Civil Rights in Criminal Justice Sexual Harassment

Every company has set policies concerning unprofessional behavior, ethics, and discrimination. It is each person’s responsibility to do the right thing when no one is watching. However, there are always those that think they are above the law so to speak. It is an organizations responsibility to uphold their policies and reprimand those that break them. Unfortunately, often times covert harassment, such as, sexual harassment goes unnoticed or ignored until a victim comes forth. According to According to Rubin (1995), â€Å"Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 covers sexual harassment with respect to compensation, terms and conditions of employment†¦ Sexual harassment is when a person receives unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, physical and/or verbal sexual overtones† (Rubin, 1995, p.3). Rubin (1995) discusses two types of sexual harassment: Quid pro quo is when an employee is forced into sexual activity under the threat that he/she will have a highly held benefit taken away and hostile work environment is when an employee is forced into sexual activity under the rouse that he/she will be given a highly held benefit and the behavior is extremely detrimental by altering the original terms of employment (Rubin, 1995). Such benefits could be job loss, raises, promotions/demotions, positive/negative performance evaluations, awards etc. As with any organization, female officers endure a constant barrage of discriminatory actions so organizations must enforceShow MoreRelatedCriminal Justice Trends Evaluation1581 Words   |  7 Pages394 WEEK 1 Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation John Doe CJA 394 October 01, 2001 Jane Doedy Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation The criminal justice system is forever adjusting to protect and serve a changing society. The paper evaluates, identifies and assesses recent future and current trends affecting the criminal justice system. Lastly, it defines the values of the system in a changing society. Recent trends affecting the criminal justice system areRead MoreSexual Harassment By The Gale Encyclopedia Of American Law1278 Words   |  6 PagesSexual harassment, as defined by the Gale Encyclopedia of American Law is defined as â€Å"unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that tends to create a hostile or offensive work environment.† An early and extreme case of sexual harassment in the United States was the sexual assault of African American women slaves by their owners, without any form available for legal recourse for the victims. Sexual Harassment wasn’t considered aRead MoreSocial Media and Internet Regulation Essay1691 Words   |  7 Pages Trolling is the new title that has been given to harassment that takes place on the Internet. A common example of trolling would be sending provocative messages via a communications platform for the pure entertainment of the sender, which then has a harmful effect on the recipient. There are different types of trolling; messages sent to harm others for the sender’s gratification are called ‘flame trolls’, and those to entertain others for their gratification have been given the title ‘kudos trolls’Read MoreThe Various Stages Of A Criminal Trial1523 Words   |  7 Pages What are the various stages of a criminal trial? Describe each one. The various stages of criminal trials is certain stages of arrest that take place, and develop to an end point of examination. The defendant is held and reasoned by question whether or not there was a crime that has been committed. A trial can be reasoned and argue the case. This is done to have a conviction of the defendant, and to be proven guilty. One of the first stages is the â€Å"pleading stage† and it starts by filingRead MoreEssay on Hate Crimes Against Gays and Lesbians1379 Words   |  6 PagesHate Crimes Against Gays and Lesbians LaReese Nixon Kaplan University CJ490: Research Methods in Criminal Justice Prof: Deborah Barrett August 7, 2012 Abstract Introduction Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons frequently face violence motivated by their sexuality or gender identity. Violence may be executed by the state, as in laws prescribing corporal punishment for homosexual acts, or by individuals engaging in intimidation, mobbing, assault, or lynching. Violence targetedRead MoreThe Issue of Cyberbullying1694 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ Cyber bullying A Criminal Offense Introduction Should cyberbullying be considered a crime? What are the punishments for cyberbullying? What kinds of behaviors are categorized as cyberbullying? This paper reviews those issues and provides supporting literature. Thesis: Cyberbullying has become far more than a nuisance and a distraction in public schools and hence strict rules should be enacted to deter cyberbullying. When a state legislature passes a criminal law in order to dissuade studentsRead MoreThe Role Of Police Officers And Deviant Behaviors Within Police Environment1768 Words   |  8 Pagesseconds. Either patrolling a notorious neighbourhood, chasing a criminal on the streets or getting in a cross-fire with the suspect ,life is always on the edge. The tough choices made in these irksome situations are highly subject to the Police officers’ power to exercise his discretion. But with having discretionary power, police officers are also accountable for their conduct with the public and other members of the cri minal justice system. The term civilian oversight refers to a practice underRead MoreThe Impact Of Religion On The Oklahoma Police Captain1270 Words   |  6 Pageswhile some just use it as a belief. I would say that there was on the job stress going on. The stress factor was that the captain defied an order because of his religious views. These problems are work and personal related. Work because it caused a civil suit and personal because religion is your own personal belief. The things that could have been done differently would have to be that the higher ranking officer didn’t order Captain Fields to say that the meeting was mandatory. If the highest rankingRead MoreCriminal Justice Process Essay example1094 Words   |  5 PagesWhen a crime is committed against another person, then justice must be served to those who committed the crime. In some cases the crimes involve sexual attacks on grown adults while some offenses are against minors. In these examples the underling connection is the committed crimes of sexual abuse or sexual assault on adults and minors. When these crimes are brought before the justice system they are processed and the convicted are given a sentence to carry out but sometimes those sentences mayRead MoreShould Gay Rights Be Legal?1580 Words   |  7 Pageslook at the community as infection, it is truth that makes us afraid of what we do not understand compared to what is seen. Just like slavery and women’s rig ht, Gay, Lesbian, Quire, and Bisexuals community have been faced with adversity. Gay rights are an ethical issue because there is limitation set for our community due to sexuality. Sexual discrimination is considering a candidate or worker unfavorably because of a person’s sex, or affiliation with a group or groups related with a specific sex

Asian Americans Exclusion and Segregation - 576 Words

The United States of America is the place of opportunity and fortune. â€Å"Many immigrants hoped to achieve this in the United States and similar to other immigrants many people from the Asian Pacific region hoped to make their fortune. They had it in their minds to either return to their homelands or build a home in their new country (Spring, 2013).† For this reason, life became very complicated for these people. They faced many challenges in this new country, such as: classifying them in terms of race and ethnicity, denying them the right to become naturalized citizens, and rejecting them the right for equal educational opportunities within the school systems. â€Å"This combination of racism and economic exploitation resulted in the educational policies to deny Asians schooling or to provide segregated schooling (Spring, 2013).†This was not the country of opportunity and fortune as many believed. It was the country of struggle and hardship. Therefore, like many othe r immigrants, they had the determination to overcome these obstacles that they faced to prove that the United States was their home too. The terms Asian American, Asian Pacific American, and Asian Pacific Islander are all used to describe residents of the United States. Who themselves are from or their ancestors were from the Asian Pacific region of the world. â€Å"Although the term Asian American may bring to mind someone of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino, or Asian Indian descent, the U.S. Census BureauShow MoreRelatedThe Unequal Treatment Of Minority Groups Essay1342 Words   |  6 Pagesgroups of people. The two important models of minority exclusion that have been discussed as being shared among Native Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans are apartheid and economic or political disempowerment. Apartheid is a model that was mostly seen during the â€Å"pre-civil rights race relations in the U.S.†(Week 3 Lecture 1). Apartheid literally mean s being separated or apart and can be encountered through racial segregation. This mode is usually enforced through means of force andRead MoreRacism and American History789 Words   |  3 Pagescreated for more than one factor. What eventually led to the creation of racial barriers against working-class African American and Asian was not simply racism but the combinations of racism with other social, political and economic factors. 　　One of the most crucial factors that had contributed to racial barriers was definitely the racism among working class African Americans. The racism is best shown in the Plessy V. Ferguson case established in 1896.[ 100 milestone documents, â€Å"U.S. Supreme CourtRead MoreRacism, Religion, and Family1549 Words   |  6 Pageswith that decision. A number of minority groups have assimilated into larger mainstream culture, and are seen as less threatening to the majority group. Jewish and many Asian communities are now seen as less foreign to many Americans because of the higher rates of assimilation into the mainstream culture. Segregation Segregation is the complete isolation of different racial or ethnic groups. In this model of interaction, different groups are separated from one another entirely. This can then resultRead MoreRacial Tensions And Viewpoints Of The Progressive Era986 Words   |  4 Pagesnot everything about it was terrible by any significant margin, all this considered, the bad was outweighed by the good. In the United States, this was a time of segregation, discrimination, negation to equality, and forms of extreme nationalism. The lack of respect and humanity towards specific groups of people led to widespread segregation, mild and severe forms of nationalism, and the continuation of the enforcement of Jim Crow Laws in certain parts of America. The United States experienced,Read MoreThe Japanese American Citizens League965 Words   |  4 PagesThe Japanese American Citizens League, also known by the acronym JACL, is a Nisei organization founded in 1929 with the initial goal of lobbying for Japanese-American Civil Rights while promoting the integration of citizens into American culture. Since its inception the JACL has expanded its mandate to focus on lobbying for the Civil Rights of all Asian-American citizens and protecting Japanese-American cultural heritage. The JACL is considered one of the oldest and one of the most influentialRead MoreSegregation Is The Division Of People Essay1319 Words   |  6 PagesSection I Paper: Analysis of Segregation Patterns Segregation is the division of people that share certain racial, social, and economic characteristics from other people of differing characteristics in a defined area. Segregation is mediated by action of specific groups of people leaving areas concentrated with other groups of people of differing interests. Essentially, individuals from these groups voluntarily (based on individual choice and personal preference) or involuntarily (based on externalRead MoreReservation Blues By Sherman Alexie1256 Words   |  6 Pagescohesive country. Sherman Alexie’s story Reservation Blues explores the lives of some Native Americans who wrestled with cultural, racial, and religious barriers to embrace the rest of the country. The story reflects the process of racial and cultural integration the country has been going through since its inception, revealing an underlying struggle by the minority groups in the country to become part of the Americans culture that is often dominated by the major ity white population. The process of assimilationRead MoreFighting A War At Home And Abroad1643 Words   |  7 Pagesremoved. Segregation during this period of war was very much alive for these racial groups. Factories full of a specific color worked long hours with little pay, usually women. The Men of these racial groups who volunteered or where drafted to the war, where put in color specific military units. One of these racial groups were Native Americans. Their warrior spirit was perfect for the fight against these overseas enemies. African Americans were also enlisted and drafted to the war. Segregation for themRead MoreRacism : Racism And Prejudice1339 Words   |  6 PagesRacism to Prejudice Racism plays a substantial part in our nations history; from slavery in the seventeenth century through the nineteenth century, to segregation in the early 1900s. The extreme racism of those days are long gone, and continue to just be a memory of the past. Although, prejudice still exists and it always will, because our brains are hardwired to prefer one race to another. That being said; a white person that grows up in an all white neighborhood who also attends an all-white schoolRead MoreCivil Rights and Civil Liberties1356 Words   |  6 PagesThe Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery and African American slaves gained their freedom during the Civil War; however, this did not mean they were fully integrated into American society. After the war, Southern Whites faced a crisis. The emancipation of slaves and the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship undermined their assertion that citizenship was for Whites only. The clear line between Whites who ruled and Blacks who were ruled became vulnerable. Since Whites slave owners could no

Effective Organizational Culture Free-Samples Myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Impact of Organizational Behaviour on Employee Performance. Answer: Introduction: Organizational behaviour is an extremely critical concept that determines the way all the activities associated within the business process. Organizational behaviour focuses on developing effective organizational culture so that it can keep the entire workforce motivated towards the provided responsibilities. Organizational behaviour includes both psychological and physical aspects that can have impact on the overall performance level of the employees. Many studies have been conducted on the organizational behaviour concept in order to highlight the kind of impact it can have on the performance level. In this study, the focus would be on identifying the impact of organizational behaviour on the performance level of the employees. For that reason, the study will focus on selecting three articles on the organization behaviour from the Academy of Management Journal, Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes and Journal of Management to highlight the kind of impact it can hav e on the performance level of the employees. The study will also focuses on highlighting the similarity and differences among the three articles to evaluate the topic in an effective manner. It will also help the study to identify the factors that can have impact on the overall performance level of the employees. Similarities among the three articles: The first article, Job engagement: Antecedents and effects on job performance illustrates that engagement level of the employees have given the opportunity to the organizations to enhance the performance level of employees (Rich, Lepine and Crawford 2010). It has provided comprehensive explanation regarding the relationship among the employees with the performance level of the employees. The article aims on using key mechanism explaining relationship with different type of organizational factors, individual characteristics and job performances. On the other hand, second article The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees has focuses on highlighting the significant relationship between HR practices with employee performances. The article has highlighted the necessity of using strategic human resource management (SRHM) for fulfilling all the responsibilities associated with the business processes. The article has mentioned that businesses have to face many uniq ue challenges from the market on regular basis. Therefore, it induces employees to tackle unique challenges on regular basis (Kehoe and Wright 2013). For that reason, HR management will have to focus on developing comprehensive recruitment and reward system in order to keep the performance level of the employees at the desired level. The article has mentioned that employee perception on the HR practices can also have major impact on the motivational and performance level of the employees. Third article, Linking ethical leadership to employee performance: The roles of leadermember exchange, self-efficacy, and organizational identification focuses on highlighting the importance of maintaining ethics in the leadership practices in order to keep the employees motivated towards their roles and responsibilities. This article has used the concept of social exchange, social identify theories and social learning for highlight the significance of maintaining ethics in the business environment (Walumbwa et al. 2011). Thus, all three articles has highlighted the significance of maintaining proper relationship among the employees working in different departments and position in order to keep the performance level of the employees at the desired level. Thus, all three articles have emphasized on developing strong relationship with all level of employees in order to keep the performance level of the employees at the desired order. Thus, all three articles have focused on developing effective communication culture among the departments in order to motivate employees to give their best at the workplace. Differences among the three articles: However, all three articles have focused on evaluating different areas of organizational behaviour that can have impact on the overall organizational performances. The first article has highlighted the significance of maintaining effective employee engagement in order to keep the performance level of the employees at the desired level. The article has mentioned that effective use of employee engagement perspectives help organizations to create positive psychological impact on the employee perception (Rich, Lepine and Crawford 2010). As a result, it increases the satisfaction level of the employees in a major way. Therefore, it induces employees to give their best for the fulfilment of organizational goals and objectives comprehensively. On the contrary, the second article has focused on highlighting the role of human resource management team in keeping the performance level of the employees at the desired level. It has been assessed that changing needs and wants of the customers induces organizations to initiate new and innovative strategies on regular basis. For that reason, employees also have to face huge amount of challenges for completing all the organizational responsibilities. The article has illustrated that organizational culture should focus on meeting the perceived needs of the employees in order to keep them motivated towards the roles and responsibilities of the organization (Kehoe and Wright 2013). Unlike first article, it has not focused on assessing the employee engagement perspective for highlighting the impact on the overall performance level. On the other hand, third article has focused on highlighting the importance of maintaining ethics on the leadership style for encouraging employees to give their best at the workplace. It has highlighted the kind of impact proper utilization of supervisor or managers can have on the psychological aspect of the employees. It illustrates that appropriate exchange between executive levels of employees and managers can increases the motivational and satisfaction level of the employees, which will eventually create positive impact on the overall performance level. Thus, the third article has not only focused on the employee perspective on the HR roles or activities (Walumbwa et al. 2011). Rather it has tried to cover all areas of the operational process that can be affected by the unethical practices of leadership styles. Unlike first article, it has only focused on the communicational pattern between leaders and executive level of employees and its impact on the overall performance level . Thus, all three articles have used different aspects for evaluating the overall performance level of the employees. Any possible reconciliation of the opposing points in the three articles: All three articles have focused on identifying the way of enhancing the performance level of the employees. However, each of the articles has looked to analyze different factor that can have impact on the performance level of the employees. The first article has mentioned that effective use of employee engagement allows creating greater psychological impact on the performance level. For that reason, it has included Kahns engagement theory for highlighting the significance of maintaining physical, emotional and cognitive factors at the desired level. The article has mentioned that organizations need to be careful about all the factors for fulfilling the responsibilities associated with the businesses (Rich, Lepine and Crawford 2010). On the other hand, second article has focused on developing proper perception about the HR practices for encouraging the employees to give their best at the workplace. Thus, it emphasizes the fact maintaining positive attitude and behaviour towards the HR practices can allow the organizations to keep positive work culture (Kehoe and Wright 2013). Otherwise, employees might feel de-motivated to perform all the responsibilities in an effective manner. Third article has highlighted the significance of developing effective leadership procedure for encouraging the employees to give their best at the workplace. It has highlighted that leadership can induce employees to create positive attitude towards the successful fulfilment of all the provided professional responsibilities. From the assessment, it can be identified that both first and second articles are providing opposing views for encouraging employees to give their best at the workplace. The first article is focusing more on developing effective communicational network among the employees for encouraging them to give their best at workplace. Second article is primarily focusing on the reward and benefit structure developed by the HR management for inducing employees to give their best at the workplace (Kehoe and Wright 2013). On the other hand, third article has highlighted the significance of using effective leadership style for keeping the performance level at the desired order (Walumbwa et al. 2011). All three articles have highlighted different factors for creating positive impact on the motivation or satisfaction level of the employees. Thus, keeping the satisfaction and motivational level of the employees at the desired order is ultimate thing for maximizing the performance level of the employe es. Integration of the information contained in the three articles: From the three articles, it can be assessed that keeping the motivational level of the employees at the desired order is essential for achieving business aims and objectives. For that reason, organizations need to focus on developing several unique strategies in which employees can feel an integral part of the organization. From the first article, it can be assessed that keeping effective employee communicational network is extremely important for fulfilling all the responsibilities. Effective communicational structure allows organizations to share all the necessary information to the employees holding different designation. Therefore, it reduces any possibility of arising confusion within the workplace (Rich, Lepine and Crawford 2010). Moreover, it also helps employees to understand each other comprehensively, which will create positive impact on both employee engagement and organizational performance level. From the second article, it can be illustrated that appropriate use of HR p ractices is essential for fulfilling all the requirements in an effective manner. Supportive rules and regulations by HR allow employees to remain secure about their position in the workplace that will eventually create positive impact on the employee performance level (Kehoe and Wright 2013). From the third article, it can be highlighted the effective use of leadership style is critical for motivating employees to give their best at the workplace. Appropriate use of leadership style will allow organizations to include employees on critical decision-making process. As a result, it would encourage employees to feel themselves as an integral part of the organization (Walumbwa et al. 2011). Thus, all three articles have highlighted the importance of developing appropriate work culture within the organization for enhancing the present level of performances of the employees. Integrated interpretation of the three articles to a specific work or organizational situation: In the present business context, organizations look to utilize innovative strategies and procedure for achieving competitive advantage in the market. Now, keeping the internal environment of the organization at the desired level is among the prime aim of the organization. It allows organizations to keep the employees happy and satisfied towards the provided roles and responsibilities. For instance, effective use of employee engagement will allow organizations to initiate different innovative strategies without facing too many challenges. As a result, it will help the organizations to keep the competitive advantage level in the market. On the other hand, appropriate use of HR practices will help organizations to minimize the challenges associated with the attrition rate in an effective way. For that reason, organizations generally try to provide different types of additional benefits to all the employees in order to encourage them to give their best at the workplace. Moreover, the thi rd article has highlighted the significance of using comprehensive leadership style for keeping the overall performance level of the organizations (Walumbwa et al. 2011). Now, organizations always focus on identifying the best possible leadership strategies for covering all aspect of the operational process. It has induced organizations to invest more on the resources to complete all the activities related to the operational procedure. Conclusion: The illustration of the above three article has highlighted the fact that several factors can have impact on the overall performance level of the employees. For that reason, organizations will have to focus on utilizing all the factors in such a way so that it can create positive influence on the overall performance level of the employees. For instance, organizations need to focus on developing appropriate HR strategies along with leadership support to encourage employees to give their best for fulfilling all the requirements of the operational procedure. It will also help organizations to counter all the future challenges related to the business process in an comprehensive manner. References: Kehoe, R.R. and Wright, P.M., 2013. The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees attitudes and behaviors.Journal of management,39(2), pp.366-391. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rebecca_Kehoe/publication/247570089_The_Impact_of_High_Performance_HR_Practices_on_Employees'_Attitudes_and_Behaviors/links/56bcdfd708ae5e7ba40f8ad0.pdf Rich, B.L., Lepine, J.A. and Crawford, E.R., 2010. Job engagement: Antecedents and effects on job performance.Academy of management journal,53(3), pp.617-635. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bruce_Rich/publication/258130125_Job_engagement_Antecedents_and_effects_on_job_performance/links/00b4952715cc99c402000000.pdf Walumbwa, F.O., Mayer, D.M., Wang, P., Wang, H., Workman, K. and Christensen, A.L., 2011. Linking ethical leadership to employee performance: The roles of leadermember exchange, self-efficacy, and organizational identification.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,115(2), pp.204-213. https://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1762context=article

The Woman in Black Review Essay Example For Students

The Woman in Black Review Essay On the 14th of September the Sexey’s School drama students went to The Fortune Theatre, London and saw the performance of ‘The Woman in Black’. The play was riveting to watch and made the audience scream on more than one occasion; it developed a great sense of tension and created a high level of anxiety in the audience. The plot of the play explored the horror of drama to its bitter ends and combined the power and intensity of live theatre with some of the best effects from cinematic horror shows. Although it was performed by the majority of only two men, Michael Mears and Orlando Wells, it was easy to follow character changes and the swapping between different roles. We will write a custom essay on The Woman in Black Review specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The props and the general atmosphere that was created gave the stage and set a character of its own as the story reached its climax. The colours of the stage were dismal and gloomy and really helped to ‘set the scene’ and added to the atmosphere. Although there were not many stage props and they were quite basic, they were extremely effective; such as the wicker basket which was used to store paper files and a blanket. Props and how the characters used space made it easy to recognise the character’s emotions and see which character had what status; such as the use of a hat could give a higher status. Space on stage was used to a good advantage considering there wasn’t much of it and the actors awareness of that space really showed. The actors used the stage with familiarity and confidence and this enhanced the production greatly because it gave the audience great security. An example of this would be right at the beginning when Mr. Kipps trips over some metal buckets when he is walking backwards. The actors wore authentic late Victorian dress and costumes changed to suit changing characters with an open use of clothes rail. The Actor wore a slim brown tie, a pinstriped suit, a white shirt with a waistcoat and the colours of these garments were in dark colours. The older man, Mr Kipps, became different characters by changing his costumes such as wearing different coats and hats, change from black suit, adding a scarf, wearing a brown trench coat and swapping a black hat from a brown hat. The costumes gave a good effect because they were all in dull, dismal colors and really complemented the sets period; they also added a sense of maturity to the characters. The stage was split into two by a gauze which stretched from one side to the other when it was lit from front it became opaque and when it was lit from behind it became transparent. This meant that the gauze concealed the bedroom/nursery behind unopenable/locked door. The gauze also allowed the opportunity for backstage crew to change the set for example the nursery tidy to untidy in matter of minutes. The gauze added scare to the audience because it could flash between visible/concealment in moments. The gauze had a ghostly effect and was a spooky grey. It blended into the rest of the stage really well and was a good idea because it looked effective as a back drop but also hid the ‘second room’. Behind the gauze there were steps, which were made to look like stairs on a house. This was an imaginative feature because there was no top floor but gave the effect that there was. The stage and props were very realistic and believable, which increased the horror and fear. On the CSL there was a door which was used to create suspense because you did not know what was behind it or what would come through it; the actors were really able to use it effectively. For instance when Mr. Kipps hears noises behind the door, he decides to go and see what it is and slowly creeps up to the door and suddenly it quickly swings open and causes the audience to jump. .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15 , .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15 .postImageUrl , .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15 , .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15:hover , .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15:visited , .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15:active { border:0!important; } .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15:active , .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15 .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ubba1b0f6fb0c40acd1a1ff0261d93f15:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Provisional Voting EssayThe cast showed a range of acting skills such as body language, facial epression and use of voice. The acting was believeable which made a clever story that was full of surprises and suspense, become real. The acting was very naturalistic. The majority of the play was acted by only two men and this meant they had to multi-role. This required experienced dramatic technique. Use of voice was played with and each character had a significantly different accent or way in which they spoke. The actors managed to define and exaggerate these differences so that characters each had their own identity in voice as well as how they looked. An example would be wh en Mr. Kipps does not understand how his acting is not very interesting, but when he gets given some reading glasses he really gets into his character and the acting of being a different person. Facial expressions helped back up the lines and acting. The Actors voice is fast, nervous, panicky, high pitched which influences audience to be scared. His facial gestures show fear through wide eyes and mouth open an example of this would be when looking into the mist with confused eyes. His facial expressions also make the audience feel sorry for him when he is in the house through his silent nerves as his face stretches and frowns. The acting is naturalistic but also uses a sense of imagination an example of this would be when he pretended there was a dog in the marsh scene; he did this by bending down with his arms open.

buy custom Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders essay

buy custom Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders essay Post-traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) can be described as mental disorders that are experienced after an exposure to a disturbing event such as war, plane crush, domestic violence, earthquakes etc. When one is exposed to such horrifying events, s/he takes quite a good amount of time to forget and during that period, the victim experiences biological and psychological changes. Throughout history, wars have been known to trigger psychological problems especially to soldiers who after returning home; they become unable to adjust to home life after the war. This work is meant to explore on the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders that are experienced by the Iraq War veterans, with special focus on the causes, the Iraq conditions that contributed to these disorders, the symptoms of PTSD as well as the how the war affected the soldiers and their families. The work will also give the statistics on the soldiers who returned home with psychological problems after the war. Most of the veteran soldiers were deployed to go and help in fighting the Iraq War. However most of them returned home with signs of PTSD. This was due to several factors that contributed to the large number of veteran soldiers suffering from PTSD. Some of these include preparedness in which some of the soldiers feel guilty and angry that they did not receive enough preparations on how to handle some situations such as exposure to biological and nuclear weapons. In such situations, they became helpless and this always haunted them that they were insufficient during the war. Therefore it was this persistent anger and the feeling of guilty that increased the victims risks for PTSD (Litz and Orsilo 25). Another cause of the many psychological problems experienced by the veteran war participants is exposure. The Iraq war involved a more conventional exposure to weapon firing therefore one was anxious that he may be fired by the enemy, be fired accidentally by a colleague or fire someone. Most of them were also exposed to witnessing a friend dying, injuries etc. All these memories stick in their minds and after the war; it becomes difficult for them to remember therefore they keep on haunting them (Litz and Orsilo 25). The aftermath of the war may also be a serious cause of the psychological problems experienced by the veterans. The aftermath exposure to seeing and handling bodies of dead soldiers and civilians, sounds of dying women and men crying for their lives, smell of decomposing bodies etc were very demoralizing and disturbing (Litz and Orsilo 25). The exposure to biological, chemical and radiological weapons also affected the health of these soldiers chronically. Some of the soldiers that were exposed to these chemical suffered chronic mental and psychological disorders as a result (Litz and Orsilo 26). However, while most of the psychological problems were as a result of the above mentioned factors, the conditions in Iraq also contributed to some extent. The working and living conditions were not conducive in the war zone. Soldiers had to cope and live with pressures and irritations connected to life. They experienced fatigue due to the long working days; sleeping less and working for many hours. They had to wake up very early and sleep very late, tired yet needed to prepare for the following days work (Litz and Orsilo 26). They also experienced unfavorable climate; being in a foreign land, they had to adjust to new climatic conditions. The soldiers also had to work with the available equipment which was sometimes not sufficient for all of them as the stores run out. They also had to eat foreign and sometimes undesirable food since they were in foreign land, thus they were forced to adapt to different culture and foods (Litz and Orsilo 26). Even though it is obvious that these con ditions are non-traumatizing, they strain the individuals ability to cope thus contributing to post-traumatic problems. Most of the veterans that were involved in the Iraq war experienced some of the most chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders. The severity of these disorders however depended largely on the degree to which the victim was exposed. Victims of PTSD are reported to exhibit three distinct groups of symptoms (Wilson, Friedman and Lindy 336). Among these is arousal which is characterized by lack oof concentration, the victim tends to avoid the people around him, lack of sleep, quick in angering etc. Re-experiencing is another group of symptoms which includes nightmares, disturbing thoughts, persisting flashbacks and emotional Distress when the victim remembers of the traumatic event. The other group of symptoms is avoidance in which the victim tends to avoid thinking of the event, the victim becomes inactive and develops low concern in activities, s/he tends to keep distance from the other people and his emotions become numb (Wilson, Friedman and Lindy 336). Some of the war effects that the veterans and their families experienced included loses of their loved ones. Most of these soldiers when they returned from the war committed suicide because of the stresses that keep on haunting them (Korb and Duggan 5). Another effect of the war is divorce. The rate of divorce has been reported to increase at a very high rate especially by those returning from the war. This is due to the psychological problems which contribute to drug abuse, drinking and domestic violence which in turn lead to divorce (Korb and Duggan 5-6). It is reported that one in every five soldiers returning from the war is experiencing or shows some symptoms of PTSD. This number therefore totalizes to approximately 345,000 who have so far been diagnosed of PTSD (Korb and Duggan 4). It can therefore be concluded that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) are psychological problems that one suffers when exposed to traumatic events such as war, accidents etc. The effects of the Iraq war were very intense that they affected both the participants and their families as a result of the PTSD. Some of the causes of PTSD included lack of enough preparation for the war, exposure to terrifying sights such as rotting bodies, exposure to weapon firing, biological and nuclear weapons. The working and living conditions in Iraq were also not favorable and to some extent contributed to the chances of suffering from PTSD. The symptoms of PTSD are grouped into three categories; arousal, avoidance and re-experiencing. These symptoms have been diagnosed in over 345,000 soldiers that returned from the war. Buy custom Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders essay

The Top 10 Reasons to Consider a Career in Data Science

The Top 10 Reasons to Consider a Career in Data Science â€Å"Data scientist† seems to be the IT job of the moment. But how much of what you’ve heard is hype and conjecture, and how much of it is based on facts?   Usually, when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. However, the demand for data science is taking the world by storm, and companies – large and small – are clamoring to find employees who can understand and synthesize data, and then communicate these findings in a way that proves beneficial to the company. Below are the top 10 reasons to consider pursuing a career in Data Science. #1 The Job Outlook Don’t expect this bubble to burst anytime soon. According to a report by McKinsey Company, by 2018, the U.S. will have anywhere from 140,000 to 180,000 fewer data scientists than it needs. And the shortage of data science managers is even greater. Roughly 1.5 million data decision-making managers will be needed by 2018. At some point, the frenetic pace at which employers pursue data scientists will slow down, but it won’t happen anytime soon. #2 The Salaries According to an O’Reilly data science salary survey, the annual base salary of U.S.-based survey respondents was $104,000. Robert Half’s tech guide places the range between $109,000 and $153,750. And in the Burtch Works data science salary survey, the median base salary ranges from $97,000 for Level 1 contributors to $152,000 for Level 3 contributors. In addition, median bonuses start at $10,000 for Level 1 contributors. As a point of comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that lawyers earn a median annual wage of $115,820.   Ã‚   #3 The Management Salaries    Data science managers can earn almost as much – and sometimes more – than doctors. Burtch Works reveals that Level 1 managers earn a median annual base salary of $140,000. Level 2 managers make $190,000, and Level 3 Managers earn $250,000.   And that puts them in pretty good company. According to the BLS, pediatricians, psychiatrists, and internal medicine doctors earn a median annual wage between $226,408 and $245,673. So without years of med school, residencies, and medical debt, you might earn more than the person who holds your life in his/her hands on the operating table. Cool. Scary, but cool.   Ã‚   And when you factor in median annual bonuses, data science managers out-earn many surgeons. Median annual bonuses for Level 1, 2 and 3 managers are $15,000; $39,900; and $80,000, respectively. #4 The Work Options    When you become a data scientist, you can work practically anywhere your heart desires. While 43% of these professionals work on the West Coast, and 28% are in the Northeast, they’re being employed in every region in the country – and abroad. However, you might be interested in knowing that the highest salaries in the U.S. are on the West Coast. And you’re probably not surprised that the technology industry employs the most data scientists, but they also work in other industries ranging from healthcare/pharma to marketing and financial services to consulting firms to retail and CPG industries. In fact, data scientists even work for gaming industries, and 1% work for the government. #5 The Sex Appeal    The prestigious Harvard Business Review hailed data scientist as the sexiest job of the 21st Century. How on earth is that possible? Are data scientists suggestively dangling the data in front of their employers? Are they whispering sweet algorithms in their employer’s ear? No (at least I don’t think so), but some of them work with cool startups, and also mammoth companies like Google, LinkedIn, FaceBook, Amazon, and Twitter. In essence, their sex appeal lies in the fact that everyone wants them, but they’re hard to acquire. #6 The Experience Factor â€Å"Experience† is probably one of the most common words found in a job description, and frankly, companies usually want employees with a ton of it. However, data science is such a relatively new field that Burtch Works reports 40% of data scientists have less than 5 years of experience, and 69% have less than 10 years of experience. So scroll back up to Reason #2: Salaries to match up the wages with the experience levels. Level 1 individual contributors typically have 0-3 years of experience. Level 2 individual contributors usually have 4 to 8 years of experience, and level 3 individual contributors have 9 years of experience.   #7 The Variety of Undergraduate Majors Since data science is such a new major, many colleges are scrambling to create undergraduate degree programs. In the meantime, data scientists hail from an assortment of academic backgrounds, including mathematics/statistics, computer science, engineering, and natural science. Also, some data scientists have degrees in economics, social science, business, and even medical science. #8 The Variety of Education Options If you pursue an online Master’s Degree in Data Science, you don’t have to sit in a classroom all day. You can take courses online from anywhere in the world, with the luxury of studying at your own pace.    #9 The Lack of Competition Not only is there a shortage of data scientists, but professionals in other fields don’t necessarily want to step up to the plate. According to a recent joint report by Robert Half and the  Institute of Management Accountants, employers are looking for accounting and finance candidates who can mine and extract data, identify key data trends, and are adept at statistical modeling and data analysis. But the report reveals that most accounting and finance candidates don’t have any of these skills – in fact, many colleges don’t even teach this level of analytics to students majoring in a financial discipline. #10 The Ease of Job Hunting Because data scientists are in such high demand and the supply is so limited, organizations have recruiters solely dedicated to finding these professionals. While candidates in other fields are harassing recruiters and pestering hiring managers, as a data scientist, you merely need to let it be known that you’re looking for a job . . . or maybe, you’re just thinking about looking for a job. In fact, the need is so dire that even if you already have a job, recruiters will try to lure you away with a better compensation/benefits package. Let the bidding begin.

Financial Markets and Institutions, Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Financial Markets and Institutions, - Essay Example The function of the US financial market is to insert the household savings into the circular flow in the form of investment, so as to enhance the income level of the country (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 2012). Apple Inc. was instituted in the year 1977 and is headquartered in California, United States of America. Apple Inc. is a constituent of the S&P 500 Index and it trades under the symbol AAPL. The earnings per share of Apple for the year 2012 were $44.64, while it was only $28.05 in 2011. This increase in EPS was due to the 61% rise in the net income of Apple in the year 2012 as compared to that of 2011. The graph below illustrates the evaluation of the five year total shareholder return of Apple as against the S&P 500 Composite Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index and the S&P Computer Hardware Index (Apple Inc, 2012). In the figure, it has been assumed that in September 2007, $100 was invested in each of the index including Apple (Apple Inc, 2012). It can be observed from the graph that the total shareholder returns of Apple Inc. had been consistently higher that of the other Indexes considered. Vodafone is a global telecommunication company, operating in above 30 nations across the world and with more than 404 million customers (Vodafone, 2012). It has been extremely cash generative during the historical period and has incessantly returned its market capitalization to its shareholders through dividend payments and share buybacks. The following figure represents the share price movements of Vodafone from April 2011 to May 2012, against that of the FTSE: It can be observed that Vodafone had performed relatively better than the FTSE stock in terms of share price movements. Additionally, the company had been continuously giving out dividends to its shareholders since the last four years. France Telecom-Orange is one of the major telecommunication companies in the

Awards for Excellence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Awards for Excellence - Essay Example This was just a sign of things to come. Expect more from us in the future because new talent gets discovered on a regular basis in our department. Coming to the teaching awards, Mr. Angel Garralda and Ms. Ming Cheung are both accomplished educators with a similar 'learning is a continuous, two-way process', view. They have a refreshingly new approach to teaching, 'a pro-active role for the student in the learning process.' The awards will only add responsibility and enhance their already popular teaching methods. These are given ONLY to people who have made outstanding contributions in their respective teaching disciplines over a period of time. The awards are a proof of the teaching efficiency levels at the EN department. As more and more students from all over the world, show keen interest, to be a part of our culture, we'd expect the students to be ready for an environment that provides both fun and serious learning simultaneously. The range of courses offered by the department ca ters to all the needs across all walks of life. This is the most exciting part of this unique community.

Fair Value accounting Essay Example for Free

Fair Value accounting Essay The squabble on the issue of what accounting measurements will be used as the standard for financial instruments had caused the on-going debate with various proponents of accounting standard; even today, proponents of every side argues on the basis of their advantages over the others. Among these contending parties are the proponents of the fair value accounting and those who favored accounting standard based on the historical costs. Hitz (2007, p. 324) pointed out the increasing importance of fair value as an accounting measurement attributes. Hitz stated that today, the â€Å"cost and transaction-based reporting model is in decline and a new market value and event-based model is on the rise† (Hitz, p. 324). Citing the significance of fair value accounting, Hitz mentioned that starting out as a specific remedy for the iniquities of the reporting model for certain financial instruments â€Å"fair value has manifested it self as a dominant measurement paradigm for financial instruments and, more recently, has increasingly been implemented for measurements of non-financial items† (Hitz, 324) such as investment property. On the other hand, while Hitz adhere to the tenets of fair value accounting, he recognized the views of the opponents of fair value accounting particularly the criticism regarding the questionable reliability of fair value measures notably for model-based estimates relying on management’s expectation and projections. However, Hitz asserts that results on empirical research regarding value measurement â€Å"support the incremental value relevance of fair value disclosure for securities (Petroni and Wahlen, 1995; Barth et al., 1996 as cited by Hitz). The Australian accounting standards Board (AASB) though recognizes other accounting standards it recognizes fair value accounting as the main financial instruments which applies in various financial processes and transaction within AASB. The AASB defines Fair value as â€Å"the amount for which an asset could be exchanged or a liability settled, between knowledgeable, willing parties in an arms length transaction† (p. 21) Fair value has been the standards in evaluating and managing the performances of a group financial assets or financial liabilities. In the ASSB 7, paragraph 9 to 11 and B 4 the ASSB require the entity to provide disclosures about financial assets and financial liabilities it has designated at fair value through profit or loss including how it satisfied these conditions (ASSB, p. 17). This clearly indicate that fair value accounting as a financial standard instrument have been effectively use and provide significant contribution to the financial situation. This is clearly reflected in the following statement from the ASSB as follows: â€Å"investment in equity instrument that do not have a quoted market price in an active market, and whose fair value cannot be reliably measured shall not be designated as at fair value through profit or loss† (p. 18). The Fair value of any investment plays an important in determining market condition as the fair value of a particular financial instrument is based on the following factors a. the time value of money, b. the credit risk, c. foreign currency exchange prices, d. commodity prices, e. equity prices, f. volatility, and g. payment risk. Regardless of the accounting standard used, accounting plays an important role in financial reporting. While M. J. Milne’s discussion focus on the importance of accounting in financial management including accounting standards that lead to increases in reported earnings,   citing the arguments of Watt and Zimmerman Milne (2002) puts it â€Å"Managers have greater incentives to choose accounting standards which lower earnings thereby increasing cash flows, firm value, and their welfare, due to tax political, and regulatory considerations than to choose accounting standards which reports higher earnings and, thereby increase their incentive compensation† (p. 372). Obviously, accounting standards contributes to the financial situation not only of the firm that uses such standards but the entire financial realm. In this case, Milne partly hinted as to why trillions of dollars went off the global financial market balance sheets and why asset values experience decline. Milne seem to mean that managers choose accounting standards that reported lower earning yet, it increase the firm’s cash flows, the firm value, and their welfare, due to higher tax and political pressures. In this case the real market value as well as the real earnings were reassigned to somewhere else or as Milne suggest, to cash flows and their value. Given this accounting standard, it is no wonder that management will lobby financial instrument that reduce reported earnings to avoid taxes, regulatory procedures, and all other costs. As Milne stressed, â€Å"ordinarily, managers are predicted to have greater incentives to lobby for accounting standards that lead to increase in reported earnings and thereby management wealth. However, since changes in cash flows and stock prices can also be affected by taxes, regulatory procedures, information costs and political costs, managers also have to consider the effects of reported earnings might have on the likelihood that such costs could be imposed on the firm† (p. 372). The trillions of dollars that were written off the global financial market balance sheets and the massive decline of asset values can therefore be attributed to these factors accompanying this accounting standard, and the commentators were partly right in their opinion regarding this massive decline of asset values. However, this does suggest that that money going to taxes, regulatory procedures, political costs, and information costs are lost money and that regulatory procedure should be viewed as negative for business activities. Regulatory procedures should be viewed in even broader terms that include all forms of social control and influence. Michael Greiffin emphasized that this should also include â€Å"not only the corporations legislative requirement but also other rules and directions, such as professional accounting standards and stock exchange requirements† (p. 2 par. 3). Graffikin pointed out that regulation is considered desirable â€Å"where there windfall profits† – where through some fortuitous event is able to make above â€Å"normal† profits. Regulations should be seen as necessary in the rationalization and coordination of economic activity so as to organize behaviour of industries in an efficient manner (graffikin, p. 3).

Noise Reduction In Hearing Aids :: essays research papers

Recently in a local hearing clinic, a client’s concerns were discussed. â€Å"I’m afraid I won’t like them. My brother in law bought two hearing aids, and he keeps them in a drawer in the kitchen.† While the number of people dissatisfied with their hearing aids hovers around 50%, the hearing aid industry is hard pressed to decrease the number of returns, and increase the average daily use of each aid. In order to accomplish this, hearing aid manufacturers must answer the most often heard complaint: â€Å"It doesn’t work well in noise.† Unfortunately, a hearing aid will never be able to accomplish the sifting and sorting that is carried out in the human brain. While a person with normal hearing sits in a restaurant, he can distinguish a conversational speech signal that is as little as three decibels greater than the ambient noise. On the other hand, a person with a 30-decibel sensorineural loss might need the speech signal to be 15 or more decibels greater than the ambient noise. The hearing aid’s task is to acoustically or electronically compensate for both the neurological shortcomings of the hearing impaired person and the wide band increase inherent in any basic amplifier.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Acoustic compensation can be carried out in a hearing aid microphone. Most hearing aids today utilize omnidirectional microphones, which pick up sound equally from all directions. This may be beneficial and practical in some cases, as in the completely in the canal (CIC) aid. The CIC aid uses the natural funneling of the auricle in order to focus sound directly into the instrument. Behind-the-ear (BTE) and full concha in-the-ear (ITE) aids lose this anatomical feature, and may benefit from a directional microphone. â€Å"The purpose of using a directional microphone is to focus its sensitivity toward the front of the listener, thereby attenuating or reducing unwanted â€Å"noise† or competition emanating from behind the listener.† (Stach 1998) Microphone directionality can be accomplished by using a single microphone with two sound inlets. In this mechanical method, the time lag created by a sound entering each inlet is precisely calibrated to cancel out sounds from the sides and back of the microphone as they strike the diaphragm. The Phonak MicroZoom uses an electronic approach. Each MicroZoom contains two omnidirectional microphones. According to the flyer, â€Å"One picks up sound in front of you while a second picks up sound from the sides and rear.

Bag of Bones CHAPTER FIFTEEN

State your name for the record.' ‘Michael Noonan.' ‘Your address?' ‘Derry is my permanent address, 14 Benton Street, but I also maintain a home in TR-90, on Dark Score Lake. The mailing address is Box 832. The actual house is on Lane Forty-two, off Route 68.' Elmer Durgin, Kyra Devore's guardian ad litem, waved a pudgy hand in front of his face, either to shoo away some troublesome insect or to tell me that was enough. I agreed that it was. I felt rather like the little girl in Our Town, who gave her address as Grover's Corner, New Hampshire, America, the Northern Hemisphere, the World, the Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, the Mind of God. Mostly I was nervous. I'd reached the age of forty still a virgin in the area of court proceedings, and although we were in the conference room of Durgin, Peters, and Jarrette on Bridge Street in Castle Rock, this was still a court proceeding. There was one mentionably odd detail to these festivities. The stenographer wasn't using one of those keyboards-on-a-post that look like adding machines, but a Stenomask, a gadget which fit over the lower half of his face. I had seen them before, but only in old black-and-white crime movies, the ones where Dan Duryea or John Payne is always driving around in a Buick with portholes on the sides, looking grim and smoking a Camel. Glancing over into the corner and seeing a guy who looked like the world's oldest fighter-pilot was weird enough, but hearing everything you said immediately repeated in a muffled monotone was even weirder. ‘Thank you, Mr. Noonan. My wife has read all your books and says you are her favorite author. I just wanted to get that on the record.' Durgin chuckled fatly. Why not? He was a fat guy. Most fat people I like they have expansive natures to go with their expansive waistlines. But there is a subgroup which I think of as the Evil Little Fat Folks. You don't want to fuck with the ELFFS if you can help it; they will burn your house and rape your dog if you give them half an excuse and a quarter of an opportunity. Few of them stand over five-foot-two (Durgin's height, I estimated), and many are under five feet. They smile a lot, but their eyes don't smile. The Evil Little Fat Folks hate the whole world. Mostly they hate folks who can look down the length of their bodies and still see their own feet. This included me, although just barely. ‘Please thank your wife for me, Mr. Durgin. I'm sure she could recommend one for you to start on.' Durgin chuckled. On his right, Durgin's assistant a pretty young woman who looked approximately seventeen minutes out of law school chuckled. On my left, Romeo Bissonette chuckled. In the corner, the world's oldest F- 111 pilot only went on muttering into his Stenomask. ‘I'll wait for the big-screen version,' he said. His eyes gave an ugly little gleam, as if he knew a feature film had never been made from one of my books only a made-for-TV movie of Being Two that pulled ratings roughly equal to the National Sofa Refinishing Championships. I hoped that we'd completed this chubby little fuck's idea of the pleasantries. ‘I am Kyra Devore's guardian ad litem,' he said. ‘Do you know what that means, Mr. Noonan?' ‘I believe I do.' ‘It means,' Durgin rolled on, ‘that I've been appointed by Judge Rancourt to decide if I can where Kyra Devore's best interests lie, should a custody judgment become necessary. Judge Rancourt would not, in such an event, be required to base his decision on my conclusions, but in many cases that is what happens.' He looked at me with his hands folded on a blank legal pad. The pretty assistant, on the other hand, was scribbling madly. Perhaps she didn't trust the fighter-pilot. Durgin looked as if he expected a round of applause. ‘Was that a question, Mr. Durgin?' I asked and Romeo Bissonette delivered a light, practiced chip to my ankle. I didn't need to look at him to know it wasn't an accident. Durgin pursed lips so smooth and damp that he looked as if he were wearing a clear gloss on them. On his shining pate, roughly two dozen strands of hair were combed in smooth little arcs. He gave me a patient, measuring look. Behind it was all the intransigent ugliness of an Evil Little Fat Folk. The pleasantries were over, all right. I was sure of it. ‘No, Mr. Noonan, that was not a question. I simply thought you might like to know why we've had to ask you to come away from your lovely lake on such a pleasant morning. Perhaps I was wrong. Now, if ‘ There was a peremptory knock on the door, followed by your friend and his, George Footman. Today Cleveland Casual had been replaced by a khaki Deputy Sheriff's uniform, complete with Sam Browne belt and sidearm. He helped himself to a good look at the assistant's bustline, displayed in a blue silk blouse, then handed her a folder and a cassette tape recorder. He gave me one brief gander before leaving. I remember you, buddy, that glance said. The smartass writer, the cheap date. Romeo Bissonette tipped his head toward me. He used the side of his hand to bridge the gap between his mouth and my ear. ‘Devore's tape,' he said. I nodded to show I understood, then turned to Durgin again. ‘Mr. Noonan, you've met Kyra Devore and her mother, Mary Devore, haven't you?' How did you get Mattie out of Mary, I wondered . . . and then knew, just as I had known about the white shorts and halter top. Mattie was how Ki had first tried to say Mary. ‘Mr. Noonan, are we keeping you up?' ‘There's no need to be sarcastic, is there?' Bissonette asked. His tone was mild, but Elmer Durgin gave him a look which suggested that, should the ELFFS succeed in their goal of world domination, Bissonette would be aboard the first gulag-bound boxcar. ‘I'm sorry,' I said before Durgin could reply. ‘I just got derailed there for a second or two.' ‘New story idea?' Durgin asked, smiling his glossy smile. He looked like a swamp-toad in a sportcoat. He turned to the old jet pilot, told him to strike that last, then repeated his question about Kyra and Mattie. Yes, I said, I had met them. ‘Once or more than once?' ‘More than once.' ‘How many times have you met them?' ‘Twice.' ‘Have you also spoken to Mary Devore on the phone?' Already these questions were moving in a direction that made me uncomfortable. ‘Yes.' ‘How many times?' ‘Three times.' The third had come the day before, when she had asked if I would join her and John Storrow for a picnic lunch on the town common after my deposition. Lunch right there in the middle of town before God and everybody . . . although, with a New York lawyer to play chaperone, what harm in that? ‘Have you spoken to Kyra Devore on the telephone?' What an odd question! Not one anybody had prepared me for, either. I supposed that was at least partly why he had asked it. ‘Mr. Noonan?' ‘Yes, I've spoken to her once.' ‘Can you tell us the nature of that conversation?' ‘Well . . . ‘ I looked doubtfully at Bissonette, but there was no help there. He obviously didn't know, either. ‘Mattie ‘ ‘Pardon me?' Durgin leaned forward as much as he could. His eyes were intent in their pink pockets of flesh. ‘Mattie?' ‘Mattie Devore. Mary Devore.' ‘You call her Mattie?' ‘Yes,' I said, and had a wild impulse to add: In bed! In bed I call her that! ‘Oh Mattie, don't stop, don't stop,' I cry!' ‘It's the name she gave me when she introduced herself. I met her ‘ ‘We may get to that, but right now I'm interested in your telephone conversation with Kyra Devore. When was that?' ‘It was yesterday.' ‘July ninth, 1998.' ‘Yes.' ‘Who placed that call?' ‘Ma . . . Mary Devore.' Now he'll ask why she called, I thought, and I'll say she wanted to have yet another sex marathon, foreplay to consist of feeding each other chocolate-dipped strawberries while we look at pictures of naked malformed dwarves. ‘How did Kyra Devore happen to speak to you?' ‘She asked if she could. I heard her saying to her mother that she had to tell me something.' ‘What was it she had to tell you?' ‘That she had her first bubble bath.' ‘Did she also say she coughed?' I was quiet, looking at him. In that moment I understood why people hate lawyers, especially when they've been dusted over by one who's good at the job. ‘Mr. Noonan, would you like me to repeat the question?' ‘No,' I said, wondering where he'd gotten his information. Had these bastards tapped Mattie's phone? My phone? Both? Perhaps for the first time I understood on a gut level what it must be like to have half a billion dollars. With that much dough you could tap a lot of telephones. ‘She said her mother pushed bubbles in her face and she coughed. But she was ‘ ‘Thank you, Mr. Noonan, now let's turn to ‘ ‘Let him finish,' Bissonette said. I had an idea he had already taken a bigger part in the proceedings than he had expected to, but he didn't seem to mind. He was a sleepy-looking man with a bloodhound's mournful, trustworthy face. ‘This isn't a courtroom, and you're not cross-examining him.' ‘I have the little girl's welfare to think of,' Durgin said. He sounded both pompous and humble at the same time, a combination that went together like chocolate sauce on creamed corn. ‘It's a responsibility I take very seriously. If I seemed to be badgering you, Mr. Noonan, I apologize.' I didn't bother accepting his apology that would have made us both phonies. ‘All I was going to say is that Ki was laughing when she said it. She said she and her mother had a bubble-fight. When her mother came back on, she was laughing, too.' Durgin had opened the folder Footman had brought him and was paging rapidly through it while I spoke, as if he weren't hearing a word. ‘Her mother . . . Mattie, as you call her.' ‘Yes. Mattie as I call her. How do you know about our private telephone conversation in the first place?' ‘That's none of your business, Mr. Noonan.' He selected a single sheet of paper, then closed the folder. He held the paper up briefly, like a doctor studying an X-ray, and I could see it was covered with single-spaced typing. ‘Let's turn to your initial meeting with Mary and Kyra Devore. That was on the Fourth of July, wasn't it?' ‘Yes.' Durgin was nodding. ‘The morning of the Fourth. And you met Kyra Devore first.' ‘Yes.' ‘You met her first because her mother wasn't with her at that time, was she?' ‘That's a badly phrased question, Mr. Durgin, but I guess the answer is yes.' ‘I'm flattered to have my grammar corrected by a man who's been on the bestseller lists,' Durgin said, smiling. The smile suggested that he'd like to see me sitting next to Romeo Bissonette in that first gulag-bound boxcar. ‘Tell us about your meeting, first with Kyra Devore and then with Mary Devore. Or Mattie, if you like that better.' I told the story. When I was finished, Durgin centered the tape player in front of him. The nails of his pudgy fingers looked as glossy as his lips. ‘Mr. Noonan, you could have run Kyra over, isn't that true?' ‘Absolutely not. I was going thirty-five that's the speed limit there by the store. I saw her in plenty of time to stop.' ‘Suppose you had been coming the other way, though heading north instead of south. Would you still have seen her in plenty of time?' That was a fairer question than some of his others, actually. Someone coming the other way would have had a far shorter time to react. Still . . . ‘Yes,' I said. Durgin went up with the eyebrows. ‘You're sure of that?' ‘Yes, Mr. Durgin. I might have had to come down a little harder on the brakes, but ‘ ‘At thirty-five.' ‘Yes, at thirty-five. I told you, that's the speed limit ‘ ‘ -on that particular stretch of Route 68. Yes, you told me that. You did. Is it your experience that most people obey the speed limit on that part of the road?' ‘I haven't spent much time on the TR since 1993, so I can't ‘ ‘Come on, Mr. Noonan this isn't a scene from one of your books. Just answer my questions, or we'll be here all morning.' ‘I'm doing my best, Mr. Durgin.' He sighed, put-upon. ‘You've owned your place on Dark Score Lake since the eighties, haven't you? And the speed limit around the Lakeview General Store, the post office, and Dick Brooks's All-Purpose Garage what's called The North Village hasn't changed since then, has it?' ‘No,' I admitted. ‘Returning to my original question, then in your observation, do most people on that stretch of road obey the thirty-five-mile-an-hour limit?' ‘I can't say if it's most, because I've never done a traffic survey, but I guess a lot don't.' ‘Would you like to hear Castle County Sheriffs Deputy Footman testify on where the greatest number of speeding tickets are given out in TR-90, Mr. Noonan?' ‘No,' I said, quite honestly. ‘Did other vehicles pass you while you were speaking first with Kyra Devore and then with Mary Devore?' ‘Yes.' ‘How many?' ‘I don't know exactly. A couple.' ‘Could it have been three?' ‘I guess.' ‘Five?' ‘No, probably not so many.' ‘But you don't know, exactly, do you?' ‘Because Kyra Devore was upset.' ‘Actually she had it together pretty well for a ‘ ‘Did she cry in your presence?' ‘Well . . . yes.' ‘Did her mother make her cry?' ‘That's unfair.' ‘As unfair as allowing a three-year-old to go strolling down the middle of a busy highway on a holiday morning, in your opinion, or perhaps not quite as unfair as that?' ‘Jeepers, lay off,' Mr. Bissonette said mildly. There was distress on his bloodhound's face. ‘I withdraw the question,' Durgin said. ‘Which one?' I asked. He looked at me tiredly, as if to say he had to put up with assholes like me all the time and he was used to how we behaved. ‘How many cars went by from the time you picked the child up and carried her to safety to the time when you and the Devores parted company?' I hated that ‘carried her to safety' bit, but even as I formulated my answer, the old guy was muttering the question into his Stenomask. And it was in fact what I had done. There was no getting around it. ‘I told you, I don't know for sure.' ‘Well, give me a guesstimate.' Guesstimate. One of my all-time least favorite words. A Paul Harvey word. ‘There might have been three.' ‘Including Mary Devore herself?. Driving a ‘ He consulted the paper he'd taken from the folder. ‘ a 1982 Jeep Scout?' I thought of Ki saying Mattie go fast and understood where Durgin was heading now. And there was nothing I could do about it. ‘Yes, it was her and it was a Scout. I don't know what year.' ‘Was she driving below the posted speed limit, at the posted speed limit, or above the posted speed limit when she passed the place where you were standing with Kyra in your arms?' She'd been doing at least fifty, but I told Durgin I couldn't say for sure. He urged me to try I know you are unfamiliar with the hangman's knot, Mr. Noonan, but I'm sure you can make one if you really work at it and I declined as politely as I could. He picked up the paper again. ‘Mr. Noonan, would it surprise you to know that two witnesses Richard Brooks, Junior, the owner of Dick's All-Purpose Garage, and Royce Merrill, a retired carpenter claim that Mrs. Devore was doing well over thirty-five when she passed your location?' ‘I don't know,' I said. ‘I was concerned with the little girl.' ‘Would it surprise you to know that Royce Merrill estimated her speed at sixty miles an hour?' ‘That's ridiculous. When she hit the brakes she would have skidded sideways and landed upside down in the ditch.' ‘The skid-marks measured by Deputy Footman indicate a speed of at least fifty miles an hour,' Durgin said. It wasn't a question, but he looked at me almost roguishly, as if inviting me to struggle a little more and sink a little deeper into this nasty pit. I said nothing. Durgin folded his pudgy little hands and leaned over them toward me. The roguish look was gone. ‘Mr. Noonan, if you hadn't carried Kyra Devore to the side of the road if you hadn't rescued her mightn't her own mother have run her over?' Here was the really loaded question, and how should I answer it? Bissonette was certainly not flashing any helpful signals; he seemed to be trying to make meaningful eye-contact with the pretty assistant. I thought of the book Mattie was reading in tandem with ‘Bartleby' Silent Witness, by Richard North Patterson. Unlike the Grisham brand, Patterson's lawyers almost always seemed to know what they were doing. Objection, Your honor, calls for speculation on the part of the witness. I shrugged. ‘Sorry, counsellor, can't say left my crystal ball home.' Again I saw the ugly flash in Durgin's eyes. ‘Mr. Noonan, I can assure you that if you don't answer that question here, you are apt to be called back from Malibu or Fire Island or wherever it is you're going to write your next opus to answer it later on.' I shrugged. ‘I've already told you I was concerned with the child. I can't tell you how fast the mother was going, or how good Royce Merrill's vision is, or if Deputy Footman even measured the right set of skid-marks. There's a whole bunch of rubber on that part of the road, I can tell you. Suppose she was going fifty? Even fifty-five, let's say that. She's twenty-one years old, Durgin. At the age of twenty-one, a person's driving skills are at their peak. She probably would have swerved around the child, and easily.' ‘I think that's quite enough.' ‘Why? Because you're not getting what you wanted?' Bissonette's shoe clipped my ankle again, but I ignored it. ‘If you're on Kyra's side, why do you sound as though you're on her grandfather's?' A baleful little smile touched Durgin's lips. The kind that says Okay, smart guy, you want to play? He pulled the tape-recorder a little closer to him. ‘Since you have mentioned Kyra's grandfather, Mr. Maxwell Devore of Palm Springs, let's talk about him a little, shall we?' ‘It's your show.' ‘Have you ever spoken with Maxwell Devore?' ‘Yes.' ‘In person or on the phone?' ‘Phone.' I thought about adding that he had somehow gotten hold of my unlisted number, then remembered that Mattie had, too, and decided to keep my mouth shut on that subject. ‘When was this?' ‘Last Saturday night. The night of the Fourth. He called while I was watching the fireworks.' ‘And was the subject of your conversation that morning's little adventure?' As he asked, Durgin reached into his pocket and brought out a cassette tape. There was an ostentatious quality to this gesture; in that moment he looked like a parlor magician showing you both sides of a silk handkerchief. And he was bluffing. I couldn't be sure of that . . . and yet I was. Devore had taped our conversation, all right that underhum really had been too loud, and on some level I'd been aware of that fact even while I was talking to him and I thought it really was on the cassette Durgin was now slotting into the cassette player . . . but it was a bluff. ‘I don't recall,' I said. Durgin's hand froze in the act of snapping the cassette's transparent loading panel shut. He looked at me with frank disbelief . . . and something else. I thought the something else was surprised anger. ‘You don't recall? Come now, Mr. Noonan. Surely writers train themselves to recall conversations, and this one was only a week ago. Tell me what you talked about.' ‘I really can't say,' I told him in a stolid, colorless voice. For a moment Durgin looked almost panicky. Then his features smoothed. One polished fingernail slipped back and forth over keys marked REW, FF, PLAY, and REC. ‘How did Mr. Devore begin the conversation?' he asked. ‘He said hello,' I said mildly, and there was a short muffled sound from behind the Stenomask. It could have been the old guy clearing his throat; it could have been a suppressed laugh. Spots of color were blooming in Durgin's cheeks. ‘After hello? What then?' ‘I don't recall.' ‘Did he ask you about that morning?' ‘I don't recall.' ‘Didn't you tell him that Mary Devore and her daughter were together, Mr. Noonan? That they were together picking flowers? Isn't that what you told this worried grandfather when he inquired about the incident which was the talk of the township that Fourth of July?' ‘Oh boy,' Bissonette said. He raised one hand over the table, then touched the palm with the fingers of the other, making a ref's T. ‘Time out.' Durgin looked at him. The flush in his cheeks was more pronounced now, and his lips had pulled back enough to show the tips of small, neatly capped teeth. ‘What do you want?' he almost snarled, as if Bissonette had just dropped by to tell him about the Mormon Way or perhaps the Rosicrucians. ‘I want you to stop leading this guy, and I want that whole thing about picking flowers stricken from the record,' Bissonette said. ‘Why?' Durgin snapped. ‘Because you're trying to get stuff on the record that this witness won't say. If you want to break here for awhile so we can make a conference call to Judge Rancourt, get his opinion ‘ ‘I withdraw the question,' Durgin said. He looked at me with a kind of helpless, surly rage. ‘Mr. Noonan, do you want to help me do my job?' ‘I want to help Kyra Devore if I can,' I said. ‘Very well.' He nodded as if no distinction had been made. ‘Then please tell me what you and Maxwell Devore talked about.' ‘I can't recall.' I caught his eyes and held them. ‘Perhaps,' I said, ‘you can refresh my recollection.' There was a moment of silence, like that which sometimes strikes a high-stakes poker game just after the last of the bets have been made and just before the players show their hands. Even the old fighter-pilot was quiet, his eyes unblinking above the mask. Then Durgin pushed the cassette player aside with the heel of his hand (the set of his mouth said he felt about it just then as I often felt about the telephone) and went back to the morning of July Fourth. He never asked about my dinner with Mattie and Ki on Tuesday night, and never returned to my telephone conversation with Devore the one where I had said all those awkward and easily disprovable things. I went on answering questions until eleven-thirty, but the interview really ended when Durgin pushed the tape-player away with the heel of his hand. I knew it, and I'm pretty sure he did, too. ‘Mike! Mike, over here!' Mattie was waving from one of the tables in the picnic area behind the town common's bandstand. She looked vibrant and happy. I waved back and made my way in that direction, weaving between little kids playing tag, skirting a couple of teenagers making out on the grass, and ducking a Frisbee which a leaping German shepherd caught smartly. There was a tall, skinny redhead with her, but I barely got a chance to notice him. Mattie met me while I was still on the gravel path, put her arms around me, hugged me it was no prudey little ass-poking-out hug, either and then kissed me on the mouth hard enough to push my lips against my teeth. There was a hearty smack when she disengaged. She pulled back and looked at me with undisguised delight. ‘Was it the biggest kiss you've ever had?' ‘The biggest in at least four years,' I said. ‘Will you settle for that?' And if she didn't step away from me in the next few seconds, she was going to have physical proof of how much I had enjoyed it. ‘I guess I'll have to.' She turned to the redheaded guy with a funny kind of defiance. ‘Was that all right?' ‘Probably not,' he said, ‘but at least you're not currently in view of those old boys at the All-Purpose Garage. Mike, I'm John Storrow. Nice to meet you in person.' I liked him at once, maybe because I'd come upon him dressed in his three-piece New York suit and primly setting out paper plates on a picnic table while his curly red hair blew around his head like kelp. His skin was fair and freckled, the kind which would never tan, only burn and then peel in great eczema-like patches. When we shook, his hand seemed to be all knuckles. He had to be at least thirty, but he looked Mattie's age, and I guessed it would be another five years before he was able to get a drink without showing his driver's license. ‘Sit down,' he said. ‘We've got a five-course lunch, courtesy of Castle Rock Variety grinders, which are for some strange reason called ‘Italian sandwiches' up here . . . mozzarella sticks . . . garlic fries . . . Twinkies.' ‘That's only four,' I said. ‘I forgot the soft-drink course,' he said, and pulled three long-neck bottles of S'OK birch beer out of a brown bag. ‘Let's eat. Mattie runs the library from two to eight on Fridays and Saturdays, and this would be a bad time for her to be missing work.' ‘How did the readers' circle go last night?' I asked. ‘Lindy Briggs didn't eat you alive, I see.' She laughed, clasped her hands, and shook them over her head. ‘I was a hit! An absolute smashola! I didn't dare tell them I got all my best insights from you ‘ ‘Thank God for small favors,' Storrow said. He was freeing his own sandwich from its string and butcher-paper wrapping, doing it carefully and a little dubiously, using just the tips of his fingers. ‘ so I said I looked in a couple of books and found some leads there. It was sort of wonderful. I felt like a college kid.' ‘Good.' ‘Bissonette?' John Storrow asked. ‘Where's he? I never met a guy named Romeo before.' ‘Said he had to go right back to Lewiston. Sorry.' ‘Actually it's best we stay small, at least to begin with.' He bit into his sandwich they come tucked into long sub rolls and looked at me, surprised. ‘This isn't bad.' ‘Eat more than three and you're hooked for life,' Mattie said, and chomped heartily into her own. ‘Tell us about the depo,' John said, and while they ate, I talked. When I finished, I picked up my own sandwich and played a little catch-up. I'd forgotten how good an Italian can be sweet, sour, and oily all at the same time. Of course nothing that tastes that good can be healthy; that's a given. I suppose one could formulate a similar postulate about full-body hugs from young girls in legal trouble. ‘Very interesting,' John said. ‘Very interesting indeed.' He took a mozzarella stick from its grease-stained bag, broke it open, and looked with a kind of fascinated horror at the clotted white gunk inside. ‘People up here eat this?' he asked. ‘People in New York eat fish-bladders,' I said. ‘Raw.' ‘Touch? ¦' He dipped a piece into the plastic container of spaghetti sauce (in this context it is called ‘cheese-dip' in western Maine), then ate it. ‘Well?' I asked. ‘Not bad. They ought to be a lot hotter, though.' Yes, he was right about that. Eating cold mozzarella sticks is a little like eating cold snot, an observation I thought I would keep to myself on this beautiful midsummer Friday. ‘If Durgin had the tape, why wouldn't he play it?' Mattie asked. ‘I don't understand.' John stretched his arms out, cracked his knuckles, and looked at her benignly. ‘We'll probably never know for sure,' he said. He thought Devore was going to drop the suit it was in every line of his body-language and every inflection of his voice. That was hopeful, but it would be good if Mattie didn't allow herself to become too hopeful. John Storrow wasn't as young as he looked, and probably not as guileless, either (or so I fervently hoped), but he was young. And neither he nor Mattie knew the story of Scooter Larribee's sled. Or had seen Bill Dean's face when he told it. ‘Want to hear some possibilities?' ‘Sure,' I said. John put down his sandwich, wiped his fingers, and then began to tick off points. ‘First, he made the call. Taped conversations have a highly dubious value under those circumstances. Second, he didn't exactly come off like Captain Kangaroo, did he?' ‘No.' ‘Third, your fabrication impugns you, Mike, but not really very much, and it doesn't impugn Mattie at all. And by the way, that thing about Mattie pushing bubbles in Kyra's face, I love that. If that's the best they can do, they better give it up right now. Last and this is where the truth probably lies I think Devore's got Nixon's Disease.' ‘Nixon's Disease?' Mattie asked. ‘The tape Durgin had isn't the only tape. Can't be. And your father-in-law is afraid that if he introduces one tape made by whatever system he's got in Warrington's, we might subpoena all of them. And I'd damn well try.' She looked bewildered. ‘What could be on them? And if it's bad, why not just destroy them?' ‘Maybe he can't,' I said. ‘Maybe he needs them for other reasons.' ‘It doesn't really matter,' John said. ‘Durgin was bluffing, and that's what matters.' He hit the heel of his hand lightly against the picnic table. ‘I think he's going to drop it. I really do.' ‘It's too early to start thinking like that,' I said at once, but I could tell by Mattie's face shining more brightly than ever that the damage was done. ‘Fill him in on what else you've been doing,' Mattie told John. ‘Then I've got to get to the library.' ‘Where do you send Kyra on your workdays?' I asked. ‘Mrs. Cullum's. She lives two miles up the Wasp Hill Road. Also in July there's VBS from ten until three. That's Vacation Bible School. Ki loves it, especially the singing and the flannel-board stories about Noah and Moses. The bus drops her off at Arlene's, and I pick her up around quarter of nine.' She smiled a little wistfully. ‘By then she's usually fast asleep on the couch.' John held forth for the next ten minutes or so. He hadn't been on the case long, but had already started a lot of balls rolling. A fellow in California was gathering facts about Roger Devore and Morris Ridding (‘gathering facts' sounded so much better than ‘snooping'). John was particularly interested in learning about the quality of Roger Devore's relations with his father, and if Roger was on record concerning his little niece from Maine. John had also mapped out a campaign to learn as much as possible about Max Devore's movements and activities since he'd come back to TR-90. To that end he had the name of a private investigator, one recommended by Romeo Bissonette, my rent-a-lawyer. As he spoke, paging rapidly through a little notebook he drew from the inside pocket of his suitcoat, I remembered what he'd said about Lady Justice during our telephone conversation: Slap some handcuffs on that broad's wrists and some tape over her mouth to go along with the blindfold, rape her and roll her in the mud. That was maybe a bit too strong for what we were doing, but I thought at the very least we were shoving her around a little. I imagined poor Roger Devore up on the stand, having flown three thousand miles in order to be questioned about his sexual preferences. I had to keep reminding myself that his father had put him in that position, not Mattie or me or John Storrow. ‘Have you gotten any closer to a meeting with Devore and his chief legal advisor?' I asked. ‘Don't know for sure. The line is in the water, the offer is on the table, the puck's on the ice, pick your favorite metaphor, mix em and match em if you desire.' ‘Got your irons in the fire,' Mattie said. ‘Your checkers on the board,' I added. We looked at each other and laughed. John regarded us sadly, then sighed, picked up his sandwich, and began to eat again. ‘You really have to meet him with his lawyer more or less dancing attendance?' I asked. ‘Would you like to win this thing, then discover Devore can do it all again based on unethical behavior by Mary Devore's legal resource?' John returned. ‘Don't even joke about it!' Mattie cried. ‘I wasn't joking,' John said. ‘It has to be with his lawyer, yes. I don't think it's going to happen, not on this trip. I haven't even got a look at the old cockuh, and I have to tell you my curiosity is killing me.' ‘If that's all it takes to make you happy, show up behind the backstop at the softball field next Tuesday evening,' Mattie said. ‘He'll be there in his fancy wheelchair, laughing and clapping and sucking his damned old oxygen every fifteen minutes or so.' ‘Not a bad idea,' John said. ‘I have to go back to New York for the weekend I'm leaving aprs Osgood but maybe I'll show up on Tuesday. I might even bring my glove.' He began clearing up our litter, and once again I thought he looked both prissy and endearing at the same time, like Stan Laurel wearing an apron. Mattie eased him aside and took over. ‘No one ate any Twinkles,' she said, a little sadly. ‘Take them home to your daughter,' John said. ‘No way. I don't let her eat stuff like this. What kind of mother do you think I am?' She saw our expressions, replayed what she'd just said, then burst out laughing. We joined her. Mattie's old Scout was parked in one of the slant spaces behind the war memorial, which in Castle Rock is a World War I soldier with a generous helping of birdshit on his pie-dish helmet. A brand-new Taurus with a Hertz decal above the inspection sticker was parked next to it. John tossed his briefcase reassuringly thin and not very ostentatious into the back seat. ‘If I can make it back on Tuesday, I'll call you,' he told Mattie. ‘If I'm able to get an appointment with your father-in-law through this man Osgood, I will also call you.' ‘I'll buy the Italian sandwiches,' Mattie said. He smiled, then grasped her arm in one hand and mine in the other. He looked like a newly ordained minister getting ready to marry his first couple. ‘You two talk on the telephone if you need to,' he said, ‘always remembering that one or both lines may be tapped. Meet in the market if you happen to. Mike, you might feel a need to drop by the local library and check out a book.' ‘Not until you renew your card, though,' Mattie said, giving me a demure glance. ‘But no more visits to Mattie's trailer. Is that understood?' I said yes; she said yes; John Storrow looked unconvinced. It made me wonder if he was seeing something in our faces or bodies that shouldn't be there. ‘They are committed to a line of attack which probably isn't going to work,' he said. ‘We can't risk giving them the chance to change course. That means innuendos about the two of you; it also means innuendos about Mike and Kyra.' Mattie's shocked expression made her look twelve again. ‘Mike and Kyra! What are you talking about?' ‘Allegations of child molestation thrown up by people so desperate they'll try anything.' ‘That's ridiculous,' she said. ‘And if my father-in-law wanted to sling that kind of mud ‘ John nodded. ‘Yes, we'd be obligated to sling it right back. Newspaper coverage from coast to coast would follow, maybe even Court TV, God bless and save us. We want none of that if we can avoid it. It's not good for the grownups, and it's not good for the child. Now or later.' He bent and kissed Mattie's cheek. ‘I'm sorry about all this,' he said, and he did sound genuinely sorry. ‘Custody's just this way.' ‘I think you warned me. It's just that . . . the idea someone might make a thing like that up just because there was no other way for them to win . . . ‘ ‘Let me warn you again,' he said. His face came as close to grim as its young and good-natured features would probably allow. ‘What we have is a very rich man with a very shaky case. The combination could be like working with old dynamite.' I turned to Mattie. ‘Are you still worried about Ki? Still feel she's in danger?' I saw her think about hedging her response out of plain old Yankee reserve, quite likely and then deciding not to. Deciding, perhaps, that hedging was a luxury she couldn't afford. ‘Yes. But it's just a feeling, you know.' John was frowning. I supposed the idea that Devore might resort to extralegal means of obtaining what he wanted had occurred to him, as well. ‘Keep your eye on her as much as you can,' he said. ‘I respect intuition. Is yours based on anything concrete?' ‘No,' Mattie answered, and her quick glance in my direction asked me to keep my mouth shut. ‘Not really.' She opened the Scout's door and tossed in the little brown bag with the Twinkies in it she had decided to keep them after all. Then she turned to John and me with an expression that was close to anger. ‘I'm not sure how to follow that advice, anyway. I work five days a week, and in August, when we do the microfiche update, it'll be six. Right now Ki gets her lunch at Vacation Bible School and her dinner from Arlene Cullum. I see her in the mornings. The rest of the time . . . ‘ I knew what she was going to say before she said it; the expression was an old one. ‘ . . . she's on the TR.' ‘I could help you find an au pair,' I said, thinking it would be a hell of a lot cheaper than John Storrow. ‘No,' they said in such perfect unison that they glanced at each other and laughed. But even while she was laughing, Mattie looked tense and unhappy. ‘We're not going to leave a paper trail for Durgin or Devore's custody team to exploit,' John said. ‘Who pays me is one thing. Who pays Mattie's child-care help is another.' ‘Besides, I've taken enough from you,' Mattie said. ‘More than I can sleep easy on. I'm not going to get in any deeper just because I've been having megrims.' She climbed into the Scout and closed the door. I rested my hands on her open window. Now we were on the same level, and the eye-contact was so strong it was disconcerting. ‘Mattie, I don't have anything else to spend it on. Really.' ‘When it comes to John's fee, I accept that. Because John's fee is about Ki.' She put her hand over mine and squeezed briefly. ‘This other is about me. All right?' ‘Yeah. But you need to tell your babysitter and the people who run this Bible thing that you've got a custody case on your hands, a potentially bitter one, and Kyra's not to go anywhere with anyone, even someone they know, without your say-so.' She smiled. ‘It's already been done. On John's advice. Stay in touch, Mike.' She lifted my hand, gave it a hearty smack, and drove away. ‘What do you think?' I asked John as we watched the Scout blow oil on its way to the new Prouty Bridge, which spans Castle Street and spills outbound traffic onto Highway 68. ‘I think it's grand she has a well-heeled benefactor and a smart lawyer,' John said. He paused, then added: ‘But I'll tell you some-thing she somehow doesn't feel lucky to me at all. There's a feeling I get . . . I don't know . . . ‘ ‘That there's a cloud around her you can't quite see.' ‘Maybe. Maybe that's it.' He raked his hands through the restless mass of his red hair. ‘I just know it's something sad.' I knew exactly what he meant . . . except for me there was more. I wanted to be in bed with her, sad or not, right or not. I wanted to feel her hands on me, tugging and pressing, patting and stroking. I wanted to be able to smell her skin and taste her hair. I wanted to have her lips against my ear, her breath tickling the fine hairs within its cup as she told me to do what I wanted, whatever I wanted. I got back to Sara Laughs shortly before two o'clock and let myself in, thinking about nothing but my study and the IBM with the Courier ball. I was writing again writing. I could still hardly believe it. I'd work (not that it felt much like work after a four-year layoff) until maybe six o'clock, swim, then go down to the Village Cafe for one of Buddy's cholesterol-rich specialties. The moment I stepped through the door, Bunter's bell began to ring stridently. I stopped in the foyer, my hand frozen on the knob. The house was hot and bright, not a shadow anywhere, but the gooseflesh forming on my arms felt like midnight. ‘Who's here?' I called. The bell stopped ringing. There was a moment of silence, and then a woman shrieked. It came from everywhere, pouring out of the sunny, mote-laden air like sweat out of hot skin. It was a scream of outrage, anger, grief . . . but mostly, I think, of horror. And I screamed in response. I couldn't help it. I had been frightened standing in the dark cellar stairwell, listening to the unseen fist thump on the insulation, but this was far worse. It never stopped, that scream. It faded, as the child's sobs had faded; faded as if the person screaming was being carried rapidly down a long corridor and away from me. At last it was gone. I leaned against the bookcase, my palm pressed against my tee-shirt, my heart galloping beneath it. I was gasping for breath, and my muscles had that queer exploded feel they get after you've had a bad scare. A minute passed. My heartbeat gradually slowed, and my breathing slowed with it. I straightened up, took a tottery step, and when my legs held me, took two more. I stood in the kitchen doorway, looking across to the living room. Above the fireplace, Bunter the moose looked glassily back at me. The bell around his neck hung still and chimeless. A hot sunpoint glowed on its side. The only sound was that stupid Felix the Cat clock in the kitchen. The thought nagging at me, even then, was that the screaming woman had been Jo, that Sara Laughs was being haunted by my wife, and that she was in pain. Dead or not, she was in pain. ‘Jo?' I asked quietly. ‘Jo, are you ‘ The sobbing began again the sound of a terrified child. At the same moment my mouth and nose once more filled with the iron taste of the lake. I put one hand to my throat, gagging and frightened, then leaned over the sink and spat. It was as it had been before instead of voiding a gush of water, nothing came out but a little spit. The waterlogged feeling was gone as if it had never been there. I stayed where I was, grasping the counter and bent over the sink, probably looking like a drunk who has finished the party by upchucking most of the night's bottled cheer. I felt like that, too stunned and bleary, too overloaded to really understand what was going on. At last I straightened up again, took the towel folded over the dishwasher's handle, and wiped my face with it. There was tea in the fridge, and I wanted a tall, ice-choked glass of it in the worst way. I reached for the doorhandle and froze. The fruit and vegetable magnets were drawn into a circle again. In the center was this: help im drown That's it, I thought. I'm getting out of here. Right now. Today. Yet an hour later I was up in my stifling study with a glass of tea on the desk beside me (the cubes in it long since melted), dressed only in my bathing trunks and lost in the world I was making the one where a private detective named Andy Drake was trying to prove that John Shackleford was not the serial killer nicknamed Baseball Cap. This is how we go on: one day at a time, one meal at a time, one pain at a time, one breath at a time. Dentists go on one root-canal at a time; boat-builders go on one hull at a time. If you write books, you go on one page at a time. We turn from all we know and all we fear. We study catalogues, watch football games, choose Sprint over AT. We count the birds in the sky and will not turn from the window when we hear the footsteps behind us as something comes up the hall; we say yes, I agree that clouds often look like other things fish and unicorns and men on horseback but they are really only clouds. Even when the lightning flashes inside them we say they are only clouds and turn our attention to the next meal, the next pain, the next breath, the next page. This is how we go on.