carly part seven: micki

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Micki looked around the large kitchen and peeked into the
living room. She turned, smiling a smile which involved only her
mouth, an expression Susan knew very well from Micki’s father.
Susan meanwhile tried not to stare at Micki’s hair. It looked
like she’d gone after Carly Stein’s bangs and long, severe hair
with a lawn mower, or perhaps a knife and fork. And in the dark.
Some patches were very short, almost down to the scalp, others
were a couple of inches long, sticking up in various directions.

“Pretty ritzy place,” Micki said. Susan shrugged. “You seen
the papers?”

Susan shook her head. “I’ve been avoiding–”

“As my father always says, you can
break the glass, but you can’t hold back the weather. Look.”
She threw a newspaper down on the table. Susan looked at the
headline, sank into a chair and started to read.

Benjamin Stein Dead in Apparent Sexcapade Suicide
Benjamin Stein, the well-known owner of Stein’s Suits and a prominent supporter of the Mayor since his earliest campaigns, was found dead in his office last night in an apparent murder-suicide. The other victim was Gregory Hobbs, an employee of Mr. Stein’s company. The Mayor issued a statement, saying he “would always cherish the memory of the campaigns Ben and I fought together. As for the rest, we must learn to be more tolerant of alternative lifestyles.” He also said he hoped the more sensational aspects of the story would be kept in proper perspective, out of respect to Mr. Stein’s widow and children. In answer to a reporter’s question, he said he didn’t	think he had ever met Gregory Hobbs. The door to Mr. Stein’s private office was locked from the inside, and his secretary, Ms. Irene Randall, became alarmed when she could get no response on the office intercom. Fearing that Mr. Stein, who was 68, might have suffered a heart attack, she called building security and they broke down the thick oak door. When she saw the scene inside the office, Ms. Randall fainted and couldn’t be revived until the EMS workers had arrived. Police officers wouldn’t comment in the scene in Mr. Stein’s office, but witnesses reported that both men were naked, except for certain leather devices, and (continued on page B-7)

“I’ll make the coffee,” Micki said after a minute.

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