Syndrome

The man, who looked to be in his late twenties, was dressed in a black suit, with long blond hair tied back in a ponytail, and carried a shoulder bag that appeared to be serving as a briefcase. He stared at Stone with a puzzled look.

'Who?'

'I was here yesterday and. . a woman named Cindy, friend of Kristen's, said she was leasing the garden apartment. I was just wondering-'

'I'm sorry. Maybe you have the wrong address. I've had this place for almost a year and a half now.' He was moving on down the street as he called back over his shoulder. 'Good luck.'

What the hell is going on?

He looked up and checked the number. Yep, it's217. Cindy had definitely gone into that apartment yesterday and talked convincingly about living there and working at the E! station. She even had keys to Kristen's place.

So who the hell wasthatguy? He looked back, but now he had disappeared.

Did I justimaginethat? he puzzled.

He moved up the steps to the heavy white wood door and started trying keys.

The first one wouldn't enter the lock, nor would the second. The third key entered but would not turn.

Okay, last chance.

He inserted the fourth and it seemed to stick. But he gave it a wiggle andvoila, he was in.

Thanks, Ally.

But when he stepped through the door and switched on the light, he could only stare in disbelief. The apartment had been completely cleared out. The white walls, which had been covered with knifed photos of Kristen only yesterday, were now blank. Even the few pieces of furniture were gone.

'Jesus, I don't believe this.' His voice echoed off the empty marble mantelpiece and bounced across the room.

He looked around. Since late yesterday, somebody had come in and cleaned out the place. Thoroughly. Any hopes of finding old letters, an address book, anything personal, were gone. He knew immediately that he had been outsmarted. Kristen Starr, and now her friend Cindy, had officially ceased to exist. Cindy might still be at E! but she was going to be terrified and subject to massive memory loss on the subject of Kristen.

But wait a second.They left thephone. The answering machine is gone, but maybe they didn't realize that phones can have memories and can sometimes tell tales. That might be worth a try, but check out the place first.

He walked into the kitchen alcove and gazed around, not entirely sure what he was looking for. The main thing would be some phone numbers and addresses.

He opened the refrigerator and peered in. It was still running and contained two unopened jars of British marmalade and an empty quart jar with traces of orange juice bordered by mold. The freezer compartment was entirely bare.

The two kitchen cabinets above the stove had been similarly emptied. He gave them a cursory look, then came back and followed a hallway to a bathroom in the back.

When he opened the medicine chest above the sink and peered in, he initially thought it was empty, with a pile of wadded-up Kleenex on the bottom shelf. He was pulling that out when he realized that the tissue had been wadded around an empty prescription drug vial.

Kristen Starr had prescription number 378030. It was for Libinol-whatever that was, probably some kind of screwed-up diet pill-and it had been filled five months ago. It had been delivered from Grove Pharmacy on Seventh Avenue to here, 217 West Eleventh Street. The address was pasted on a sticker on the back.

Hmmm, he thought. After she left, rather than transferring the prescription, what if they just had subsequent refills delivered to some other address? There's a long shot that Grove Pharmacy might have a new address for the prescription number.Okay, it would be a very long shot, but still. .

Unless, of course, her new address had been the Dorian Institute. In that case, the prescription would undoubtedly have been discontinued once she became a patient. He reached for his cell phone to call the drugstore.

Shit, I forgot it! Damn hangover.

He walked back into the living room and stared at Kristen's phone. If it was still working, he could call Grove Pharmacy and-

No, idiot, that would wipe out any number stored in the redial function. Without a cell, the best thing to do is just go over there and check with the pharmacist in person.

He settled yoga-style onto the hardwood floor next to the phone and stared at it. What if the line is already disconnected? Why did whoever cleaned this place out leave it here? The phone, of all things. It's-

Itrang.

He jumped a foot off the floor, and then stared at it.

A series of reasons flashed through his mind:

1) They know I'm here and they're going to warn me again to back off.

2) They know I'm here and the last incoming call here was from a number they don't want me to know about. I pick this up and I wipe out any chance of ever finding out what it was.

Don't answer it. This phone call is not intended to be helpful.

Not picking up the phone was the hardest thing he'd ever done, but he was determined to be disciplined.

He counted eleven rings and then he couldn't take it anymore and reached for the receiver.

It stopped.

'Thank God.' His hand froze in midair. The timing had been a split-second salvation.

All right, he thought,time to find out if I just totally screwed up. Time to dial.

He got his pen and notebook poised and then lifted the black receiver. He knew from the message on her machine yesterday that somebody had called her just before he got there. Or maybe whoever came and cleaned out her apartment had received a phone call while they were here. Possibly from whoever sent them. A checkup call.

Who knew?But give it a shot. He hit the code.

A mechanical voice came on immediately: 'Your last call was from area code 212, number 555-3935. If you would like for me to connect you, please push-'

'Go for it,' he said aloud, scribbling down the number and then following the instruction.

At that moment somebody's cell phone began to ring just outside the front door.

'Oh shit.' It was just too big a coincidence.

After two rings it stopped and he heard the voice of Winston Bartlett, both outside the front door and in his ear.

'Yes.'

He was too startled to respond, but he didn't need to, because an instant later he also heard the sound of a key and then the front door opened.

A shaft of daylight shot across the room as Bartlett took one look and exploded.

'Damn, so it's true. How thehelldid-'

'Hey, come on in,' Stone said, trying to recover some poise and take marginal control of the situation. 'I'm here by permission. The downstairs tenant, who you just evicted, or kidnapped too, gave me her key.'

'You don't get it, do you? I told you to keep-'

'But we have signs of progress. I know all about Kristen.' Well, that was hardly the case, but it never hurt to start off with a bluff to see how far you could get. 'That's why I'm here. The question is, when are we going to start talking to each other? Because I'm putting together a hell of a story.'

'I don't fucking believe this.' Bartlett slammed the door.

'By the way, a special thanks for getting me sacked at theSentinel. Now I'll have the leisure to concentrate full-time on the stem cell book. And Gerex.'