why would they send one of the bigwigs over if they were going to acquire someone who’d be coming to these anyway? Who knew, with business, these days.
“So, I take it this isn’t your first conference?” He put his menu down.
I laughed. “I started coming to these when I was fifteen. That’s about twenty years worth of them now.”
“Well, I guess I just got lucky.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve been trying to get familiar with some of the bigger names around here, and it sounds like you’d be the person to tell me whether I’m on the right track.”
I chewed on my straw, trying not to get drawn into this. “Uh, well, I guess it depends on what you’re trying to figure out. If there’s a specialty, for example, like a certain kind of artifact or a time period, you’re going to find that they’re different folks you need to talk to.”
“What about a geographical area? We’re going to be expanding in the Midwest, Michigan to Minnesota, down to Iowa and Missouri. Who’d be good to meet who knows those areas?”
“Oh, well, you’re actually better off going to one of the central-area meetings then. Right up your geographical alley. They’re scheduled in three months—”
“Oh, we’ll get some people there, of course, it’s just that I’ll be away and I wanted to try and make the most of the opportunity here. Anyway, I also heard that Duncan Thayer would be a good person to talk to. Is he here?”
I knew it was coming, but just the sound of his name made me go stiff as a plank. “Yes, he’s here. You can’t miss him, big guy, used to have lots of red hair, getting a little thick around the middle, I guess. Still, some people age better than others—”
“Right. Recently he’s worked on the New Hampshire-Vermont border, is that right? And New York State, before that?”
“I guess. You’d have to ask him. He’s giving a paper this afternoon, but I don’t know what on.”
“Okay, I’ll check it out. Is there anyone else who specializes in that geographical area, particularly with artifact expertise? As I understand it, we’re going to need a lab supervisor, and I guess it wouldn’t be a bad idea to see if there’s anyone in the area who’s looking.”
“Trust me, all you have to do is put up a notice and they’ll come flocking to you.” What was with this guy, that he had nothing better to do but come out to a conference and blunder around like this? Oh God, a hobby for his financially comfortable middle age, I realized. The archaeology section would be his pet, heaven help them all. “And besides, if you’re acquiring—was it Northeastern Consulting you said? I’m not familiar with them.”
“Oh, it’s a very small operation in Vermont—I think there were only ever three permanent hires and they relied heavily on seasonal recruiting. Lots of department-of-public-works work. Do you know Jake Sherman?”
I shook my head, wishing there hadn’t been so much of the name to exhale. Mr. Widmark needed to discover Listerine and possibly the name of a good dentist. I was surprised that his own eyes weren’t watering.
“Well, no matter, we’re going to be expanding considerably anyway. And you’ll hear all about us then. We’ve got a lot of very big—”
Fortunately, Eleni came rushing over with my cheeseburger, interrupting Widmark and his paean to his very big plans. She dumped it on the table so hard that it nearly slid off the plate into my lap, and dashed off before I could even ask for any water. I retrieved a couple of stray French fries and pushed the burger back onto the plate. Widmark handed me the catsup before I could ask for it.
“Thanks. I hope you don’t mind if I start.”
“Please, go ahead.”
I started eating as fast as I could. It wasn’t that he was a bad guy, it was that every time he breathed, you could see the veneer on the table begin to peel up.
Eleni ran over and took his order for an omelet; I took the opportunity to ask for a cup of coffee. It was going to be a long afternoon, and I wanted to stay on top of things. Eleni grunted and ran off, and I figured I had about a fifty-fifty chance that she’d heard me.
“So who else should I talk to?”
I gave him a few more names, then suggested he go to the receptions and university parties, which would be held throughout the weekend.
He nodded. “Okay,