Lionel looked around as his friends gave imperceptible nods. “Like I said, I go to Mr. Cricket’s office every Friday. He has a nice comfortable office, like most corporate offices. Nothing to take your breath away, that’s for sure. In a word, his offices are tasteful. I’m sure he makes a very good salary for someone in his position, and he has a sterling reputation, as you all know. Plus he has to have income coming in from Happy Village. He’s just an all-around nice guy. He doesn’t flaunt anything, dresses down, blends in, that kind of thing. Ordinary.

“Mr. Meadows is . . . different. I know he and Mr. Cricket are partners in Happy Village. I have no clue how much money they make or how all that works, and I don’t want to know, because it’s none of my business. The boys and I, we keep our heads down and do what we’re paid to do. Mr. Meadows is what my mother would call all flash. He wears expensive suits and shoes, gets manicures, gets his hair styled, and his office blew me away when I got there. It was like . . . regal . . . imperial or something.

“I’m sure he is paid a decent salary, something I’ll probably never earn in my lifetime, plus he has whatever monies he gets from the Village partnership. And he drives a high-dollar car. He appears to live high. He looks through you, not at you. My mother would say he’s pretentious, and I guess that’s as good a term as any I could come up with.

“I couldn’t help myself when I was in his office, it was so . . . grandiose that I was looking around, and he said, ‘I guess you don’t see anything like this from where you come from, eh?’ That kind of put my teeth on edge a little, but I didn’t say anything. I just handed him the package, and it looked as if he knew what it was and didn’t want to take it from my hand. I don’t know, maybe it was me and he would feel tainted somehow if he touched something I was holding. I just laid it on the desk, and let me tell you about that desk. It’s an absolute replica of the Resolute desk in the White House. Anyway, this might be just my imagination, but he looked . . . I’m not sure if frightened is the right word, but that was my first impression. I just got out of there as quickly as I could.

“Oh, there is one other thing. Mr. Cricket said I was to call him after I delivered the package. I did, and he just said thank you. Then I went home.”

“Is Mr. Meadows very active socially, do you know?” Jack asked.