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"My appointment ith Mr Meredith," Philip said "I understand he is currently chairman of Vandermeer and Company"

"Mr Meredith is indisposed His niece is taking care of the business for hilanced around as if tooverheard, then whispered, "He had a stroke last week, totally incapacitating I’m sure Miss Meredith will be officially installed as chair very soon"

If erewith a woned to distract athe kind of woht It looked like I’d have to wing it and see what kind of person this Miss Meredith was

Soon a frazzled-looking young man came into the lobby "Mr Sh at any second he was going to slip a note saying soe!" into our pockets I recognized the look; I’d looked much like that in my old job

The chairman’s office was even more lush than the lobby The desk in the center of it was large enough that you could have held a feast for twenty of your closest friends on it, with room for several courses’ worth of silverware at each place setting and space in thequartet to provide entertainment I sank past my three-inch heels and almost up to my ankles in a carpet that could have doubled as ain the back corner of the office

Six

It was a skeletal creatureme for the past couple of months I couldn’t be sure if it was the saical creatures look pretty much alike to me, but the one I knew had worked for Idris ThatI had a feeling I wasn’t supposed to be able to see Mr Bones, who stood silent and still in his corner, so I forced iant pink elephant in the middle of the room

Then Miss Meredith came into the room and shook Philip’s hand "Mr S in" I wasn’t sure which was erous, her or Mr Bones She was a shark in human form--sleek, efficient, and deadly, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had a couple of extra rows of teeth The ones we could see hite and even, and she turned the full force of the but which looked like it ht draw blood Philip turned out to be pretty smart, for he didn’t look like he was the least bit taken in by her attempt at charm

I remembered that I was supposed to be a brassy oil heiress, so I waded through the carpet and stuck my hand out at her "Sue-Ellen Hunt, of the Texas Hunts," I said, thickening my drawl as ot here I bet this office runs you about asin Texas, you know" I was beginning to annoy ernails on a blackboard to a New Yorker

"Miss Hunt isa beat "When she heard about ht it would be beneficial for her towith ht?" I said with as usto as I could muster

"Please, have a seat," Miss Meredith said, gesturing toward a pair of plush wingback chairs Only the tiniest hint of annoyance showed in her eyes, but I got the feeling that est eet past her icy facade

I more or less tuned out the financial discussion while I checked out the setting There was a row of portraits on one wall, going froraph of a white-haired, stern-jawed s at the other end About five portraits in froed abruptly They went fro coarser and meaner It was obvious when the company had been usurped Other than the skeletal creature still lurking in the corner, I didn’t spot anything obviously ic wouldn’t have noticed anything odd

When I blinked back to theup "Thank you for the information I shall have to consult with

Sylvia eyed him warily I hoped she hadn’t noticed the resemblance between him and all those portraits on the wall "You won’t find our specialized services anywhere else," she said "We’re one of the only high-level banking houses exclusively serving the ical community" She turned to me and added, "I hope e have to offer interests you, as well"