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Wearily, Peter McDermott prepared to leave. He switched off the office lights and, from the executive suite, walked the length of the main mezzanine. Near the stairway to the lobby he saw himself in a mirror. For the first time, he realized that the suit he was wearing was rumpled and soiled. It became that way, he reflected, under the elevator debris where Billyboi died.

As best he could, he smoothed the jacket with his hand. A slight rustling made him reach into a pocket where his fingers encountered a folded paper.

Taking it out, he remembered. It was the note which Christine had given him as he left the meeting this morning - the meeting where he had staked his career on a principle, and won.

He had forgotten the note until now. He opened it curiously. It read: It will be a fine hotel because it will be like the man who is to run it.

At the bottom - in smaller lettering, Christine had written: P.S. I love you.

Smiling, the length of his stride increasing, he went downstairs to the lobby of his hotel.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ARTHUR HAILEY was born in Luton, England, in 1920. He was a flight lieutenant in World War II and served in the Royal Air Force in the Middle and Far East.

Mr. Hailey, one of the great storytellers of our time, has millions of devoted readers, and his novels are published in every major language.

His sensational bestsellers include HOTEL, Airport, The Final Diagnosis, Runway Zero-Eight (with John Castle) and In High Places. His most recent novel is Wheels.

He is a Canadian who lives in the Bahamas with his wife Sheila. Their teen-age children are Jane, Steven, Diane.