CHAPTER VIIIUp in Muriel’s Room
Long ago, Liselotte Cantelou had learned how to dominate an audience; and what she had accomplished at the Met and Covent Garden and the Staatsoper, she of course managed easily enough at her own table. Murder was not allowed to show its ugly head; and Timuroff and Pete, after a few ineffectual sallies, let her have her way. Liselotte, the cuisine of Szechuan Province, wine and the opera, and the possible love lives of Lucrece, Muriel Fawzi, and Evangeline dominated the conversation; and Timuroff admitted to himself that probably, because of it, a better time was had by all. However, he could see that Pete wasn’t really with it, and when dessert was interrupted by an agitated phone call from Dr. Grimwood, to his own surprise he was glad the play was over. H
