As he turned to leave Trenchant stopped him. "I have requested an open
hearing which you have denied me. I again ask that the hearing be
open."

"No, absolutely not. The hearing is closed."

"A closed hearing is to protect the rights of the accused. As the
accused, I waive that consideration and again request that the hearing
be open and that any person who wishes may attend."

"No." The Vee closed the door of the witness room behind him with a
indignant slam.

"Now there's a sweetheart," murmured Roz. "Hey, did you guys notice we
got our own phone in here?"

An obviously annoyed Henry Tarbuck sought out the custodian, Lorraine.
"I ordered that downstairs room to be held for the university's
witnesses," he barked at her.

"Not me, you didn't. I was told to open two rooms for the hearing
witnesses. That's all." Lorraine, all four feet of her bristling,
stood up on her toes and duplicated the Vee's tone, jaw to jaw.

Always outmatched when encountering any female who did not smile,
cringe, grovel or otherwise conform to his 'typing', Henry turned away
from her and fumed his way to the hall phone booth.

Reaching his secretary, his tone took on the whine of a young boy.
"Lynn, something terrible has happened. That woman took the good room,
the one with the good chairs and the telephone. I'm using the booth in
the hall! How could this happen?"

"I don't know, Henry. I told the custodian over there to reserve the
two rooms as you directed me. I don't recall that you gave me specific
instructions as to which room was for which group."

"I assumed th...."

Henry broke off as he caught sight of the dean and two medical school
faculty coming in the door. "I'll get back to you and get this
straightened out. Got to go.

"Right this way, gentlemen. We've had a slight mix up in the waiting
rooms and I apologize in advance for any inconvenience it may cause.
I'm going to have a phone put in soonest and some decent chairs!"
Still talking, Henry led the men upstairs.

Downstairs, Helen returned from a self appointed scouting mission,
breathless and amused. "Oh," she panted, "you should see the room they
have. It's a lecture hall--hard chairs and blackboards all around. We
sure lucked out by getting here first."

"We sure did but our luck was in having Lorraine as custodian in
charge. Obviously, we were supposed to get the upstairs one and I'll
bet you dollars to donuts that it's been bugged," asse