Swamped

"There's a lot of folks in the galley," you muse. "Do they all owe Lou favors like you do?"

"I wouldn't know," she says. "I can only tell you why I'm here."

"So what did Lou do for you, then?"

She pauses a bit before answering.

"Nothing too big, just did laundry for me one day when I was too sick to handle it myself. I really appreciated that."

She's not very good at bluffing. But you're also not sure that directly confronting her would be helpful. Maybe a change of subject would be good.

"So why are there so many people at this party? I heard Lou didn't have many friends."

She's hesitating again.

"Well, Lou's not too talkative, but he's kind, from what I've seen anyways," she seems to settle on. "Maybe he asked people who helped him out, in order to thank them. Seems like the sort of thing he'd do."

"I wouldn't know, I've barely seen him. I think we mostly work different shifts."

And if he's so kind, why does he need someone to push away people without invitations? Not that you're ready to say that out loud.

"Really? Well, if you ever do see him, don't be afraid to ask him for help, that's all I can say."

Hmm. You get the impression Colleen has some idea what this so-called party is really about, but she's not willing to talk about it. Maybe your rapport with her isn't as strong as you thought.

Then again, it's not like you're alone. Lex here might be making her nervous. Maybe you could come up with an excuse to let him wander off for a while and see if you get any better results.