Chapter 20: Odd One Out, Again

Nobody in the ballroom moved.

The bank record stayed up on the screen, twenty feet wide, with Carson's name on the transfer.

Carson was the first to speak. He laughed.

"That's a private account," he said into his microphone. "Vic, this isn't funny. Ben, take that down."

Ben did not take it down.

"Final round," I said.

Cass was on her feet. "Vic, don't."

"The question is the last one of the night. It's the one you wanted."

I held up the card.

"Who is the odd one out?"

A hundred and forty people looked at their pens.

I looked at Ben's booth and nodded.

The screen changed.

It showed a phone, filmed from above, and a chat window headed Answer Key.

The first message was four years old.

Cass: Vic got the raise, she's salaried now. She writes what's true. We write something else.

Somebody at table six read it out loud, slowly, and stopped.

Ben let each message sit on the screen until the room had finished it.

Carson: She'll write her own name. I told her to keep Denver secret.

Cass: Final round at the send-off. Carson asks, I say yes.

Cass: Vic runs the room, and Vic pays. Last time.

At the bottom was a spreadsheet, and a total.

Seventy-one of eighty rounds. Sixty-eight thousand dollars.

"That's fake," Cass said. Her voice cracked up high. "That's edited, it's a joke, Vic made it."

She ran for the side door, where the breaker panel was.

Keep reading free with an account. Start The Matching Game. Everyone Knew The Answer. Except Me from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.