Dore interrupted, “That is the book I gave youon the plane."
"Steve insisted in placing an 'X' on the mapthe Sheriff had spread out on a table and announcing that the 'X'marked the girl's location. The Sheriff got mad and said that thegirl couldn't be in that area; they were concentrating the searchwhere they were sure she had gone missing. The Sheriff orderedSteve off the premises and threatened him with arrest.
"Later that night, they found the girl frozento death in the place identified by Steve on the map."
The 'den mother' appeared with the lattes, abowl of fruit, and a bowl of healthy snack bars. Dore introducedher as though she was part of the family. "David, this is Maureen;she runs this place. David will be here working with ussometimes."
Maureen was fiftyish, grey-haired, a littlefrumpy, wearing a navy blue polo shirt, starched khaki pants, and aglowing smile. I felt like a teenager being served dinner by mymother.
Maureen smiled and said, "Pleased to meet you,David. Feel free to visit our coffee bar any time, and let me knowif you need anything, anytime. That includes office supplies,secretarial support, travel arrangements, or someone to listen toyou, or to bounce an idea off."
"Thank you, Maureen," I said as her smilebeamed.
Dore added, "We try to keep an informalatmosphere around here and it is Maureen's job to inspireinformality and enforce the policy."
Vince sipped his drink and continued, "Ourcorporate counsel has filed a civil suit on behalf of the parentsof the girl against Rocky Butte County. We are seeking damages fornegligence, for not using all resources available to prevent thedeath of the girl. Our counsel suggested we get Bracken and Stevensto handle the case. That is where you come in."
Dore nodded to Vince and said, "Here is thefile on the suit. It is yours from here on out.
"We have a starting point for you. We havesponsored mathematical research by a LA mathematician, CandiceMontgomery, for a couple of years. She has come up with a theorythat can explain how ESP works. Now, we are underwriting a movieshe has written, which can explain that theory to people with onlyeight–grade mathematics training."
"I know her," I answered, "She delivers suchinteresting and entertaining lectures that students such as historymajors who are not registered for her classes, sometimes crowd intoher classrooms to hear some of her most famous lectures on subjectssuch as Statistics. I first heard of her at a professional seminarwhere she had the audience laughing uproariously while sheexplained Statistical Optics, not normally a very funnysubject."
"I'll call her to introduce you and tell her tocontact you," said Dore.
"You should go up to visit Steve, get to knowhim, and visit the area where the girl was lost. Dore, can you letSteve know about that also?" Vince added. "Dore will be yourcontact at Colson." Vince got up and shook my hand. "I am delightedthat you and Bracken and Stevens are handling this forus."
Dore led the way out of the conference room,down the stairs, to one of the maroon chairs in the large room. Shetook a seat and motioned for me to sit down. Possibly responding tomy puzzled expression, she said, "We all work here in the den." Shepaused, texted something on her Blackberry, opened her laptop,pressed a key, and paused. "Your return transportation will be herein a few minutes. Are you comfortable with all this?"
"Yes, but I must say I have only started onthis learning curve."
"Good," she replied. "We wanted a clean slate.But, I must warn you, the first time you discuss this subject withsome scientists, you will run into what I call 'The Bigot'sProtocol.' They will get incensed, maybe mad, turning red, andlecturing you on how any idea of psychic phenomena is puregullibility. It is really a hot button with many scientists andother people. Don't be discouraged: they're wrong and we are right.It is like telling a southern tent-revival preacher there is nosuch thing as Salvation.
Now if you will excuse me, I am working for thecompany." She tapped on her laptop.
I thought briefly about telling her about Urielbut thought better of it. As I opened my book I saw Vince walk intothe other end of the room, sit down, and open hislaptop.
In a few minutes, Dore walked me out to awaiting Towne car.
****
As I walked back into my office, Zaza said, "Ithought you were going to Palo Alto."
"I did," I replied. "These people are fastcompany."
"Is there going to be an address in Palo Altowhere I send flowers to?" Zaza inquired sarcastically.
"No, this is going to be 100%business."
"Mr. Bracken said to stop in when you gotback." Zaza said. "Shall I check to see whether he isavailable?"
"Yes."
"You can go right now," said Zaza after a brieftelephone conversation.
Phil greeted me with a smile, stood up from hisdesk, walked to his leather office couch, motioned for me to sit inan adjacent chair, and said, "Tell me about our newclient."
"They are really fast company and seem to beable to make fast decisions. They hold meetings that are three anda half minutes long and make important decisions in asnap."
Phil smiled and said, "Vince used to be a Navyjet pilot, the top-gun type. He is trained to quickly assessthings, make decisions, and take action. If someone fires anantiaircraft missile at you, you don't have time for a staffmeeting; you simple begin evasive maneuvers. If you are coming infor a landing, all the gauges on the instrument panel suddenly dropto zero, all the red lights go on, and the flight controls stopworking, you hit the eject button. It pays for a jet pilot to bedecisive.
"If he hadn't liked you or failed to have animmediate feeling of confidence in you, he would have fired you onthe spot. Congratulations! You have a client."
"Dore seems to be the same. I don't think sheblinked her eyes for the first fifteen minutes of our meeting. Idoubt that I will hear you complaining about an indecisiveclient."
"What do you think about the case sofar?"
"I can handle it, but I will be a littleuncomfortable about the
