“You were very observant.” was Matt’s wry comment.
Richard laughed good-naturedly. “It’s my business to be observant when it comes to women’s looks, and this woman was well worth the look. I remember thinking how elegantly she’d coordinated everything. She was stunning. Truly stunning.”
Matt pushed himself from his chair. “The description may prove to be helpful somewhere along the line. I hope.” It went without saying that they were still at the very start of that line. He held out a hand for Lauren. “Come on, sweetheart. We’ll have to rethink our strategy.”
Richard walked them to the door. “I’m really sorry I have no more information. If only—” His brow rippled. “Wait a minute. There is something. I mean, it’d still be a long shot, but—”
Matt and Lauren had turned hopeful faces his way. “What is it?” Lauren asked, holding her breath.
“She smoked. I remembered thinking that in time her face would show it. It does, you know.”
“But where does that get us?” Matt prodded.
“She was using a little green box of matches. Not a matchbook, but a little green box. I remembered thinking, ‘Ah, she’s been to Terrance Cove.’ It’s one of the more showy restaurants around here. Just the place for the wealthy and powerful.”
Matt and Lauren exchanged a look of excitement. “Let’s try it, Matt,” she said. “We’ve got nothing to lose.”
It was Matt who turned to shake Richard’s hand and thank him. Belatedly, and purely on impulse, Lauren gave the doctor a hug. “You’ve been great, Richard. How can we ever thank you?”
His grin was crooked. “You can find Susan Miles and get both of you out of danger. Her friends don’t sound very charitable.”
Lauren agreed, then slid her hand into Matt’s.
A taxi took them to Terrance Cove, which, fortunately, had just opened for lunch.
“What are you going to say?” Lauren asked. “If Susan Miles was with the boss, who presumably made the reservations, the people at the restaurant would have no way of knowing, much less remembering, her name.”
“But the face,” Matt cooed. “Ah, the face. Susan Miles had a memorable face. And, sweetheart, you’ve got that face.Ialways knew it was memorable, but then, I’m slightly biased.”
Lauren pinched him in the ribs, but she was buoyed. She held her head high when they entered the restaurant, and tried to look every bit the boss’s woman while Matt did the talking. His story sounded conceivable enough.
“My fiancée is looking for her identical twin. They’ve been separated for two years, and we just got word that she was here last winter. Her name is Susan Miles.” He looked at Lauren affectionately. “And this is her face. Does it look at all familiar? Ring any bells? Susan might have had her hair pulled back, and she was probably wearing more makeup and jewelry. But the similarities are marked.” He paused. “She might have been with a rather impressive man, and if we can find him, we can get a lead on her.”
The maître d’ stared at Lauren long and hard. “I’m sorry,” he said in crisply accented English. “I don’t recognize her. But I only work afternoons. The man who was working evenings last winter was recently retired. He is living in Miami with his daughter and grandchildren.”
“It’s very important that we reach him,” Lauren urged. “We have no other leads. Do you have an address or a phone number?”
The man seemed to waver. His indecision came to an end when Matt pressed a folded bill into his hand. “Wait here, please. I’ll see what I can do.”
As soon as he had disappeared, Lauren leaned close and whispered to Matt, “Why does that always work?”
He whispered back, “It doesn’t, at least not always. I was prepared to give him another. He sold himself cheap.”
“That was quite a story.Identical twin?”
“Beats the other explanation.”
Neither of them commented on the fiancée part of the tale.
Within minutes the man returned with a small index card on which he’d printed the name of the former employee and his Miami address. Matt pocketed the card, and he and Lauren headed back to the hotel.
“To Miami?” Lauren asked.
“To Miami.”
“When?”
Matt glanced at his watch. “As soon as we can get a flight.”.
