Notes on Chapter 23

The Dynamic Duo

In Chapter 23, the shit hits the fan. Janet and Walt drive up to the Sierra in a panic that her dad’s been attacked on the street. Len tells her, in that expression that the Greatest Generation loved, “You should have seen the other guy!”

Len’s not hurt at all, of course, and Dan just has a bandage on this forehead where Harry Redding hit him with his cane. Frank, the senior detective who broke up the brawl, tells them why everyone in town now hates Len: it’s because Helen got kicked out of her church. The Seventh Day Adventists take a very dim view of gambling, even if it’s only playing bingo for money.

In the meantime, the local reporter’s story about how Len and Dan used the Internet to crack a crime has gone national, and it’s all over the news. The fact that that’s only vaguely what happened doesn’t matter. Everyone has a good laugh about Len and Dan being that Internet crime-fighting duo.

We also find out what the other characters are up to. Matt and Miriam are getting a divorce, and Miriam is already thinking of marrying Patrick, the Marketing sleazebag now at Microsoft, and moving to Seattle. Maybe he can make her rich, since obviously Matt isn’t going to.

Cassie loves being at Palm, even though their first product, the Zoomer, is failing in the market, and they don’t have a replacement for it yet. She still wants to adopt a child, but work is just too busy and interesting to devote the time right now.

In Chapter 24, Len is being polite to all the news media people who call him, but that’s all. However, he does get one interview offer that intrigues him. You’ll have to read the chapter to find out what it is.