Bell, Book, and Scandal

dessert from room service later.
    They were stopped in their tracks by a scene at the front desk. The Strausmanns were checking out. They had an enormous amount of luggage, even a small trunk that presumably held their costumes. A bellhop was loading everything up to take outside. Vernetta was speaking to a tall, dark, cadaverous older man. Was he her lawyer who’d come to Chicago to escort them home to Kentucky? Or maybe their fundamentalist preacher, saving them from the big-city sinners?
    “I’m surprised that they didn’t stay to the bitter end,“ Shelley said. “They must have at least one unused costume to wear to the closing ceremonies and lots of nasty things to say to practically everyone.“
    “Especially us,“ Jane replied. “I’m glad they’re leaving now. I didn’t want to run into them again. I doubt they remembered our names, but they’d have recognized us.“
    “Oh dear, I hadn’t even considered that. We have been saved. Let’s go upstairs right now so they don’t spot us. I think I need a good hot soaky bath to relax.“
    When they returned once again to the suite, Jane took off her nice clothes and put on her sweats and sat down in the most comfortable chair to read the book she’d started before the Miss Mystery interrogation started. It was a good book, but she kept tending to nod off from shear weariness. This conference had gone on too long, had too many emotional ups and downs, and all she wanted was to go home.
    She was unashamedly napping when Shelley yelped her name a few minutes later. Jane leaped up and ran into Shelley’s bedroom. Her friend was sitting at the desk and frowning at the screen of her laptop computer.
    “What’s wrong? You haven’t even changed your clothes. I thought you were taking a bath,“ Jane said.
    “Look at this,“ Shelley said.
    Jane couldn’t read the computer screen over Shelley’s shoulder. “Print it out so I can see it.“
    It was from Miss Mystery’s web site and said:
     
    BULLETIN: PLAGIARISM DISCOVERED
    Dear Readers and Writers, remember when we were all talking about the “E-Pubbed Wonder“ who received a huge advance from legendary editor Sophie Smith? Mrs. Vernetta Strausmann, the author of the book, has been revealed as a plagiarist at a mystery convention in Chicago.
    The clever sleuths who figured this out are a pair of middle-aged women, Enid Potts and Olga Strange. They claim to be cousins, living in a remote cabin together in Alaska. We all know what this means about them, don’t we? Ha ha!
    Part of the book was copyright infringed (another phrase for plagiarism) from a book that Zac Zebra, the well-known reviewer, wrote years and years ago.
    More on this upheaval when I learn the details. Cousins. Right. Ha ha.
    Your reporter, Miss Mystery, giving you all the inside dirt the moment it’s dug up.
     
    Jane sat down on Shelley’s bed. “This is awful.“
    “Middle-aged women,“ Shelley quoted angrily. “Did you understand it? We’re not only middle-aged, we’re lesbians,“ Jane said.
    “Is that what she meant? I let myself be caught up in the middle-aged part. Okay, that’s it. The woman has to pay for this.“ “How are you going to do that?“
    “I’ll show you,“ Shelley said, rummaging in her suitcase and coming up with a tiny silver digital camera. “I’ve been waiting to use this. I’ve read all the instructions. Miss Mystery hides hex identity. She won’t be able to do it ever again. I’m going take pictures of her and spread them as fax and wide as I can.“
    Shelley threw the camera into her purse and walked out of the suite.
    Jane wished her well. But didn’t want to follow her and draw attention to the two of them together.
    Shelley was back in an hour. She took a little gadget out of the camera and plugged it into a slot in her computer, hit a couple of keys, and a picture of the woman calling herself Lucille Weirather popped up on the screen. It wasn’t an especially good photo. It was dark and murky.
    “I didn’t want to use the flash and alert her,“ Shelley said. “I took a lot of shots but this one isn’t useful. She’s in profile and other people are standing behind her. I don’t want that.“
    One by one, she displayed the rest of the photos on the screen. Of the eight pictures Shelley had taken, only two were acceptable. And one of those had another person in the frame.
    “I could fix that by cropping the other woman out, if I had to, but I think I’ll just go with