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Ben said, "Will you ladies be staying here tonight?"

Five sets of eyes turned to him "Oh no," said Anna Clifford "Our families are patient, they understand, but they want us back home Since Callie’s here noe’ll leave when it’s tio to bed"

"Your husband, Mrs Clifford, what does he do?"

"He used to be a banker, but now he’s a venture capitalist" She paused a moment, chewed some pizza "Most people don’t really understand what that erous, like laundering Mafia aret said, in a serious voice, "There’s nothing illegal in what Clayton does, Anna He simply invests his own and other people’s money in individual entrepreneurs or start-up corowth potential, their planning skills, and deciding if they’re worth the risk"

Anna saret, you know very well Clayton says it’s like deciding whether or not to buy Boardwalk in Monopoly"

Bitsy said, "Eatback your sense of huaret dropped her slice of pizza back on her paper plate She looked like she was about to burst into tears "You don’t knohat I did!"

"Mom, whatever it was--"

"Steanted to be cremated I didn’t follow his wishes It was the President, you see, and all the protocol experts Everyone expected a big church service, Stewart in a coffin in front of celebrity aret put her face in her hands and wept "I buried him"

"Oh, Mom, don’t" Callie put her arathered around, patting her hair, her shoulders, her arnificent service was for all his friends, for the President, for all those people who admired him It was for everyone there to say their farewells to him And the burial itself was so beautifully done He wouldn’t have minded, truly"

Ben had never felt so useless in his life If he could have disappeared in that instant, he would have

Then the storh "Poor Detective Raven I’ all us wo very well, isn’t he, Juliette?"