"Mr. Bernard, with all due respect-."

"I wish your brother would show some respect! I came to him for advice, not to finance his BMW and his yacht!"

Frasier rose to his feet, his face frilled with rage. "Now just a moment! I'll have you know that my brother does not have a BMW or a yacht! He has a Mercedes and a Rolex watch which-." He looked up, horrified when he saw Roz moving her arms back and forth, like a referee trying to stop a football game… or was it basketball? He could never be sure. But anyway, he realized that he'd made a grave mistake in letting the man belittle him.

"Listen Ber-nerd!" Roz shouted. "Frasier is a great psychiatrist and for what it's worth so is Niles! You're just some idiotic moron who can't even answer a simple question when asked!"

Frasier glanced sympathetically at Roz, but it was completely effortless for him to try to smile, even the tiniest bit.

"What question was that?" Bernard quipped. "The one about why I'm calling this damn show in the first place? Well, here's the answer, I don't know! But I do know this… That brother of yours is a first class moron and I'm going to sue him for every penny he's got. And then I'm coming after you!"

"HEY!" Roz yelled. "You can't threaten Dr. Crane like that!"

"I just did! But tell me something."

Frasier sat up wearily. "Yes, Bernard…."

"Is he really your brother or is that just a ploy that you two concocted?"

"What? Of course he's my brother! How dare you-."

"He's a fraud, that's what he is!"

Frasier gripped the phone so tightly that his fingers began to ache. "Bernard, I don't like to interfere, but-."

"I'm gonna sue you, Crane! Both of you! And when I'm through you 'll both be in the poor house and you'll have to go live with your mother!"

Roz and Frasier looked at each other in horror. "Now you listen to me Mr. Bernard, you can belittle me all you want but when you start talking about my family; Niles in particular, that's where I draw the line. But I draw the line at anyone hurling insults at my mother who isn't even here to defend herself!"

"Where is she? In prison?"

Frasier was so angry that he was shaking and he saw Roz drop the microphone and run out of the booth. He knew that the situation would be terminated with one simple click of the button, disconnecting the call, but he sat there, numb and unable to move.

"I bet your mother is as big of a fake as you are! Who cares if she was a shrink first? She's probably one of those women who takes on patients just so that she can-."

The call ended abruptly and he turned to find Kenny, Roz, Gil and even Bulldog standing behind him. But he was simply too worn out to acknowledge their presence.

"Whoa, that guy was worse than any caller I've ever had. And that's saying a lot!"

"Get out of here, Bulldog! You too, Gil!" Roz shouted.

"What did I do?" Gill shrugged. "I'm simply here for moral support. And to offer my sincere condolences on the passing of your mother. I just recently found out-."

Frasier heard Roz gasp in horror. "Gil, how could you bring that up at a time like this? I told you that in confidence ages ago! And for your information, she's been gone a long time!"

Gil's hand went to his mouth. "Oh… Dear heavens. Well… I…"

"Just… go on home, Okay? Deb's probably waiting for you."

"Oh yes, we're going to the new Seven Seas restaurant over on Pike Street. We'll see what happens, although I'm not going to hold my breath. I'm sure it will be dreadful."

"Great. Now go!"

Roz shoved Gill and Bulldog out the door and closed it. But Frasier didn't notice. For he was sitting with his head in his arms, sobbing into his sleeves. Moments later he felt Roz's hands on his shoulders. "Frasier? Come on, sit up, all right?" Slowly he did as she asked and looked at her. And from the expression on her face, he realized that he must have looked absolutely horrible.

But inside he felt even worse.