Publisher's Synopsis
Paul Kane is the general manager of a division of the Raymond Corporation. He and Frank Lambert, who holds a like position in another Raymond division, are neighbors and friends on Carolridge Drive, in middle-class Ridge Hills in northern New Jersey. When Paul is designated to assume leadership of a combining of the two divisions, he and his wife, Evelyn, plan a gala party in celebration, but do not bill it as such in deference to Frank's feelings. The guest list, consisting primarily of Carolridge neighbors and Raymond employees, grows from a nominal forty to a seam-straining sixty-two. Among them are Gretchen Wyler, a young product manager in Paul's division, and her date, Arthur Bowen a man she has just met at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. To the satisfaction of Paul and Evelyn the part becomes a "soignee soiree," featuring a group sing around the piano, with Al Singer, a Carolridge neighbor not previously a member of the inner circle, at the keys. Midst all the good feeling, a scream is heard from Virginia, one of the Kanes' young daughters who has been molested. Quickly, the offender is identified as Arthur Bowen who has fled the premises.Evelyn the party develops into a soignee Paul leads a posse, consisting of Frank plus Carolridgians Ian McQuillan and Brooks Chandler. They capture Bowen in a wooded area. Paul decides, instead of turning Bowen over to the police, to administer summary justice on the spot. Brooks objects to the choice, while Ian joins in enthusiastically, including a kick to Bowen's head as he lies on the ground. Brooks volunteers to take the beaten man to the bus stop and loads him onto a New York bound bus. Despite the Virginia incident, Paul and Evelyn decide not to defer a long-planned weekend in Puerto Rico. When they return, Paul is told that the executive committee of Raymond's board would not approve his elevation to heading the new combined entity, and that the post is going go to Frank. Paul vows he will leave Raymond over the slight. Meanwhile, not until a radio report that the police are investigating the circumstance of a man found dead on a bus at the Port Authority Terminal in Manhattan does the posse know the outcome of their action. The four agree that they will not come forward voluntarily. Brooks is steadfast that he was not a participant in inflicting harm on Bowen, and Ian intends, privately, to return to his native England if necessary to avoid any subjection to New Jersey's judicial processes. Bergen County investigator Connor Petri reaches Ridge Hills and police chief Vic D'Allesandro interviews Paul. He and Frank engage the same lawyer to seeking a plea arrangement. Indeed, they have a sort of success in which Paul will be hit with substantial community service and probation but no jail time. Before implementation is in place, however, a new assistant district attorney is assigned. He will not settle for less than a year's time in county jail because "too much leniency is being given Kane simply because he comes from upper middle-class Ridge Hills." Paul patiently serves eight months of his sentence. While he does so, Gretchen marries former investigator, now lawyer, Connor Petri, who, on their honeymoon in Paris, says in a note: Exquisite Gretchen, There was no life before you, Only the idea of it. Now I know boundless richness, Because of you. Connor
