What gives? Why are they sitting, bunched at one end? And why are they suspiciously eyeing one another?

This is the first year they’ve all been indicted for money-laundering and tax-evasion at the same time, and they’ve all been offered the same deal. It’s natural to be a little cagey.

Okay my "guesses" are: 1. the person who did the food is notorious for bad cooking / food. 2. Poison mush rooms...that topic has been in the news for the past six months. 3. A black sheep of the family is present at the other end of the table. 4. Maybe the person at the other end has a snappish scrappy dog and it bites / nips everybody but their person. 5. Perhaps the person at the other end of the table is a lawyer / solicitor and is reading the will and the family are eyeing each other to see who gets what from the deceased family member. 6. The person at the other end is a patriarch or matriarch and is cutting everybody out of their will and leaving their fortune to charity or perhaps leaving everything to the man with the red tie and flower corsage. 7. The person at the other end of the table is a policeman / bobby and has ruled the recent death of a rich family member as a murder and is going on a "who did it" investigation...like the Clue game. continue on next...

I think everyone saw that little bottle of poison in the kitchen....