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room and said:
Mr Huntsman, it was nothing to do with cocaine. Apparently,
she took a sleeping pill. I don t know where she got it from. It was
extremely strong but she only took one so it was not a suicide
attempt. She ll be fine although we will keep her in overnight for
observation. A young girl like that should not have to take sleeping
pills. I recommend that you persuade her to discontinue their use.
I assured him that I would and then I drove back to the mayoral
residence where a very chilly Julietta permitted me to speak to
Wilkinson.
I told him what had happened since Julietta kicked me out of
the house.
Sir, the master was very angry with Mrs Bronson. He told her
that he wanted you and Miss Desdemona here at the house and that
she had no right to banish you without discussing it with him. Miss
Desdemona called me yesterday and I had the police raid cabin
176. They caught Gertrude Spotless there but Barforth Crawley
apparently eluded them.
I went up to have a word with Daniel, who was delighted to see
me. Not so his mother, who would have loved to order me away
from the boy but feared to annoy her husband.
I had expected to catch the mayor at home since it was still early
but he had already left for his office so I drove there to see him.
I was met downstairs by a very glamorous and shapely lady, who
informed me that she was the mayor s secretary and that the mayor
could see me shortly. I noted that the secretary was wearing wedding
rings and was probably twice my age.
After a thirty minute wait, the secretary asked me to follow her
and I admired her shapely rear-end all the way into the mayor s
inner office.
Come in Mr Huntsman. Please sit down. I apologize for my
wife s unseemly behavior. She is under considerable stress since
this kidnapping matter started. Please move back into the house,
everyone feels much safer with you there. Now, how may I help
you?
Sir, did you see this morning s Clarion?
I skipped breakfast this morning. That is when I normally peruse
the press offerings. Why? What has happened of any import? I
knew that the only matters of any import he was concerned about
was whether his ratings were up or down in the gubernatorial stakes.
I related the details of the Clarion story to him without
mentioning Desdemona s situation.
I regret that I allowed myself to be wooed into a sense of
security with Janine Drew, sir. I will never open up to anyone else
like that again.
Ah, no harm done, my boy. He said expansively. I have
encountered that young lady myself and I know how easily one can
be misled by one as attractive as she. I wonder how she knew that
you were in cabin 199.
I can only think that she followed my car to the lake but I had
my eye on the rearview mirror all the time so she must be an expert
at it.
Ah, I doubt that, it is more likely that she had the Clarion staff
track down every property owned by me or my family. That cabin
is in the name of the Kingston Family Trust of which Desdemona
is the sole beneficiary. Kingston was her mother s surname before
marriage. While you are here let me have Desirée show you to your
new office although I do not know how long we shall be in this
building. The polls indicate that we might be moving soon.
Desirée turned out to be his attractive secretary and when she
realized that I was not just a kid that wandered in off the street
but the mayor s Security Advisor, she became much friendlier and
chatted freely as she took me to a large office with Security Advisor
painted on the glass door.
Have you worked for the mayor for a long time Desirée? I
asked her before I stepped into the office.
I was the previous deputy mayor s secretary and became Mayor
Bronson s secretary when he married Julietta, who had been his
personal assistant up to then. That surprised everyone because
Mayor Bronson is a very ambitious man.
He seems to be very popular. I commented.
Yes, he knows how to work the electorate and I suppose that it
helps to have a lot of money if you are running for public office.
How did the mayor make his money? I heard that he was not
always as rich as he is today.
As far as I know, he inherited most of it through his first wife.
Her parents were rich and they employed Bradford Bronson to
manage their business when Delice s father had his heart attack.
Bradford took the business from strength to strength and married
the boss s daughter so in the end, he finished up with everything
when Delice s mother died a year after her father went.
Chapter Six
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