'Because that would be unsafe and you'd know not to do it. It didn't put you in any danger to turn off the machine. There's a difference.'
'I wonder.'
So did I, but I would keep my doubts to myself. I said, 'What was the message?'
'Oh right. It didn't make any sense, at least I don't think it did. To me. I wrote it down right after he hung up so I wouldn't forget it. Where did I put it?'
I suppose I knew what it was. I must have.
'Here it is,' she said. ' 'Tell him I'm going to take all his women away. Tell him yesterday was number two. No extra charge for the kid on the street. He was a dividend.' Does any of that make any sense to you?'
'No,' I said. 'But I know what it means.'
I called Anita. She had remarried, and it was her husband who answered the phone. I apologized for calling so late and asked to speak to Mrs. Carmichael. It felt strange calling her that, but the whole call felt strange.
I told her I was probably bothering her for nothing, but that there was a situation she ought to know about. I went through it quickly, explaining that a man I'd put away years ago was carrying on a psychopathic vendetta, trying to get back at me by killing all my women.
'Except I don't have any,' I said, 'so he's been forced to interpret the phrase loosely. He killed one woman who was a witness against him twelve years ago, and he killed another who was the most casual acquaintance of mine you could imagine. I didn't even know her last name.'
'But he killed her. Why don't the police arrest him?'
'I'm hoping they will. But in the meantime—'
'You think I'm in danger?'
'I honestly don't know. He may not know you exist, and if he does there's no reason to assume he'd know your married name or your new address. But the guy's resourceful.'
'What about the boys?'
One was in the service, the other in college on the other side of the country. 'They don't have anything to worry about,' I said. 'It's women he's really interested in.'
'In killing, you mean. God. What do you think I should do?''
I made some suggestions. That she think about taking a vacation, if it was convenient. Failing that, that she notify the local police and see what protection they could provide. She and her husband might even want to think about hiring private security guards. And they should certainly pay attention and see if they were being followed or watched, and should avoid opening doors to strangers, and—
'God damn it,' she said. 'We're divorced. I'm married to somebody else. Doesn't that make a difference?'
'I don't know,' I said. 'He may be like the Catholic church. He may not recognize divorce.'
We talked some more, and then I had her put her husband on the line and went through the whole thing with him. He seemed sensible and decisive and I hung up feeling that he'd think it through and do something positive. I only wished I could say the same for myself.
I went over to the window and looked out at the city. When I moved in you could see the World Trade Center towers from my window, but since then various builders have come along, eating up different portions of the sky. I still have a fairly decent view, but it's not what it used to be.
It was raining again. I wondered if he was out there. Maybe he'd get wet, maybe he'd catch his death.
I picked up the phone and called Jan.
She is a sculptor, with a loft south of Canal on Lispenard Street. I had met her back when we were both drinking, and we did some good drinking at her place, she and I. Then she got sober and we stopped seeing each other, and then I got sober and we began again. And then it stopped working, and then it ended, and neither of us ever quite understood why.
When she answered I said, 'Jan, it's Matt. I'm sorry to be calling so late.'
'It is late,' she said. 'Is something the matter?'
'Definitely,' I said. 'I'm not sure whether or not it affects you. My fear is that it might.'
'I don't understand.'
I went through it in a little more detail than I had with Anita. Jan had seen the TV coverage of Toni's death, but of course she hadn't suspected that it was anything other than the suicide it appeared to be.
Nor had she known that Toni was in the program.
'I wonder if I ever met her.'
'You could have. You came to St. Paul's a few times. And she got around some, spoke at other meetings.'
'And you went on a speaking date with her? You told me where but it slipped my mind.'
'Richmond Hill.'
'Where is that, somewhere in Queens?'
'Somewhere in Queens, yes.'
'And that's why he killed her? Or were the two of you sort of an item?'
'Not at all. She wasn't my type and she was involved with someone at her job. We weren't even buddies
