Tank:
I wonder how he'll be able to strike at Lois while in custody... oh, of course. Nigel, Asabi, and a host of others. Looks like Lois is toast.
But Tank, remember that Nigel is a gay hairdresser and Asabi is a family man who owns a rather nice restaurant. Okay, so these could be covers... but they're not.
As for the whams... wasn't CJ almost dying a few chapters enough for you? Anyone would think that you're blood thirsty.
Pam: thanks for the reassurance.
who was away for the weekend, and chose to catch up on this before WLMC <g> You should be flattered, Chris!
Believe me, I am! Very.
Hazel: thank you, thank you and thank you. And I'll correct the typo.
Maria, Merry, Nan: thanks for your feedback, too. It makes a huge difference knowing that people are reading this... particularly knowing that people have managed to stick with this all the way through.
Gerry: thanks for the input.
Okay, so Pagliano is stupid...
I don't think that I can prevent him being an idiot, but I have put in some hints as to his personality traits in an earlier chapter (Twenty-two, where Lois is on Henderson's stakeout). Thus (new stuff in bold):
"And how, precisely, do you know that?"
"His wife and I belong to the same health club," answered Benton. Then, to make it clear that this wasn't simply a happy coincidence, she added, "I joined two weeks ago. Sylvia Pagliano spends most of her time in the members' bar. She gets quite talkative after a few spritzers. I gather," continued Benton, "that she would do more or less anything to get hold of some money."
The unspoken suggestion hung between them. Then Luthor said, "Hypothetically speaking, if Mrs Pagliano got hold of a few shares in MaxiComm, would she sell?"
"Yes, she would. Hypothetically speaking."
Luthor sounded thoughtful. "What else can you tell me about this Pagliano character?"
"Not a lot," answered Benton. "His wife described him as 'ugly and perverse'. She says he has an almost pathological hatred of taking advice or orders from anyone else. He'll argue that black is white, even when he knows he's wrong, just to exercise his autonomy. I gather his behaviour leads to lots of arguments. He likes arguing, but she doesn't. She says he's impossible to live with."
Sounding surprised, Luthor said, "He behaves like that, but he still manages to be a success in business? Even *I* have take advice sometimes."
Lois thought she heard Carnes snort with suppressed laughter at that. Maybe she was wrong, though, because neither Benton nor Luthor gave any sign of having heard anything amiss.
Benton must have nodded then, because she didn't give a verbal answer to Luthor's question. "MaxiComm's board members might all hate him," she said, "but they know which side their bread is buttered on. They're all yes-men – no women on his board. And, when he's not being awkward, Pagliano allegedly verges on the brilliant." There was a pause, before Benton asked, "So what do you want me to do next?"
"Nothing yet," answered Luthor. "I think we can handle it from here."
I've also inserted a line in the most recent chapter to the effect that:
There was a glint of defiance in Pagliano's eyes, and Lois could tell that, no matter how willing he had been to be used as bait, he wanted to do it on his own terms. He was obviously a man who liked to be in control of situations and he resented the fact that, having agreed to help the police, they were trying to tell him what to do. Fool, she thought, sympathising with Plotnek's anger. This was hardly the time to be having a fit of post-adolescent rebellion. Then she remembered what Benton had said about Pagliano during the previous stakeout, and Lois wondered why she was surprised that he was behaving this way now; she – along with everyone else – should have expected it. Knowing that did nothing for the knot that had suddenly developed in her stomach, however.
Is this an improvement?
I didn't mean to make the police look foolish here; they should have planned for every contingency, but not everything can be so carefully orchestrated as they perhaps would wish. Again, I'm not sure what, if anything, I can do to make that clear.
Oddly, the main doubts I had with this section had to do with whether or not it was suspenseful enough, or whether, as dramatic A plot it wasn't a bit... well... boring. (Then again, this isn't the climax of the story, so I didn't want it to overshadow what is to come.)
WAC: I have changed the 'armed police' bit, too. Thanks for the heads up on that.
Chris
