my room?” she asked, blinking big brown eyes that were offset by long lashes that might or might not have been her own. The lashes, like the eyes, were dark, and made a striking contrast with the actress’s waist-length blond hair.
    “Um…” Judith hesitated. “Let me get the room chart. I’ll be right back. There’s a settee in the hallway and a phone, if you need it.”
    Without any response, Angela passed on to the second floor. Judith hurried to fetch the room chart, which she’d left on the entry-hall table. The only thing she remembered was that Bruno Zepf had the largest room, Number Three, to himself, though he shared the bathroom with Room Four. Judith couldn’t believe that she was so rattled by a bunch of Hollywood hotshots. After ten years in the hostelry business, she thought she’d met just about every type of person from every level of society. Maybe she was more impressionable than she realized.
    Swiftly, Judith tabulated the guests who had arrived so far. Unless she was mistaken, at least one of the members of Bruno’s party hadn’t shown up yet.
    “Psst!” Renie hissed from the hallway. “We’re on the job.”
    Judith turned sharply. “You are? Doing what?”
    “Plying your guests with adult beverages,” Renie replied. “Or, in some cases, the freshest of spring-waters and a vegetable drink that looks like a science experiment.”
    “Thanks, coz,” Judith said with a grateful smile. “Thank Arlene for me, too. I’ll be right with you.”
    Checking the chart, Judith noted that Winifred Best, Bruno’s special assistant, was slotted for Room One. Since there were only three women in the party and Judith had recognized the two actresses, Winifred must be the Armani-clad black woman who had sailed into the