Page 91 of Nobody's Fool
When I start passing out the papers to the class, Golfer Gary asks, “Oh man, is this a pop quiz?”
“I hate those.”
“This isn’t fair, Kierce,” Lenny whines. “No one told us we had to study.”
“It’s not a pop quiz,” I say. “It’s a Non-Disclosure Agreement. I have a case. I thought it might be fun for you to participate.”
“Like being junior detectives?”
“Something like that.”
“Do we get badges?” Raymond asks.
I hadn’t noticed him before, but he wasn’t on the student list. “What are you doing here, Raymond?”
“Right,” he says with a chuckle. “Like you don’t need my help.”
I look at Debbie. She shrugs. “He followed me,” she says.
“No badges,” I say. “Read it over. If you’re okay with it, Polly here is a notary. She’ll witness your signatures.”
“And if we aren’t okay with it?”
“I’ll have to ask you to leave,” I say. “My client has insisted on complete discretion. If you can’t abide by that, buh-bye.”
Unsurprisingly, no one leaves. They barely read the document—except for Raymond, who has broken out a monocle like the PlantersPeanuts guy. The rest quickly line up to sign. Polly carefully notarizes them. Raymond asks, “Can I get a definition for the word ‘the’ in the last paragraph?”
“It means you’re free to leave whenever you want, Raymond.”
“Funny one, Kierce.”
Raymond signs, Polly notarizes. That’s everyone.
Debbie says, “Okay, so what’s the case?”
“We have two, actually,” I say.
They wait.
“First case you already know about.”
“Victoria Belmond?” Polly asks.
“Yes.”
“Who is hiring us?”
Us. Already with theus. “It’s confidential. Always. Everything about this case is confidential. Ethically. Morally. And legally. Are we all clear?”
“Do we get paid?” Raymond asks.
“No. It’s part of your studies. I have assignments for all of you. Well, not you, Raymond.”
“Better,” Raymond says. “Let me fly solo.”
“Like a witch on an airplane wing,” I say.
Raymond likes that. He makes a finger gun and drops the hammer. “Exactamundo.”
