Feelings seem to be running high everywhere, Nancy thought. Suddenly she grabbed Bess by the wrist and signaled for her to be quiet.

They stopped by an open door with a sign that read William Pappas, Producer. They couldn’t see in or be seen. Inside, a man was shouting, probably into a phone since no one responded to him. “I’ve told you before, he can’t do this to me! I don’t care if he is Rick Arlen. If he leaves this show, he’ll never work again! Nobody—nobody—breaks a contract with me. I’ll kill him before I let him work for someone else!”

Chapter Two

“I can’t believe he feels that strongly about Rick Arlen,” Bess whispered angrily.

Nancy peered into the office, taking care to remain hidden. William Pappas’s face was flushed with anger as he stared at the phone he had just slammed down. He fumbled in his pocket for a cigar.

“Actors! They’re all alike! No class—none at all,” he muttered to himself. Then he rose and shouted to a timid-looking girl in an inner adjacent office. “Get the writers on the phone and tell them I want a Rory Danner death scene—the more realistic the better. That idiot doesn’t deserve to live after what he’s put me through! And where’s my Danish? You know I can’t think before I’ve had my second coffee.”

“Come on!” Nancy said in Bess’s ear. “Let’s get out of here.” They hurried down the long hallway without looking back.

“Gosh, Nancy,” Bess announced after they’d rounded a corner and were safely out of sight, “I’ll bet he’s the one who’s causing all the trouble.”

“I don’t know, Bess. Maybe he has an artistic temperament, too. Remember what my aunt said about Mattie Jensen?”

Bess’s attention, however, was caught by something else. “ ‘Makeup.’ Here we are.” Bess placed her hand over her heart. “I can’t believe I’m about to walk through that door and meet Mattie Jensen! How do I look? Are you sure this skirt is okay?”