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114 Richard Stevenson

The Mason Doebler threat was going to be harder to finesse.

Doebler had apparently contacted O’Malley’s people and lied about having been molested by Hu

I arrived at Hu

Some looked chastened, others bordering on queasy. They had either seen or heard about the O’Malley fiasco. The two Gray Security guards also stood off to the side looking pensive.

Hu

Antoine and the twins had left for the night, but Marylou was in the living room stretched out on the couch, her ball gown up around her knees. As we came in, Marylou switched off the TV, stood up and straightened her skirts. “Huntington, you naughty boy!” she said gaily. “Am I going to have to send you to the woodshed? Oh, my word, when they showed that female impersonator pretending to be me, and you said, no, that’s not Marylou Whitney, that’s Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Dick Cheney, the war criminal, I just thought I was going to wet my pants!”

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Hu

Marylou tsk-tsked Hu

Art’s thinking was similar. “Hu

Hu

“How about Do

“Yecchh.”

“Or Don Giova

“How about Don Strachey’s adorable crack?” Hu

“I did. Hu

“Artie, do get me one more shot, would you, please, doll face?”

“Nuh-uh. You’ve had more than enough. Donald is correct.”

Hu

Thrilled to your receding hairline.”

116 Richard Stevenson

“No, thank you.”

“Oh, you must have attended the church up the street from the one I went to. Methodists sometimes allow a bit of leeway, but Presbyterians are generally stick-in-the-muds when it comes to sharing the masculine booty. Are you Presbyterian, Donald?”

“I once was. You nailed me, Hu

Hu

“Not to worry,” Art told me. “Hu

Of course, now that he’s richer than Prince Harry, Hu

“Just snip off the hot end and save the rest for later,” Marylou said. “I’ve seen people do that in Palm Beach since Madoff.”

I asked Marylou, “Were there any useful phone calls while Hu

“No, darling, there was just a brief call from Detective Sanders.

He saw Hu

have to say to anyone on the subject of the Brienings, whoever they are. Everybody who knows me knows that spin is my forte.”

Art said, “Hu

“No other calls?” I asked.

“No. Oh, there was one, actually. Do either of you know a Quentin Shoemaker?”

Art said no, but I said I thought the name sounded vaguely familiar.

“Mr. Shoemaker said he saw Hu

“That’s where I heard of Shoemaker,” I said. “I’ve read about the Rdq. It’s a kind of neo-hippie group, the Radical Drama Queens.”

“Oh, lovely, lovely! I think this is just the pick-me-up that Hu

Perhaps some people who have been placed on this earth to promote peace and love will simplify things and remind every one of us what is really important in life.”

Art said, “Marylou, honey, what you are saying sounds an awful lot like wishful thinking.”