“Look,” Ed Eagle said, pointing at a TV on the wall. They all turned and saw a shot of a single black SUV turning into the Staples Center underground parking lot. Ed switched on the sound as Chris Matthews was saying, “We’re told that was a shot of the president arriving at the convention. But there was no motorcade, and he hasn’t been seen on the floor or backstage. I’m betting he’s watching from a skybox.” Ed switched off the sound.

“So much for my security arrangements,” Will said. “If anybody calls, tell ’em I’m in some other skybox.”

Mike Freeman entered the suite, shook hands with the president, and asked for a glass of orange juice.

“Have you made your rounds, Mike?” Stone asked.

“I have and all is well. Anyway, nobody would want to kill anybody who’s spoken so far. I did hear a rumor that a couple of VIPs sneaked past the press into a skybox.”

“Don’t believe a word of it,” Will said. He found the remote control and turned on the sound from the floor, plus a TV.

A documentary film began, honoring the recently deceased Senator Eleanor Stockman, and the crowd listened respectfully for five minutes, then applauded warmly.

“Here comes Dick Collins and his speech,” Will said.

“And here comes the young governor of California,” Chris Matthews was saying. “Eight years from now, he’ll be a likely candidate for president. His first two years in office have been a spectacular success.”

Dick and Cara Collins spent a couple of minutes waving at the crowd and making eye contact here and there, then finally Cara kissed him and left the platform. Then the podium and the glass shield rose from the floor.

“It worked!” Mike said. “As late as this morning we weren’t sure it would.”

“This is something new at a convention,” Matthews was saying. “That wall of non-glare glass is said to protect against bullets, bombs, and maybe even Republicans. Also, a little inside info: you can’t see it from the audience but the teleprompter is projected onto the inside of the glass wall so the speaker will appear to be speaking without reading it.”