Marlene wasn't listening. She was still staring at him and the expression on her face was not pleasant.

"What?" said Karp.

"You rat! This isn't about the floor, or Lucy, or how hard I work. They offered you a job in Philly and you want to take it and move and you're afraid to just come out and say it."

Karp felt his face steam in embarrassment. A denial sprang to his lips, but, to his credit, he suppressed it. He was a rat.

"Well?" pressed his wife. "Did they?"

He nodded.

"And you want to take it."

He nodded again.

"Christ! What I hate is having to worm stuff like this out of you like you were a little boy. Why don't you just come up to me like a real person and talk about it?"

"I don't know," answered Karp, meaning that he did know. "I guess… avoiding. I really started wanting this and I knew there was going to be an incredible explosion when I told you and I was just easing into it. I'm just basically slimy that way."

"I'll say! So spit it out already. What is it, a glossy partnership with the white shoes, down in Philly there?"

"No. It's a government job. In D.C."

"Huh? Schmuck! Darling! You already got a government job. What, you just developed a sudden interest in federal crimes?"

"No, it's with a congressional committee, working for Bert Crane. The House is reopening the Kennedy assassination case and they want me to be in charge of it, Crane does."

Marlene was sipping at her wine when this emerged and her snort of amazement sprayed a purple mist over the nearby area, including Karp.

"I'm sorry!" she sputtered. "That was unexpected. Let me hear that again: they want you to find out who killed Kennedy?"

"Yeah. What's wrong with that?"