They stood side by side, next to thebed, looking down at me triumphantly. Marie and, next to her, Edward. Inmy body."I've put a lot of money into rese...rch into brain studies over theyears," Edward said. "Quite ironic that I ended up with a stroke andAlzheimer's when you think about it. But the people I sponsored managedto create something special, a little device that can scan a person'sconsciousness, just like a photocopier, and send it somewhere else. Ofcourse, the consciousness it replaces. Whoever it was, it had ta be a man. I could tell that from the way his voice "sounded." I wondered what the hell was goin' on, 'cause he could have killed me ifen he had wanted ta. About all I knew fer sure was that the shot had come from outside the saloon. The reason was that nobody inside the saloon had reacted ta the sound of a gunshot, an' that could not possibly have been kept a secret inside a building. Even a .22 caliber gun would have made a hell of a racket inside the saloon.That. She just came back from Mexico and they had a drink down there they make with tequila and she wanted all of us to try it. That stuff can really sneak up on you."That isn't all that snuck up on you I thought, but I didn't say anything.The following Tuesday I followed Terry to her friend Jana's house where the card party was supposed to be. I parked down the street and settled in to wait and see what might happen. I saw Lea arrive, then Judy and Alice. A few minutes later Joyce and Mary showed. No harm done, he supposed, if she was going to be serious and professional like this from now on. 'That's great, ' Melissa continued, still talking to Roger. 'Since it's your opinion I'm most interested in.''Oh, ok, Miss Reynolds, ' said Roger, smiling hesitantly, his chest puffing out a bit.'Yes it is. Because here's the thing: I don't have the budget to go out and hire somebody new for this 'office helper' position, and so I have to appoint a person who's already here. I need to select a.