‘That would be fantastic. Are you sure you don’t want to see it person, though… ?’
‘Believe me, I’ll be lucky if I see the light of day for the next couple of weeks. There’s so much to organise over the holidays this year, a soirée at the Plaza, a cocktail evening at the Four Seasons, not to mention the library benefit … ’
‘OK, I understand. Let me know your details and I’ll send a photo to you as soon as I can.’ Or, more likely, she’d get Danny to do it. But seeing as Jessica seemed to be so swamped with Christmas-related social arrangements, Holly didn’t expect to hear back from her any time soon.
‘I can’t make any promises of course, but if it was given out as one of our prizes, then there is a possibility that we’ll have some more information about it. We rarely keep track of the winners, though … ’
‘Honestly, any help you could give me at all would be amazing. Thank you.’
‘No problem. Where was it that you said you worked?’
‘The Secret Closet, just off Bleecker Street.’
‘Yes, I know the place.’
‘Oh.’ Holly was surprised. ‘Well, perhaps Ms Mead has sent stock our way on occasion? I’d imagine she has an amazing wardrobe – especially with all those charities and the events.’
‘I doubt it. Ms Mead certainly doesn’t need the commission on anything like that, and she takes great pride in her wardrobe.’
‘I’m sure she does.’ With the amount of money she obviously spent on her wardrobe, she wondered if Margot Mead realised the irony of spending money on designers, instead of simply donating that money to the many charities over which she presided. Then again, she sounded like a woman who could probably do both, and still put groceries on the table.
‘You have to look good when you are raising funds for the children in Africa, or clean water in Southeast Asia, or breast cancer or what-have-you … ’
Holly’s ears pricked up. ‘Breast cancer, you said?’
‘Yes, amongst many others.’
She thought again about the pink ribbon charm. Coincidence?
‘Does Ms Mead work on behalf of breast cancer charities regularly?’ she inquired. ‘It’s just that there is another charm on the bracelet … ’
‘Oh, I see,’ Jessica said, when Holly explained her line of thinking. ‘That might narrow the search down a little. I can cross-reference to see if there were breast cancer events or auctions at which that egg charm might have been used as a prize. Leave it with me.’
‘Honestly, I really can’t thank you enough.’
Holly ended the call, new hope in her heart. Margot Mead’s assistant had not only promised to look into the egg charm, but might also be able to give her a lead associated with one of the others.
This, taken with the information Danny had gleaned from the horseshoe, meant that she was getting somewhere. She planned to head down to the gallery at lunchtime to see if she could find out anything more on that end.
Holly smiled. With luck she’d be able to reunite the bracelet with its (possibly by now frantic) owner very soon.
23
At his apartment, Greg was on hold with Suzanne Lee, his contact from theNYT. Billy was right: to say that this particular writer was highly strung was a huge understatement.
He picked up the tennis ball he had been rolling across the living-room floor to the opposite wall and sent it rolling again.
Finally Suzanne’s clipped, businesslike voice came through. ‘So do you get it? Do you get what I want? I don’t want it to look like a Macy’s ad, OK? None of that happy-clappy stuff, you got it? I want classic, old-style New York, so you’re going to do Rockefeller, Wollman Rink, The Plaza,’ she paused. ‘Are you writing this down?’
Greg looked at the scribbles he had made since the beginning of the conversation. ‘Yep.’
‘Good, and I need a shot of Tiffany’s on Fifth and I want a bakery, one of those traditional kinds—’
‘I know a good one.’ Greg cut her off without thinking.
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
‘Glaser’s on the Upper East Side, German, been there for over a hundred years … ’ He trailed off, uncertain.
