                          Sarah Lamont

You are Secretary to Mr. Gary Morant, the
Washington attorney.

When you were in Columbia Prep, here in DC,
you met Margot Matthews and Linda Kane. 
You got along fairly well with both of them,
though Linda was always a little strange.  You
met some strange interesting and slightly
dangerous friends of Lindas's including the
writer Grant Cochran and the Psychic Matthew
Allen Carter.  In fact, you introduced Grant to
Margot, and he became Margot's first meal
ticket.

By the time you graduated as a paralegal, she
owed you a favor, and got you a job as a legal
secretary to Gary Morant, an up and coming
Washington Lawyer.  He pays well, and is a
decent boss. 

You have tried to stay well clear of the legal
problems within your former social group,
though since Gary has become involved in
several of them, that's hard.  There was a fight
between Matthew and Grant which had to do
with Matthew feeling that Grant had stolen his
ideas.  This was a couple of years ago now, but
when Gary told Matthew that it would be a
losing case to sue over it, Matthew blew a
screw.  He got violent and stalked around and
you thought he was going to take out a wall. 
Apparently Gary cooked up some kind of plot to
hire a Private Detective named Mort Nicholson,
and frame Emily.  You didn't know it at the
time of course.

Of course he was under a lot of pressure just
then because he was divorcing Emily, a case
which Gary handled.  It was messy, and ended
up with Emily's family paying Carter off not to
splash her name all over the papers.  You
realize that Gary was just handling the affair to
his client's best advantage, but you think Carter
is a slimeball.  He broke Emily's arms during an
argument.  The man is violent and ought to be
locked up.

Emily is currently involved with two men.  One
is from Gary's old circle of friends, a guy
named Mike Ballistas.  He is a friend of Gary's
and has a lot of money wrapped up in Gary's
investment business.  You are pretty sure that
Grant does too.  The other is mysterious.

You have more pressing problems though.  For
a number of years, Gary has been operating a
crooked investment business that he doesn't
think you know about.  Six days ago, Gary was
utterly erased from the map.  He is penniless,
broke, bankrupt, and all of his investors are
history.  And when they come for Gary, they
will cart you away.  Sure you could turn state's
evidence, and wind up broke, and with minimal
time.  But you had a better idea.  You withdrew
all of Morant and Steele's money from the bank
Friday, and found out from Linda Kane that
Avery Carson could get you a passport in a
hurry.  In a different name.  You told Linda
about Gary's failure, but did not give any
details.  

You were going to leave last night, but this
seemed so much better.  You will quietly say
goodbye to your old friends, then drive away
from here.  It has been raining steadily for some
time.  You will maroon your car in the mud,
and then hitch a ride out of here, leaving a note
saying you are going for help.  It will be
debated for years whether you were murdered or
committed suicide.

And if Gary plays his cards right, he might even
manage to blame all his losses on you.  

You understand that there are some wonderful
places to live in Mexico that are really just like
the U.S.  Around Acapulco, you think....

School: You attended Columbia Prep from
1970-73.  You know Margot Matthews, Linda
Kane, Emily Breezewood, and Toni Randall-
Smith from there.  

Afterwards you went to Mary Washington with
Linda and Emily.
THE OTHERS

What they know about you:

Sarah Lamont: Sarah Lamont is an old Prep-
school and College friend of Margot Matthews,
Linda Kane, Emily Breezewood and others. 
Sarah went to work for Gary Morant as a
paralegal, and is now his chief secretary.  

PEOPLE YOU KNOW WELL:

Emily Breezewood: a college friend of Grant
Cochran, and a prep-school friend of Margot
Matthews, Emily is the daughter of Senator
Breezewood of Connecticut, a very powerful
senior U.S. Legislator.  Emily was married to
Matthew Allen Carter, and divorced him, in a
particularly messy case during which Mr. Carter
was represented by Gary Morant.  They are
reported to be on barely civil speaking terms
now.  Emily is living with Mike Ballistis.

Avery Carson: sold you a phoney passport. 
Attended George Washington University and has
many acquaintances from that period, and
immediately afterward.  Avery met most of
Grant's circle of friends in the seventies while
they were working in Washington after
graduation.  Mr. Carson occupied a position in
the staff of the late Darrington Ripley, U.S.
Ambassador to Sweden.  Currently employed by
the State Department, Avery Carson is rumored
to actually work for the Company, or No-such-
agency.

Linda Kane:  Parapsychological researcher for
the Institute for Parapsychological Studies, 1567
23rd St. NW.  Graduate of Columbia Prep, and
Mary Washington College.  M.A. Barnard. 
Kane is a literary agent for Matthew Allen
Carter and is rumored to be his lover.  

Margot Matthews: Margot was a friend of
Grant Cochran, and several other attendees in
college, but went on to become a prominent
Washington socialite who rose out of the ranks
of minor political followers due to her
connections with the late U.S. ambassador to
Sweden Mr. Darrington Ripley.  Margot is
giving this party in honor of Grant Cochran's
birthday.

Margot is currently employed by the Department
of State, where she is rumored to the mistress of
a powerful political appointee.  She was
mentioned in People magazine shortly after the
inaugural ball, and her fortunes have definitely
been on the rise with the Reagan government. 

Gary Morant:  Washington Attorney. 
Graduated from George Washington University
in 1974, GW Law in 1978.  Formed Morant and
Steele with Harlan Steel in 1980.  Known for
handling some of the messiest and most
prominent divorce and lawsuit cases in the
Washington social spectrum.  Morant is a rising
star in the social constellation of Washington,
and is Grant Cochran's attorney, and is currently
representing him in all of his sordid legal
affairs. 

Mort Nicholson: a well known private
detective.  Nicholson has worked for Gary
Morant, and was a research reference for the
character of Detective George Panopalous in
Grant Cochran's Trinity.

Tony Randall-Smith:  Olympic Equestrian
Medalist, winning two Silver and one Bronze
medal at Los Angeles in 1984.  Native of
McLean Virginia, the child of a former
ambassador to England.  Personally acquainted
with Princess Margaret, has appeared in Sports
Illustrated, and network television.  Currently
holds American and European Championships in
several categories of jumps.  Professional status
has been called into question, but intends to
compete in 1988.  

OTHER PEOPLE:

Mike Ballistas:  a wealthy international
consultant with impressive offices downtown. 
Ballistas has numerous prominent government
contacts, and is generally known to be an
influential businessman.  He donated heavily to
the Reagan Campaign.

Anthony Blaine:  A New York writer
considered a protege of Grant Cochran, Blaine
is handled by Jonathan Drake, the same
publisher as Cochran.  It was rumored that
Blaine and Cochran had a very serious argument
while appearing together at a promotional
convention after the publication of Sightless
King.  Blaine is best known for his Fantasy-
Horror novel Wunderking, and his most recent
work The Dinner Guest.  

Matthew Allen Carter:  A well known mystic,
Carter is associated with decadence, drugs, and
bizarre mysticism.  It is unclear where his
money comes from, though he is known to be at
least moderately wealthy, and eccentric.  
M.A Carter provides spiritual consultation to
some of Washington's most prominent social
figures.  He has appeared on several area talk
shows, notably Panorama in July 1979 where he
was involved in an altercation, and declined to
appear on Good Morning America in August of
1982 on the topic "Senators who follow the
Horoscopes."  He has assisted Federal
authorities as a consultant on "Cult Related
Cases", and appeared before a Senate
Subcommittee Special Hearing in 1983 to
discuss "Cult Phenomena and Crime."

Grant Cochran:  Grant Cochran is a horror
writer whose early work brought him wealth and
recognition.  His first acclaimed work was a
collection of short stories in 1977 entitled Look
Ma, No Hands!  Grant achieved a more limited
success with The Sickness in John Harrol, 1977;
The Collection, 1979; but his mainstream horror
novels  Dark Symbols,1980; and Trinity, 1982;
were extremely successful.  His Lovecraftian
fantasy-horror The Sightless King, 1984 was
universally panned.  Grant also wrote the
screenplay for the 1981 film The Blinding.
Numerous short stories including The Metallic
Taste of Blood Omni, Feb 1982.

Grant's work has tended more towards the
occult and fantasy side than Stephen King, and
his success has been less marked, but his early
novels were commercially successful.  Born
1955 to a wealthy Virginia family, Grant
graduated from George Washington University
in DC in 1975, aged twenty.  Writer and
playboy, known to have inherited some money
from parent's death in 1974. He is widely
rumored to have been hospitalized recently for
rehabilitation.

Thomas Cochran:  Grant's failure of a brother. 
Thomas dropped out of school, and was deeply
involved in drugs.  He narrowly avoided jail on
larceny charges.  He lost his share of the family
wealth, and is currently employed by his brother
as a handyman. 

Leda Deerden: A New York author, or visual
artist, guest of Grant's Publisher.  Ms. Deerden
is known for her terra cotta figures, which are
widely sold in gift shops in the Village, and her
work at the 42nd Street Gallery, but is a
newcomer to the writing field.  Her first project
is projected to be a collaboration with Grant
Cochran.

Jonathan Drake: Publisher of Grant Cochran,
Drake is Editor of Horror at Electra publishing,
a division of Robert W. Thormond and Sons,
Inc., one of the nations largest publishing
houses.  Despite the failure of Cochran's latest
novel, Drake is reported to be successful and on
the rise.  He handles many other writers
including Anthony Blaine, and is also in charge
of titles under the smaller, but profitable Medea
imprintaur, for occult paperbacks, which
includes the works of Jeffrey Saxon.

Roger Pierce: a Professor/practitioner of
Psychology at George Washington University. 
Young but promising, for several years his 400
level course on Personality Disorders has been
considered the "most fun" class in the entire
psych department.  Many of Dr. Pierce's
associates consider him to be "that strung out
quack", Dr. Pierce considers himself a
"perceptually enhanced alternative practitioner." 
It is obvious that Dr. Pierce either has
something on the University, or has tenure.

"Psychological disorders can be not only
instructive, but entertaining as well..."
(American Psychiatric Yearbook, 1980).  

Jeffrey Saxon: A noted Parapsychology/Occult
writer and Astrologer, author of Health Signs,
Astrology for You, and Psychic Defense, and
several other successful books published in
paperback.  Jeffrey is rumored to be practically
the only person in New York who does not
suffer from an incapacitating drug addiction.

Karyn Seidmann:  A New-York literary agent,
Seidmann is not well known in literary circles,
though there are some dark rumors about her
past, including a lawsuit.  Seidmann handles
small time occult authors, and until recently her
biggest literary success was Jeffrey Saxon, the
popular occultist and astrologer.

Oliver Stewart:  A comic-book author and
illustrator for Universal Comics, a major
competitor of Marvel and D.C. 
Oliver responsible for the satirical Captain
Flapjack miniseries, but is best known for his
work with Blood Hound, a revitalized 1960's
Superhero, and with Revenant, a dark-horror
miniseries.  Stewart handled a graphic-novel
adaptation of Grant Cochran's Sightless King,
which was somewhat more successful than the
actual novel.  Oliver is a New Yorker, but has
maintained a friendship with horror writer Grant
Cochran, and has come down with some of his
other New York acquaintances to make his
birthday an interesting affair.

Craig Webber: An acquaintance of Margot
Matthews, Mr. Webber is a well-to-do local
business consultant, rumored to have
connections to smuggling and the underworld. 
Webber is said to be a business partner of Avery
Carson.

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