“All’s well,” King answered in his basso profundo, then said to Zippy, “Steak for them, too.”
“That will take some doing but I’ll figure it out.”
Gun back in her pocket, little keychain in Howie’s, the two walked, skidded, down the low ridge arm in arm.
“And you’re a rich man, Howie.”
“And you’re even richer, Jeep.”
“Know something?” She pulled him closer. “Even when we were kids and our folks didn’t have a pot to piss in, we were rich. We’ve always been rich. The money’s just a bonus.”
“Got that right.” He stopped, kissed her on the cheek, then they picked their way home to the welcoming lights, remembered laughter and more laughter to come.
AFTERWORD AND AFTERMATH
Dear Reader,
The statistics in this novel were current as of February 3, 2011.
Some of the technical information concerning our housing problems was removed by my editors. Their assessment was that you all didn’t want to plow through all that, and I expect they were right. As it was, and this is true for most any novel, ninety percent of the research doesn’t show up in the text. But one needs to study to reach the other ten percent, clarified like a broth, that does.
If you have a greater interest, I can point you toward some information. Look up MERS: Mortgage Electronic Registration System. MERS holds sixty-four million loans and the issue is can they foreclose or not? The Supreme Courts of Kansas, Arkansas, and Maine have ruled that MERS cannot foreclose on behalf of the banks because they are merely a placeholder and possess no authority. The banks created the MERS system to avoid paying recording fees.
A bellwether for you is when the number of homes and commercial properties on the market exceeds a six-month supply. Cities you might not think about like Jacksonville, Florida, are over that six-month supply period. For Las Vegas, God only knows. It’s a disaster.
To learn more about economic ratios, you might take a look at the February 24, 2011 issue of Forbes magazine, where Rich Karlgaard wrote an excellent column entitled “Wealth and Fitness Secret.” It’s simple and clear. There are also many books on the market trying to explain what has happened, why it happened, and when will it end. Most of these nonfiction books are quite well written. It’s not like fighting your way through Adam Smith, Marx, Keynes, or Schumpeter, which I have done.
Good as these popular books are, the real problem is moral. It’s not about complicated financial interests. When the drive for profit and power overwhelm the concern for the national good, we have a serious problem. Whether it’s many of the people in the financial institutions or the people in government, all bear responsibility. It comes down to people and their decisions. It always does.
Which means it comes down to you and me. If we tolerate this, it will continue despite assurances to the contrary. If we don’t, it won’t.
Speaking of tolerance, God bless Cynthia Marsteller, vice president of the Marsteller Bradshaw Group. She patiently read this manuscript, made corrections, and helped me comprehend the financial meltdown. She is also a sister foxhunter and a good one, too. (We don’t kill the fox. We just chase him. It’s different here than in England for those of you recoiling at the thought that two women chase foxes while riding on beautiful horses.) Cindy refuses all compensation for a big job well done. I don’t know what I am going to do to get even but I thank her and will continue to thank her.
Mark Catron, vice president and financial advisor of SunTrust Bank here in central Virginia, also endured discussions. A clarinet player in Charlotte for the North Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra, he now lives and foxhunts in Virginia. (You meet the most incredible people hunting.) He has the distinction of being First Shotgun for the Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra for his part in Johann Strauss’s “Auf der Jagd.” Incidentally, he is also the 2010 Canadian and Royal National Champion Road Horse to Bike. Actually, his horse Cookie Monster is the real champion, according to Cookie. As an aside, the first place ribbon at the Royal held in Toronto is red for the red of the Canadian flag.
Carol Lloyd of Reno was invaluable as my researcher. She fielded last-minute requests—some voiced with desperation—with uncommon good humor, plus she’s really smart. Many thanks.
As always, the house dogs, the foxhounds, the bassets, even the horses with whom I share the best part of my life pitched in. The cats did not. They are appalled that there are no cats in this book.
May you be well and I hope you have some four-footed friends to make you laugh, to take you for walks.
Always and ever,
Rita Mae
In memory of Doughboy, an American foxhound, who brought
wonderful, generous Anne Fortune Henderson into my life
Don’t miss
A NOSE FOR JUSTICE,
the tail-wagging mystery that introduced
Jeep, Mags, Baxter, and King.
“A hotbed of mystery and suspense … a humor-filled story that is loaded with quirky but lovable characters.”
—WICHITA FALLS Times Record News
Available now.
and
It’s Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown’s 20th anniversary!
Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeeen,
along with sleuthing cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter,
corgi Tucker, and the other residents of Crozet, Virginia, return in
THE BIG CAT NAP,
a new Mrs. Murphy mystery
available in Spring 2012.
Books by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown
Don’t miss the first in the tail-wagging new mystery series …
A Nose for Justice!
Wish You Were Here • Rest in Pieces • Murder at Monticello • Pay Dirt • Murder, She Meowed • Murder on the Prowl • Cat on the Scent • Sneaky Pie’s Cookbook for Mystery Lovers • Pawing Through the Past • Claws and Effect • Catch as Cat Can • The Tail of the Tip-Off • Whisker of Evil • Cat’s Eyewitness • Sour Puss • Puss ’N Cahoots • The Purrfect Murder • Santa Clawed • Cat of the Century • Hiss of Death
Books by Rita Mae Brown with
“Sister” Jane Arnold in the Outfoxed series
Outfoxed • Hotspur • Full Cry • The Hunt Ball • The Hounds and the Fury • The Tell-Tale Horse • Hounded to Death
Books by Rita Mae Brown
Animal Magnetism: My Life with Creatures Great and Small • The Hand That Cradles the Rock • Songs to a Handsome Woman • The Plain Brown Rapper • Rubyfruit Jungle • In Her Day • Six of One • Southern Discomfort • Sudden Death • High Hearts • Started from Scratch • A Different Kind of Writer’s Manual • Bingo • Venus Envy • Dolley: A Novel of Dolley Madison in Love and War • Riding Shotgun • Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser • Loose Lips • Alma Mater • The Sand Castle
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RITA MAE BROWN is the New York Times bestselling author of the Mrs. Murphy mystery series (which she writes with her tiger cat, Sneaky Pie) and the Sister Jane novels, as well as Rubyfruit Jungle, In Her Day, Six of One, The Sand Castle, and the memoirs, Animal Magnetism and Rita Will. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and a poet, Brown lives in Afton, Virginia, with cats, hounds, horses, and big red foxes.
www.ritamaebrown.com
Murder Unleashed Page 24