Read Online Silver Scream: A Bed-And-Breakfast Mystery by Mary Daheim - Free Book Online Page A

fake,” he said, still chuckling. “It’s one of those rubber spiders kids have for Halloween. Where’s your garbage? I’ll take it outside and dump the thing in there.”
    “Oh!” Judith put a hand over her wildly beating heart, then reached out to Ben. “I’ll get rid of it. You tell Mr. Zepf that the spider wasn’t real.”
    Ben had grown serious. “Some prank. It could have given old Bruno a heart attack.”
    Judith stuffed the rubber spider in the pocket of herbathrobe and went back into the hall. No one except Dirk seemed to notice her passage as she headed for the back stairs. Five minutes later she returned to the second floor, where Ben and Chips were helping a rubber-legged Bruno back into his room. Winifred had already disappeared and Dirk had closed his door. Judith continued up to the family quarters. She didn’t get back to sleep for almost an hour.
    Meanwhile, Joe continued to snore softly.
     
    As usual, Judith had breakfast ready to go by eight o’clock. Since it was a Saturday, and Joe had the day off, he didn’t come downstairs until eight-fifteen.
    “No-shows, huh?” he inquired, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
    “So far,” Judith replied. “I think they were out very late.” She then recounted the incidents with both the real and the fake spiders. “Bruno certainly is superstitious.”
    “Typical,” Joe remarked. “Bill once said that Hollywood types were like gamblers. It makes sense. People who make movies are gamblers.”
    An hour passed before Judith heard anyone stirring upstairs. Finally, Winifred Best appeared, her thin face drawn.
    “Very black coffee, please. With heated rusk.”
    Judith didn’t recall that rusk had been on the list of required grocery items. Still, Winifred wasn’t the first guest to ask for rusk instead of toast. With considerable effort, she got down on her knees and foraged in the cupboard next to the sink.
    “Ah!” she exclaimed. “Here it is.” She got up slowly, which was fortunate because the temperamental cupboard door had swung out on its own. Judith hit her head, but not very hard. Muffling a curse, she looked around for Joe, then remembered that he’d gone to the garage to tinker with his beloved MG.
    “This coffee isn’t strong enough,” Winifred announced from the dining-room table. “Please make another pot, and double the amount.”
    Winifred Best wasn’t the first demanding guest that Hillside Manor had ever hosted, so Judith calmly put a percolator on the stove. She kept reminding herself that the current visitors were no worse than many she’d had stay at the B&B. It just seemed that this bunch was a wide-screen version in Dolby sound.
    Moments later the rusk had been warmed in the oven. Judith brought it out to the dining-room table.
    “Has Mr. Zepf recovered from his latest fright?” she inquired.
    “Yes,” Winifred responded, giving the rusk a suspicious look, “though the rubber spider was a bit much.”
    “Do you know who put it in Mr. Zepf’s bed?”
    Winifred shot Judith a withering glance. “I do not. Was it you?”
    Judith recoiled. “Of course not! Why would I do such a thing?”
    “Because,” Winifred said with ice in her voice, “no one else would dare.”
    “Well, I certainly didn’t do it,” Judith huffed. “Nor would anyone else around here. In fact, my husband and I are the only residents in the house.”
    “As you say.” Winifred took a small bite of rusk.
    “The coffee will be ready shortly,” Judith said in stilted tones.
    “I should hope so,” Winifred said. “Rusk is hard towash down with weak coffee. By the way,” she added as Judith started back to the kitchen, “we’ll bring the costumes down later so that you can press them.”
    Judith turned on her heel. “I don’t do ironing. I have a cleaning woman who takes care of the laundry.”
    “Where is she?” Winifred asked with a lift of her sharp chin.
    “She doesn’t work weekends,” Judith replied, fighting down her