“I’ll make up the hours at—”
“Don’t worry about it. How was the wedding?” I say, at least recallingthat.
“Nice. Of course, my sister wanted to save money by holding it during hurricane season, and we’re just incredibly lucky the weather was okay.... Um, listen, I saw your question about Greenbacks. There must be some kind of misunderstanding. I never called anyone there.”
“But if it wasn’t you, who was it?”
Nicole hesitates briefly.
“Uh, I hate to throw anyone under the bus...”
“Just tell me, Nicole. Please.”
I hear a quick intake of breath on the other end. I’ve never been short with her before.
“It may have been Sasha.”
Why wouldSashabe calling over there?
“What makes you say that?”
“I overheard her on the phone when she dropped by our office a couple of weeks ago, and she mentioned Greenbacks. I don’t think she was talking to anyone in the company then, just talkingaboutthe place, but it caught my attention because I know you used to work there.”
“Can you imagine any reason she would contact them?”
“Not really. I never ask her to handle any research involving the book or the column, so maybe it had something to do with the podcast.”
I’m very clear with Sasha about who she should be calling regarding the podcast and I’ve never mentioned the name Greenbacks.
“Thanks, I’ll speak to her. And look, I know you and Ineed to catch up about the book. I’ve been a bit under the weather lately, but I’ll definitely be coming into WorkSpace tomorrow.”
“Okay, I’ll have everything ready to review.”
With the conversation concluded, I’m about to call Sasha and get to the bottom of the situation, when my phone rings. Mulroney’s name lights up my screen.
“What’s up?” I say, gripping the phone.
“We’re starting to put pieces of the puzzle together.”
Okay, wow.
“I’m all ears.”
“I should have more later, but let me tell you what I’ve turned up so far. I’ll start with Tuesday morning. You left your apartment building at around nine wearing a dark trench coat—I determined this through video footage, by the way—and for the next hour and a half or so, you hung out in a café kind of place called—I’ve never been sure how to say it—Le Pain Quotidien, several blocks from your home.”
“That would make sense,” I say, not bothering to correct his pronunciation, which made the last word in the name sound likequotient. “If I need a change of scenery, I sometimes go over there with my laptop. Except—except I don’t have a digital record of working on anything that day.”
“According to a waitress I spoke to, you ordered tea or coffee—she doesn’t remember which—and leafed through a couple of magazines. She’s almost positive you had a purse and thinks she remembers you looking at your phone but isn’t sure.”
“The magazine part is the only thing that’s odd. I usually don’t do that sort of thing in the middle of a workday.”
Of course, maybe I simply needed to decompress after fighting with Hugh the night before.
“She says the main reason she remembers is that when you were paying the bill, you asked if she wanted the magazines, and she took them. She said you seemed pretty distracted and told her you were in a rush and needed to get the train to Forty-Second Street. You paid in cash.”
“Forty-Second Street?” I feel myself squinting in confusion.
“Can you think of any reason you would head there?”
