Death in Reel Time Read Free Page A

only a cursory nod when he came in, and he went on conducting his business with Beth as if we weren’t there, which earned him a checkmark for bad form in my tally book.
    â€œRemember, Alan’s coming in tonight. I promised we’d have a nice supper for him. Could you make one of your good dishes and make sure the guest room’s all squared away?”
    â€œI will,” Beth said, turning back to her mother. “You remember Alan Corrigan, our college friend? He was Blaine’s fraternity brother. He’s coming for a visit.”
    â€œOh, yes, Alan,” Olivia said, managing to pack a lot of ambiguity into those three little words.
    â€œWe’re just wrapping it up here,” Beth assured Blaine. “I think Mom’s about due for a rest. Tony and I have an interview set up with Charlie Martin in about an hour. I’ll be home after we finish that.”
    â€œCharlie Martin?” Blaine said, searching his mental database. “That old geezer you hired to put the flowers in our front beds?”
    â€œCharlie Martin,” Olivia jumped in. “The older gentleman who is one of the few remaining World War Two vets around and who is a whiz of a fix-it man and a talented gardener. Plus, he’s a very nice fellow.”
    â€œSure,” Blaine said, tipping his head back to accept Olivia’s subtle reprimand, then turning to Tony. “I thought you said this film thing would only involve Beth a few hours a week. This is starting to eat up a big chunk of time.”
    Tony shrugged. “She’s great with people. They open up to her.” He tilted his head, letting his hair fall over his forehead, and fed Blaine a look that could only be described as defiant.
    Blaine dismissed him with a scowl and turned back to Beth. “Just make sure dinner’s done on time. Why don’t you fix that shrimp-and-grits thing you do? Alan likes that.”
    â€œSure,” Beth said. “I could do that.” Her smile never faded, but by the way her body tensed I could tell she wasn’t happy.
    I’m no chef, but Esme’s a foodie and I saw her eyebrows raise slightly, so I knew what he was asking was probably not a whip-it-up-quick dish. I was surprised at how different Beth seemed around her husband. The calm, confident woman of five minutes ago had now devolved into a rabbity girl.
    â€œI’ll help, Beth,” Daniel said. “I’ll shop while you and Tony are filming with Charlie.”
    I noted that Daniel pointedly avoided looking at Blaine.
    â€œGood, then,” Blaine said, checking his watch. “I gotta get back to work. You all have fun with your”—he hesitated, then gave a vague wave of his hand—“whatever it is you’re doing here.” He gave a general nod to match the one he’d given us in greeting and Beth got up to walk him out. From where I was sitting I could see past the hallway to the front door. I watched as they said their good-byes. Blaine took Beth’s upper arm and pulled her to him for a kiss. After she closed the door behind him she stood for a moment rubbing her arms as if to warm herself. I wondered if the crisp fall day had turned nippy. She looked up and our eyes met. She smiled and dropped her eyes. I felt heat creeping into my face. I’d been caught being a voyeur. I quickly looked away and got back to business.
    â€œWe’re yours for the next two weeks,” I said to Olivia, “then we have a job down in Wilmington and we’ll be away for maybe as long as a month. Esme and I will take three or four of these boxes with us for tonight and archive them for our next session, whenever you’d like that to be.”
    â€œCould you come again tomorrow?” Olivia asked. “Maybe late morning?”
    We agreed on 11 a.m. and Olivia went upstairs to rest. Beth made a cup of tea to take up to her while Esme and I shuffled through the boxes to decide which ones to