"Oh, that crap," Mayer answered. "That's just a walk-on-water letter. We put one in everyone's file. Hey, you've got to take care of your own, don't you? No way I'd get any of these poor slobs a raise if I were really honest. Besides, how would I look if all my people were average?" There were some things about the business world Dean would never understand.

Dean also asked Mayer about the one day Byrne had been absent-a Thursday the fourth of March-about two months ear­lier. The file had listed the reason as "personal."

"Byrne just telephoned and said he wouldn't be coming in. Something had come up. I'd have asked anyone else for more rea­son, but nobody could remember Jeff taking a day off-ever." Mayer added that Byrne was back to work the following day, but made no reference to his absence. Dean made a note to ask Cynthia Byrne about the incident and, after promising Mayer he'd keep in touch, hung up.

Rita wished him a nice flight the next day, pulled on a sweater with a hole through which her elbow protruded, reminded him it was after 5:00, and left the office. Dean was closing up his desk when Harrigan called. The doctor had taken his sweet time seeing him, but had finally confirmed that Byrne was in excellent health. The knee injury Mayer mentioned had occurred a year before and while it might have kept Byrne from jogging, it was no more than a temporary ailment. The doctor suggested as much exercise could be gained by walking without the added risk of injury.

Fred had taken the geezer bus to Atlantic City-ten free silver dollars plus a free meal-so Dean was on his own for the early evening. The lunchtime pastrami more than eliminated the need for an early dinner, so he drove home, changed into shorts and set out at a leisurely pace on his 18-speed touring bike.

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Dean had a later appointment so he limited his ride to the area around Parkside. Given more time, he'd have preferred to put the bike on the car's rack and chew up some countryside miles, tour­ing the hills and farm lands that surrounded Parkside. In the rural areas, there was less concern with traffic, although an occasional farm dog forced him to practice his sprints.

The late afternoon was delightful as he wound his way through the city streets north of town. He had no particular destination, but his meandering brought him to a hillside overlooking the new high school complex. In spite of the relative lateness of the hour, a baseball game was still in progress. He altered his course and coasted down to the edge of the field.




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