'89 90 short--hot casette tape?

["Patrick & Amy Wooliever" <wooli@coastside.net>]

My daily driver, an '89 90 (alas, fwd only) has a short in the
circuit that powers the radio, clock, cigarette lighter, interior
lights, and trunk.  "Electrical specialists" want $120 to look at
it!  George of Tahoe City (great Audi mechanic) says that these cars
usually have a short in the trunk portion of the harness, but the
harness runs under the package tray and I can't find any obvious
problems.

We're were using the cassette player shortly (no pun intended)
before the circuit shorted and immediately blew that fuse and a
replacement.  The tape itself was cooking when we took it out,
almost too hot to touch.  Could the stock radio/cassette be the
source of the short?

Patrick