"Let me look right now," Corwin said.
He came back in a moment. "Are we talking about the paperback book?"
"Yes."
"It isn't in the book bag. Could you have put it somewhere else?"
Sophie, for all her bravado, knew she still wasn't quite up to par mentally.
"I may have taken it out of the book bag. I don't remember doing so. Perhaps I set it aside some-where. Take a good look around the suite and bring the bag and my purse," she said, knowing she was whining.
"If you don't find it," she went on, "ask Zac Zebra to find another copy. I simply can't imagine being stuck here without something to read, and since I don't know where my clothes are, I can't even walk down to the gift shop. My hospital gown gaps in the back. Come over as soon as you can. And bring along a small bottle of Merlot. Carefully hidden, of course."
Early Friday morning, while Jane was drying her hair, she was astonished when a phone rang in the bathroom. She hadn't even noticed it was there.
"Hello?"
"Mom," Mike said, "I've been told that you, Katie, and Todd all have cell phones. Why don't I have one?"
Jane laughed. "Because you were in college instead of home the day I went haywire and bought them."
"Are you still haywire?"
"Yes, but for different reasons. I'm at this mystery conference, as you obviously know because you have the telephone number to my room. I have appointments with two agents and one editor today."
"I know. Katie told me. Congratulations. But about the cell phone…?"
"You'll be out for summer vacation soon. I'll buy you one then. Okay?"
"Okay. Good luck, Mom. I have to be in class in five minutes. Gotta go. There's a test today and I have the crib sheet up my sleeve. Just kidding, Mom."
A moment later, Shelley turned up in Jane's room. "I heard the phone. There's nothing wrong, is there?"
"No. Just Mike wanting to know why the whole family except him received cell phones."
Shelley laughed. "What a good grapevine your kids have. Do you have time for breakfast before your first interview?"
Jane looked at her watch. "Nope. How about we meet after the interview? It's only twenty minutes from now and only fifteen minutes long."
"I'll meet you at the registration booth then. Do you have everything you need for the interview?"
Jane rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mommy."
When Jane arrived in the interview area early, she peeked in the door. Three tables had been set up in the room where the dessert party had been held. Each had two people sitting on opposite sides and a placard with the name of the editor or agent. She was early, so she sat down on a chair in the hallway, waiting with the two other eager, nervous interviewees. They exchanged smiles all around, but didn't speak.
A few minutes later, the door opened and twowomen and one man walked out. One woman was smiling. The other two people looked disappointed.
Jane and the other two women she'd waited with rose and entered the room. Jane went to the desk with a card saying "Gretta Green." This was the first agent she had an interview with.
Jane leaned across the table and shook the woman's hand. "I'm Jane Jeffry, and I'm pleased to meet you, Ms. Green." She handed over the folder with the first three chapters and the outline.
The agent pulled out the papers, set aside the chapters, and went to the outline first.
"Oh, it's an historical novel, isn't it?"
"Yes, but it has a mystery element, too."
"But it's historical," Ms. Green said with a frown. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but historicals are dead and gone. Nobody's doing them anymore."
Jane didn't know quite what to say to this, but pulled herself together and managed, "But I've read a lot of historical mysteries that have been recently published."
"Yes, maybe so. But mystery is the main thrust of the books, not the historical element. And the outline suggests that's almost all historical. I'm sorry. It's not something our agency does. Good luck. It's been nice meeting you. Take my business card in case you decide to rewrite it as a pure mystery."
She handed back the folder, gave Jane her business card, and smiled dismissal.
There was nothing for Jane to do but thank her and get the hell out of the room.
She glanced at her watch once she was outside in the hall. Her fifteen-minute interview hadn't lasted quite four minutes.
Shelley could tell it hadn't gone well when she spotted Jane moping at the registration area.
"Struck out?" she asked sympathetically.
"I was in there less than four minutes, Shelley. She said it's too much of an historical novel and not enough of a mystery. Odd how fast someone can devastate someone's hopes."
"How could she tell that fast?"
"She skimmed the outline and made a prune face."
"She's an ignorant child, Jane. I took a look at her through a crack in the door. She can't be more than seventeen. Pay no attention. You still have two interviews to go. And you need to put this one out of your mind. When is the next one?"
"At the break at three this afternoon. This little girl who tossed me out had the nerve to give me her business card and said I could contact her if I rewrote the book."
"No! That sure takes a lot of gall. She obviously isn't the agent you'd want, no matter what. The other agent is a baby agent, too, isn't she?"
"Yes, and she's named Tiffany. She's probably fifteen years old," Jane said.
"Buck up, Jane. Breakfast will give you the en-ergy. The first session starts in an hour and we need to coordinate who goes to which seminar. You go to your first choice, of course. And tell me your second choice and I'll go to it and take notes like mad."
Shelley's brisk orders helped Jane over her disappointment. But only a little bit.
The restaurant was crowded. Fortunately, most of the guests were finishing up breakfast and Shelley and Jane were served in a relatively short time. In the brief spell between the ordering and the arrival of the food, they'd worked out the schedule for the morning seminars.
Jane would attend "Time and Again," about historical mysteries, and Shelley would take notes on "Brightening Up Your Submission."
They wolfed down their food and headed to separate meeting rooms. Unfortunately, Gretta Green was one of the speakers and cited Jane's book proposal, though not by specific name, as a perfect example of what her agency didn't want to handle. She was the first speaker and Jane wanted to bolt to the suite and have a good cry. But she stuck it out.