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"I wasn't thinking of me," Sandecker said slowly
"Then who? Certainly not me I'm the little man who isn't here, remember?"
"I had sonorant of our behind-the-scenes skullduggery Someone who is an authority on sunken ships and whom the press would treat with the utmost courtesy and respect"
"And where are you going to find this paragon of virtue?"
"I'lad you used the word virtue," Sandecker said slyly "You see, I was thinking of your wife"
39
Dana Seagram stood confidently at the lectern and deftly fielded the questions put to her by the eighty-odd reporters seated in the NUMA headquarters auditorium She smiled continuously, with the happy look of a wo herself and who knows she would be approved of She wore a terra-cotta color wrap skirt and a deeply V'd sweater, neatly accented by a sant; an ie
A white-haired woman on the left side of the rooram?"
Dana nodded gracefully
"Dr Seagrao Daily, would like to knohy the governe an old rusty ship Why wouldn't the money be better spent elsewhere, say for welfare or badly needed urban renewal?"
"I'll be happy to clear the air for you," Dana said "To begin with, raising the Titanic is not a waste of eted, and so far we are well below that figure; and, I ht add, ahead of schedule"
"Don't you consider that a lot of money?"
"Not when you consider the possible return You see, the Titanic is a veritable storehouse of treasure Estimates run over thr
ee hundred ers' jewels and valuables still on board a quarter of a million dollars' worth in one stateroos, as well as the furnishings and the precious decor, soladly pay anywhere from five hundred to a thousand dollars for one piece of china or a crystal goblet froentlemen, this is one time when a federal project is not, if you'll pardon the expression, a taxpayer ripoff We will show a profit in dollars and a profit in historical artifacts of a bygone era, not to mention the trey"
"Dr Seagram?" This from a tall, pinch-faced man in the rear of the auditorium "We haven't had time to read the press release you passed out earlier, so could you please enlighten us as to the e?"