"You tell how you tried to kill Randy?"

"I mention him in the opening, the reason I'm here." Sitting down again she said, "What's he up to, anything?"

"Well," Fran said, "we won't be seeing him on the society page anymore."

That perked her up.

"His wife divorced him, threw him out of the house."

It made little Debbie sit up straight, a gleam in her eye. She said, "I knew it. When?"

"It just became final."

"They were married what, a year?"

"A little over. There was a prenuptial agreement, so her fortune won't be seriously broken into. Randy's paid off and gets to keep the restaurant."

"He got a restaurant out of it?"

Little Debbie showing resentment.

"Downtown Detroit, on Larned."

"The son of a bitch. Why didn't you tell me?"

"The divorce was only final a couple of days ago."

"I mean about the restaurant. What's the name of it?"

"Randy's, what else. He bought a bar and put a lot of money into it, his wife's."

"Why does he get to keep it?"

"As part of the settlement. She doesn't like the neighborhood. So it's in his name, but I think there might be a partner involved. At least that's what my source tells me."

"What I don't understand," Debbie said, "why it took his wife over a year to find out he's a fucking snake. She should've known the first time he shed his skin."

"You use that in your act?"

"I just thought of it."

"What's it mean?"

"What snakes do, they molt. I'll see if I can make it work." She said, "I'll bet he got a boat out of it, too, the son of a bitch."

"The ex-wife keeps the boats and the country clubs, Detroit and Palm Beach. Randy can have his membership at the DAC if he wants to pay the bills. I have a lawyer friend in the same firm as the guy representing him. That's how I happen to know about the settlement, the main points. Randy comes away with the restaurant and a few million after the lawyer takes his cut. You would think the ex-wife," Fran said, "a woman with all her dough and clout, would've had Randy investigated before they got married."