big demand for dry holes, she'd say.
"Hell, we got a lot of other benefits from the data processing. We never lose track of a lease rental payment. We're right now revamping the software to catch up with the changes in the WPT. We got all the payout status reports up to date. And we do our own econometric studies. But keeping track of all the nuts and bolts is housekeeping. Using computer technology to process information about, what might be a couple of miles underground, and draw maps of it, that was her contribution, and she came in for a percentage of every well after payout, a certain percent for the ones she worked on and smaller for the others, and for the development wells based on her original recommendation. Having that engineering under her belt gave her a practical base for all the rest of it."
"I understand her percentages stop now?" Meyer said
"You sound like you disapprove. You don't understand the picture. I'm not running a farm team to train people for the seven sisters to snatch up. It's all spelled out. She came in with her eyes open. The longer good people stay, the more they make. If they quit, their percentages go back into the pot. If they retire, they keep the percentages until they die, provided they have at least fifteen years in. In case of accidental death, there's the insurance, and the percentages keep on going for the full calendar year following the year of death, payable to the heirs. So you'll make out okay. Not to worry."
Meyer seemed to swell visibly. He said in a very quiet gritty voice, "I never approve or disapprove of practices with which I am not familiar. I would suspect that when a person becomes contentious and defensive about a given practice, without cause, then there could be reason to doubt either its efficacy or its morality. I did not come here to learn how I would 'make out,' as you put it. I. came here to see if you could give us any useful information about Evan Lawrence. Mr. McGee and I are quite convinced he killed my niece. If we are ever to find him, we must learn more about him."
Dexter stood up from the corner of his desk and stared at Meyer and then at me. "Jesus H. Jumping Christ!" he whispered. "Killed Norma? For the money? Jesus, if he stuck with her,. in ten more years she'd be spilling money on the way to the bank. Talk about killing the goose!"
Then he made a funny little bow to Meyer. "Excuse me. I had you all wrong. I thought a band of nuts tried to blow you up but got Norma and her husband by accident. I thought you were here to find out how much you were going to get. In my line of work, there are a lot of people who spend all their time trying to find out how much they are going to get. They generally get less than if they spent less time thinking about it. What did that husband do? Blow up a stand-in?"
"Good guess," Meyer said. "No part of any body was recovered. In a photo taken moments before the explosion, from another boat, Norma and Captain Jenkins are recognizable and the third person has been identified, but not officially, as a hired mate. Authorities can find no trace of any such terrorist organization. Of course, there could be an international organization with a compulsion to kill economists, an urge I would find understandable, if not sympathetic."
Meyer startled me. It was almost the very first glimmer of humor I had detected in a year, and it came at an unexpected time and place.
"But you do have more to go on than what you've told me?"
"Just behavior patterns. But convincing," Meyer said.
"I think I told you what I know about the husband. A pleasant guy. Maybe not very motivated. Maybe twelve years older than Norma, maybe less. He seemed like the kind of person who makes lots of friends and has lots of contacts. A salesman type. He had a good laugh. I decided he'd make a pretty good husband for Norma. That is, if she had to have a husband."
"Any distinguishing marks or characteristics?" I asked. "We had dinner with the two of
"Hell, we got a lot of other benefits from the data processing. We never lose track of a lease rental payment. We're right now revamping the software to catch up with the changes in the WPT. We got all the payout status reports up to date. And we do our own econometric studies. But keeping track of all the nuts and bolts is housekeeping. Using computer technology to process information about, what might be a couple of miles underground, and draw maps of it, that was her contribution, and she came in for a percentage of every well after payout, a certain percent for the ones she worked on and smaller for the others, and for the development wells based on her original recommendation. Having that engineering under her belt gave her a practical base for all the rest of it."
"I understand her percentages stop now?" Meyer said
"You sound like you disapprove. You don't understand the picture. I'm not running a farm team to train people for the seven sisters to snatch up. It's all spelled out. She came in with her eyes open. The longer good people stay, the more they make. If they quit, their percentages go back into the pot. If they retire, they keep the percentages until they die, provided they have at least fifteen years in. In case of accidental death, there's the insurance, and the percentages keep on going for the full calendar year following the year of death, payable to the heirs. So you'll make out okay. Not to worry."
Meyer seemed to swell visibly. He said in a very quiet gritty voice, "I never approve or disapprove of practices with which I am not familiar. I would suspect that when a person becomes contentious and defensive about a given practice, without cause, then there could be reason to doubt either its efficacy or its morality. I did not come here to learn how I would 'make out,' as you put it. I. came here to see if you could give us any useful information about Evan Lawrence. Mr. McGee and I are quite convinced he killed my niece. If we are ever to find him, we must learn more about him."
Dexter stood up from the corner of his desk and stared at Meyer and then at me. "Jesus H. Jumping Christ!" he whispered. "Killed Norma? For the money? Jesus, if he stuck with her,. in ten more years she'd be spilling money on the way to the bank. Talk about killing the goose!"
Then he made a funny little bow to Meyer. "Excuse me. I had you all wrong. I thought a band of nuts tried to blow you up but got Norma and her husband by accident. I thought you were here to find out how much you were going to get. In my line of work, there are a lot of people who spend all their time trying to find out how much they are going to get. They generally get less than if they spent less time thinking about it. What did that husband do? Blow up a stand-in?"
"Good guess," Meyer said. "No part of any body was recovered. In a photo taken moments before the explosion, from another boat, Norma and Captain Jenkins are recognizable and the third person has been identified, but not officially, as a hired mate. Authorities can find no trace of any such terrorist organization. Of course, there could be an international organization with a compulsion to kill economists, an urge I would find understandable, if not sympathetic."
Meyer startled me. It was almost the very first glimmer of humor I had detected in a year, and it came at an unexpected time and place.
"But you do have more to go on than what you've told me?"
"Just behavior patterns. But convincing," Meyer said.
"I think I told you what I know about the husband. A pleasant guy. Maybe not very motivated. Maybe twelve years older than Norma, maybe less. He seemed like the kind of person who makes lots of friends and has lots of contacts. A salesman type. He had a good laugh. I decided he'd make a pretty good husband for Norma. That is, if she had to have a husband."
"Any distinguishing marks or characteristics?" I asked. "We had dinner with the two of
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