At the Babylon, four men walked to the podium in what looked like a conference room. A tall, athletic-looking man who looked like he was ex-military, with his iron-gray hair and ramrod posture, introduced himself as Hank Owens, head of Babylon security. Then he introduced the casino's attorney, Alvin Lansing, and the owner of the casino, Homer Winters. He turned to the left and motioned for a large man to come to the microphone.

"That guy looks like they glued sixty-seven fireplugs together, and he's what they got," Kathryn said. Charles smiled when she said, "He's got to be the ugliest man I've ever seen. Poor thing, he must have fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down."

Charles laughed out loud at her comment. "That's Cosmo Cricket. He's the NGC's attorney and the man Lizzie is going to go to war with. Listen."

Hank Owens patted Cricket's arm in a show of friendliness. The women blinked and leaned closer when they saw Cricket shake off the man's hand.

"I saw that," Annie said. "Those two are not friends."

Owens never missed a beat as he continued as though the little byplay had never happened. "As all of you here in Nevada know, the Babylon and its employees are keen to help all charities, and today, in honor of the Paiutes winning the exhibition game, we here at the Babylon pledge one million dollars to be donated to Dr. Loganberry and her research team. In addition to that donation we will be donating a million dollars to the Austin-Hatcher Pediatric Cancer Foundation. We will also be hosting a gala to honor both teams here at the Babylon. We're inviting the public and all the guests who are registered here at the time for a free evening of dining and entertainment, Las Vegas style. At this moment I can tell you we are in talks with Wayne Newton, Joan Rivers, and Barry Manilow to perform at our gala. No one has turned me down so far.

"We promise a star-studded night with Cordon Bleu chefs who will prepare the same food they make for the Academy Award parties in Hollywood. All we ask is that you all bring your checkbooks so we can try to match outside funds with our donations. And now, Mr. Cricket has something to say."

Cosmo Cricket moved to the microphone. His voice was a husky baritone as he thanked everyone for coming to what he called "this impromptu news conference. . ."

"The members of the Nevada Gaming Commission wish to donate $5 million to Dr. Loganberry and her research team. We'd like to thank Mr. Winters for agreeing to host the gala Mr. Owens just spoke about." He stepped back and to the side.

Owens reached for the microphone, and said, "Unless there are any questions, we need to get to work to plan the gala."