Dejectedly, Max shook his bald head. “It was gone.
Somebody got there ahead of me.”
Judith stiffened. Was Max referring to Barry Newcombe’s
belongings? But no one knew they’d been stolen from Judith’s shoulder bag. No one, Judith reminded herself, except
the person who had stolen them…
“Are you okay?” Renie had poked her head around the
corner.
Judith offered her cousin a tentative smile. “Yes, we’re fine.
We thought we’d have a quick drink. How about you?”
“Are you kidding?” Renie asked. “Most of our fellow diners
are already ripped. Somebody has to stay sober. I nominate
me.”
“I’m not ripped,” Judith murmured as she and Max returned with Renie to the dining room. “But we need to talk.
Let’s clear the table.”
“Unh-unh,” said Renie. “Ava’s going to do that. You need
to talk to her, remember?”
“Trade you Ava for Max,” Judith whispered as they approached the table. “I already did him.”
“We’ll see,” Renie hedged, sitting down in her place
between Gene and Margo.
“Fiber optics, my butt!” shouted Margo. “Until you give
customers more underground wiring, they won’t give a rat’s
ass if…”
“Too many numbers, not enough numbers,” muttered Ava.
“Everybody has to have a private line, a fax line, a cell phone.
Before we know it, it’ll take forty-seven numbers just to dial
your…”
“If you can’t beat ’em, sue ’em,” Gene mumbled. “I love
lawsuits. They get me out of the office.”
“Analog, digital,” Russell said in a sing-song voice. “Digital,
analog. Diggity-do, loggity-dog, we’re all lost in a big thick
fog.”
“That’s it!” Frank Killegrew bellowed, getting to his
feet in an unsteady fashion and brandishing his slide rule
like a sword. “You’re out of order! All of you! Be positive!
Keep the ship on the rails! How did I ever think I could turn
this company over to such a bunch of whimpering nincompoops?”
Nadia put up a restraining hand. “Please, Frank—you’re
getting very red in the face. You don’t want to have another…spell.”
Killegrew shoved Nadia’s hand out of the way. “Spell? I
didn’t have any damned spell! I was shocked, that’s all. I’m
as hale and hearty as a nuclear sub.” Despite his protests, he
sat down abruptly.
“Hell, Frank,” Max said, finishing his second double martini and filling his glass with red wine, “you ought to be glad
that some of us are still alive. If you ask me, this weekend
has put a whole new meaning to downsizing.”
Killegrew’s face was still red. “That’s not funny. If you’re
all so damned smart, why don’t you figure out who’s killing
