Pants but we need to follow up on it. Give us the

The building, lit by ornate chandeliers on the inside. It was also warmer than it was outside in the cooling night air. Except for Enoch, we weren't wearing jackets, because we didn't have anything suitable for the occasion. Enoch presented our invitations at the reception table with a flourish, and received a smile and a Welcome, Mr. Lightfoot in return. Lord B had managed to obtain the invitations for us and printed them from the Internet. He obviously had a lot of connections. As we entered the ballroom where the dinner was to be served, the first thing Alice and I did was to look at the other women to make sure we were suitably dressed. We were, and we didn't rate badly in the looks department, either. I suspected many of the women held powerful positions in government, however, something we couldn't match. It was an international assemblage, all right, with persons of every color and size. Some wore their native costumes. Groups of three or four stood and chatted together. Roaming uniformed men and women carried champagne and tasty treats on trays. I passed on taking wine for the moment, wanting to wait until I had something in my stomach, but I didn't informative post stint on the food. Alice laughed when she saw how much I was eating. Enoch helped himself in a liberal fashion, also, and juggled his plate of food with a glass of champagne. Alice collected us together so she could talk over the cacophony of several hundred voices. I suggest we split up and see if we can spot anybody fitting the description of Nordahl. I had a good picture of what the man looked like in my head-at least what he'd looked like six years ago-and I knew why I might have fallen for him. He could have posed for a statue of a Norse god. The three of us separated and started roaming around the room, slowly but purposefully, so as not to attract attention. There were some tall men at this gathering, but tall and blond didn't seem to go together. I went back up a couple of steps we'd previously come down near the entrance. This enabled me to look at all the heads that stood out from the rest. I didn't see anybody fitting Nordahl's description. I wandered around the outside of the large room in a clockwise direction. There were tables in the middle. When I got to the far side, I saw that a buffet line was being set up. This was an informal dinner, and there wasn't assigned seating at the round tables. An Asian man in a dark suit was eyeing the buffet line. He appeared to be alone and hungry. Not having a better idea, I decided to approach him. I was quite certain this man was Japanese. I could tell the difference between Japanese and Chinese or Korean, for example, because my father was Japanese. Since I was half Japanese, I might be able to attract his attention. Unless he preferred blonds, but Alice wasn't in sight. I sidled up to him, trying to think of something clever to say, but what came out was, Is the buffet line open yet? He turned toward me, startled. What I hadn't seen was that he was talking on a cellphone. He was shorter than I was but stockier, and his suit was blue. He sported a red tie with a clever design. I was a sucker for nice ties, especially since I didn't see them very often. He spoke rapidly into the phone in Japanese and then ended the call. He gave me a small bow. I bowed back, thinking that was the right thing to do. He fired a burst of Japanese at me. Of course-what did I expect? I'm sorry. I don't speak