Quane got himself killed, I said. If hed really figured out what happened to Mix, he must have tried to get cute with it. He got cute with the wrong people. Yell at him to freeze! Through gritted teeth, he said,Check on Showalter. Get the recorder. Perry Mason sat in the visitors room, while on the other side of the table and separated from him by a mesh screen, Sybil Harlan smiled happily. Mason said,In view of the Courts ruling, I feel that I have explored this phase of the matter as far as I can go. Thats Dev for you, honey. You try to pay him a compliment and he comes back with a cynical remark. Were gonna miss that, Dev. She rose, picked up her robe, and walked into the house. He and every guy on the starboard side, and probably a bunch on the port side, watched her every step of the way, their focus so intense it was like the last minute of their lives. The garbage men? I said. Ninety-eight percent of them. At the time I think they were making a buck and a quarter an hour and no overtime. Mix stayed with them all that summer. He slept in their houses, ate with them, and walked the picket line with them. He hated it because he always likedthe best hotels and the best restaurants, and carrying a sign in a picket line when the temperatures a hundred and three degrees was his idea of no fun. But he madeNewsweek andTime and the network newscasts were carrying him as though he were sponsored by Exxon. Christian said his dad died. Has Jess lost her mind? No wonder she wont speak to him. Then, Its the new bimbo, isn’t it?’ How should I know? she said. I probably knocked harder than I needed to but when there was no response I assumed that she still hadnt heard me. Then I saw a tiny button of a doorbell and pushed it. I heard the sound peal inside. For no particular reason I stepped back over to the front window and looked in again. I really wanted to see her. But I didnt. I tried the bell again and again but got no response. I opened the exterior glass door and knocked hard on the wooden interior one. And the force of my knock pushed it back so that all I had to do was step inside. Oxley shook his head again, a little tiredly this time.Ive been in this business twelve years now and I never heard of any witness who apologized for not being able to tell you the color of the socks of some guy whos pointing a gun at him. Then she said that if Ishould happen to be dragged into it, and they could prove I was out there with Lutts, the only other thing for me to do was to show that I had been in fear for my life. There were a scattering of exes — wives and husbands, and just good friends — who are candidates, but nobody who is known to any of the other survivors — so far. In fact, none of the names that anybody on the list came up with are known to any of the others. Well, if you want to put it that way, yes..