"Commonwealth." "Want a snack before we part?" She nodded and we walked up toward Newbury Street. "How does a slob like that get to be executive nitwit, or whatever he is, in the state education system?" I said. "Knew someone, I suppose," Susan said. "There's all sorts of hiring regulations and elaborate interviewing procedures, and one call from practically anyone circumvents it. Half the jobs in the Commonwealth are bagged before they're advertised." "Hard to imagine Poitras has a friend," I said. "He has girls and dirty movies," Susan said. I looked at her in the odd light, under the high mist. "Cynical," I said. "Beautiful but hard, like a diamond." "It would be a way to make friends," Susan said. "True," I said. "It would also be a way to put someone in your debt if you had supplied him with things that public servants aren't supposed to want." We turned down Newbury.
