'Paul is a businessman, ' Laurie explained.
Both Jack and Lou nodded in unison. Jack expected more of an explanation of what type of businessman, but Laurie changed the subject, 'I learned more today about the violent far right than I wanted to know, ' she said. 'Particularly about rightwing militias and skinheads.'
'I didn't know anything about the role of music in the skinhead movement, ' Lou said.
'What amazes me and scares me is that this militia movement is nationwide, ' Laurie said. 'Special Agent Gordon Tyrrell estimates there are some forty thousand armed survivalists spread across the country waiting for God knows what.'
'I think they're waiting for the government to implode from the weight of its huge bureaucracy, ' Paul said. 'Sort of like a neutron star.
Then the survivalists will be in a position not only to survive but also to take over. '.
'They're not above helping it along, ' Laurie said. 'Agent Tyrrell said that undermining the government has become the rationale for violence now that the Soviet Union is no longer the archetypal enemy.'
'Revenge is also a rationale, ' Lou said. 'Consider Timothy Mcveigh.
He was apparently trying to get back at the government for the raid on the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas.'
'Back then I was under the delusion that Timothy Mcveigh was an anomaly, ' Laurie said. 'But it's not true, and that's the terrifying part. There are forty thousand potential Timothy Mcveighs out there.
No one knows where one will strike next and on what pretense.'
'Or with what, ' Jack said.
'Remember the lecture we got from Stan Thornton and the office of Emergency Management? It's not inconceivable for one of those nuts to get his hands on a weapon of mass destruction.'
'God help us if that were ever to happen, ' Laurie said.
'Gordon Tyrrell doesn't think it's a question of it' Lou said. 'His anti-terrorism department thinks the question is when. Just think of all the nuclear weapons that are not entirely accounted for in what used to be the Soviet Union.'
'Let's order our dinners, ' Laurie said with a dejected shake of her head. 'If we talk about this much longer, I'm going to lose my appetite.' The waiter came over to the table the moment he was summoned.
He rattled off an impressive list of specials while divvying up the rest of the champagne. Once everyone had ordered, he disappeared into the kitchen.
'I've one last question about your skinhead case, ' Jack said to Laur
'Did you find anything at autopsy that was helpful for the FBI? ' Laurie sighed and glanced at Lou. 'Not really. What do you say, Lou?'
'Your impression that the stab wounds were made with a knife with a serrated upper edge might help, '
Lou said. 'Provided the knife turns up.
Also the bullet you took out of the brain might be useful, but it's hard to say at this point until ballistics looks at it. The fact that the crucifying nails were of Polish manufacture is not going to be any help because I've already found out they're widely distributed.' if 'So this PAA or People's Aryan Army is still a metropolitan unknown?'
' Jack asked.
'I'm afraid so, ' Lou said. 'The only reassuring part is that Internet traffic concerning them has suddenly dropped off. We're hoping that means whatever they'd been planning has been canceled.'
'Let's hope so, ' Jack said.
The appetizers began to arrive and the red wine was poured. The four concentrated on their food and for a time, conversation was minimal.
Jack surreptitiously eyed Laurie but was unable to make any eye contact.
'Tell us about your case today, ' Laurie said to Jack. 'I heard it was an other interesting one.' Jack had to clear his throat. 'Surprising yes, interesting.. .
somewhat.
It was a case of inhalation anthrax.'
'Anthrax? ' Lou questioned with obvious interest. 'That's a potential bio-weapon.'
'It is indeed, ' Jack agreed. 'But fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, this case has a more prosaic origin.
The victim had just imported a bunch of rugs from Turkey, where the disease is endemic. He's apparently the only victim and the rugs are safely locked up in a warehouse in Queens. End of story. I couldn't even get a rise out of the city epidemiologist.'
'Thank the Lord for small favors, ' Laurie said.
'Amen, ' Lou added.
The entrees arrived, and while the foursome ate their dinners the conversation stayed on neutral ground.
The delay in addressing the real issue, whatever it was, only made Jack's curiosity and anxiety mount.
Adding to his anxiety was the subtle and, he couldn't help but feel, inappropriate familiarity between Laurie and Paul. He noticed it in the way she touched his arm or the way he dabbed at the corner of her mouth with his napkin. In Jack's mind these small intimacies were inappropriate because he knew she couldn't have known the man long.
Finally, over coffee, Laurie cleared her throat and tapped her water glass gently with her fork. Paul assumed a self-satisfied smile and leaned back. It was obvious that from his point of view this was Laurie's party.
'I guess you guys must wonder why I invited you here tonight, ' Laurie began.
No, the thought has never entered my mind, Jack said to himself while his pulse quickened.
'I don't quite know how to tell you this but.. .' Laurie looked at Paul, who shrugged his shoulders as if to say he didn't know either.
Out with it before I barf, Jack said silently.
'First of all, I owe you both an apology, ' Laurie said. She looked alternately at Jack and Lou. 'I'm sorry I had to call you so early in the morning. At least early for your time.' Jack blinked. Laurie had lost him. Why was their time different from her time?
'The explanation is that I was calling from Paris, France, ' Laurie said. 'Paul and I had gone there for the weekend, and we were waiting to board the Concorde to come back to New York.' Paul nodded, confirming this startling story.
'Paul had business in Paris, ' Laurie continued. 'He was nice enough to invite me to go along. It was quite a weekend.' She looked over at Paul and extended her right hand. He took it lovingly.
Jack smiled over gritted teeth. He suddenly saw Paul as a snake-in the-grass who'd managed to win Laurie with this grand, gallant gesture, a weekend in Paris.
'One of the things that happened was quite unexpected, ' Laurie continued. 'At least for me.' Laurie took her left hand out from under the table where she'd kept it discreetly for the entire dinner.
It was balled in a fist as she extended it out over the tablecloth.
When her arm was fully extended she dramatically opened her hand and spread her fingers.
Both Jack and Lou blinked. They found themselves looking down at a diamond that seemed to be the size of a golf ball on Laurie's ring finger. It caught all the light from the room and threw it back with blinding intensity.
'You guys are getting married, ' Lou said as if he were describing an upcoming cataclysm.
The couple interpreted his tone as one of awe, not dread.
'It seems that way, ' Laurie said with a smile. 'I haven't unconditionally agreed yet, but as you can see Paul has convinced me to take the ring. We haven't even told our parents. You two are the first to know.'
'We're flattered, ' Jack managed to say while his mind churned for an explanation for this unexpected turn of events.
He'd thought of Laurie as being much too mature for what he considered adolescent behavior.
'It's been a whirlwind, ' Laurie said. She looked at Paul for confirmation.
'I'd describe it more as a tempest, ' Paul said with a lascivious wink.
Laurie and Paul then launched into an animated description of all the romantic things they'd been able to squeeze into the previous month.
Jack and Lou found themselves reduced to nodding at appropriate moments while maintaining forced
