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ôOh, so now weÆre talking to our lawyers already, are we? I didnÆt realize we were at that stage.ö

ôWake up, Valina. WeÆre long past that stage. All we can do now is damage control. And like I told you before, IÆm not going to watch a reputation I spent my entire career building destroyed through your sheer and utter incompetence!ö To add emphasis to his words, he was pointing a finger at the dating site owner, and stabbing it into her shoulder.

ôYour reputation! What aboutmy reputation? I created this site! It carries my name!ö

ôI donÆt care. ItÆs every man for himself now as far as IÆm concerned. If you need me, IÆll be in the basementùtrying to fix your screwup!ö

ôTheyÆre not exactly the best of friends, are they, Max?ö said Dooley as we watched Norwell leave. He hadnÆt even refilled his cup.

ôWhen the shit hits the fan, business partners rarely stay friends,ö I said. ôUsually their relationship is more along the lines of rats leaving a sinking ship.ö

ôRats!ö Dooley cried, jumping about a foot from the floor. ôWhere!ö

ôProverbial rats, Dooley,ö I explained. ôNot real ones.ö

ôOh, thank God. I donÆt like rats, Max.ö

ôWho does?ö

We decided to wander back to ValinaÆs office to see if Odelia was still awake after this bombardment with technical jargon. ôDo you think there are rats on Pettr, Max?ö

ôI doubt it,ö I said. ôWho would want to date a rat?ö

ôOther rats?ö

ôI guess so,ö I said doubtfully. ôThough rats arenÆt exactly known for their discernment and sense of good taste, are they? No doubt rats simply mate with the first mate they meet.ö

ôI think thereÆs probably a lot of things about rats that we donÆt know, Max. Maybe theyÆre more romantic than we think. Like the rest of the animal kingdom theyÆre capable of love and the finer emotions. For instance, I once heard that rats mate for life. But only the Californian rat.ö

ôAnd why is that?ö

ôI donÆt know. Maybe itÆs got something to do with the weather?ö

ôHere is something I heard,ö I said. ôYour average pair of rats can produce as much as half a billion offspring during their lifespan, which is usually three years.ö

ôThatÆs a lot of rats, Max,ö said Dooley with a shiver.

ôAnd I can assure you, Dooley, that romance doesnÆt feature into the thing. For rats itÆs quantity over quality all the way.ö

And as we passed by an office markedæAccountingÆ I found myself thinking that at Valina Fawn the same thing applied: the more people who signed up with the site, the more money ended up in the company coffers. For love or money? Evidently the latter.

Chapter 7

As far as I could tell, OdeliaÆs interview had been a big bust, but when we were in the car, driving back to the office, she told us that there was at least one upshot. One takeaway she was particularly happy about.

ôTurns out that Chase was telling the truth,ö she said as she steered her aged pickup along the road. ôI talked to one of the people in charge of programming, and asked if he could tell if a person signing up was the actual person or simply someone using their name and picture. He looked at ChaseÆs profile and could determine based on the IP address that the Chase Kingsley whoÆs advertising his rugged good looks and the fact that heÆs a cop on the site is based in Swarthmore, a suburb of Philadelphia, and not, as it turns out, here in Hampton Cove.ö

ôSo itÆs not Chase?ö Dooley asked.

ôNo, itÆs not. HeÆs telling the truth. And so, incidentally, are my dad and Uncle Alec. Uncle AlecÆs search history only lists variations of the criminal heÆs been looking for, and my dad doesnÆt even have much of a search history. In fact he only looked at two profiles, and one of those is Gran.ö

ôGran is on the site?ö I asked.

ôOf course she is. And so is Scarlett, by the way.ö

ôWhy doesnÆt that surprise me?ö

ôWhat was the other profile Tex looked at?ö asked Dooley.

Odelia smiled.ôMomÆs.ö

ôYour mom is on Valina Fawn!ö cried Dooley.

ôA fact she conveniently forgot to mention,ö Odelia pointed out.

Well, looked as if all the men in our family were officially in the clear.

ôSo thatÆs why you agreed to do the interview, and sit through that guy jabbering on about all of that nerdy stuff,ö I said.

Odelia nodded.ôI simply had to know. And this seemed like the only way to find out. These sites are notoriously protective of that kind of information, but now that theyÆve been so badly hit, theyÆre anxious for positive publicity. And so I promised to give them a positive write-upàö

ôIn exchange for some information on Chase.ö

ôWe heard a big argument between Valina and Norwell,ö said Dooley. ôMax says theyÆre like rats on a ship, though they didnÆt seem eager to mate and produce half a billion offspring in the next three years.ö

Odelia laughed.ôYeah, I already had the impression they werenÆt as matey as they made out to be.ö

ôNorwell says heÆs lawyering up,ö I said. ôSo they might get even less matey now.ö