if I didn't say anything, they would of called the police.'
I propped open my notebook. I said, 'Pam, I don't think I got your last name.'
'I didn't give it. Well, no reason not to, is there? It's Cassidy.'
'And how old are you?'
'Twenty-four.'
'You were twenty-three when the incident took place?'
'No, twenty-four. My birthday's the end of May.'
'And what sort of work do you do, Pam?'
'Receptionist. I'm out of work at the moment, that's why I said I could use the money. I guess anybody could always use a thousand dollars, but especially now, being out of work.'
'Where do you live?'
'Twenty-seventh between Third and Lex.'
'Is that where you were living at the time of the incident?'
'Incident,' she said, as if trying out the word. 'Oh, yeah, I been there for almost three years now. Ever since I came to New York.'
'Where did you come from?'
'Canton, Ohio. If you ever heard of it I can guess what for. The Pro Football Hall of Fame.'
'I almost went for a visit once,' I said. 'I was in Massillon on business.'
'Massillon! Oh, sure, I used to go there all the time. I knew a ton of people in Massillon.'
'Well, I probably never met any of them,' I said. 'What's the address on Twenty-seventh Street, Pam?'
'One fifty-one.'
'That's a nice block,' Elaine said.
'Yeah, I like it okay. The only thing, it's silly, but the neighborhood doesn't have a name. It's west of Kips Bay, it's below Murray Hill, it's above Gramercy, and of course it's way east of Chelsea.
Some people started calling it Curry Hill, you know, because of all the Indian restaurants.'
'You're single, Pam?' A nod. 'You live alone?'
'Except for my dog. He's just a little dog but a lot of people won't break into a place if there's a dog, no matter what size he is. They're just scared of dogs, period.'
'Would you like to tell me what happened, Pam?'
'The incident, you mean.'
'Right.'
'Yeah,' she said. 'I guess. That's what we're here for, right?'
* * *
IT was on a summery evening in the middle of the week. She was two blocks from her house, standing on the corner of Park and Twenty-sixth waiting for the light to change, and this truck pulled up and this guy called her over wanting directions to some place, she couldn't catch the name.
He got out of the truck, explaining that maybe he had the name of the place wrong, that it was on the invoice, and she went around with him to the rear of the truck. He opened the back of the truck, and there was another man inside, and they both had knives. They made her get in the back of the truck with the second man, and the driver got back in the truck and drove off.
AT this point I interrupted her, wanting to know why she had been so obliging about getting in the truck.
Had there been people around? Had anyone witnessed the abduction?
'I'm a little hazy on the details,' she said.
'That's all right.'
'It happened so quick.'
Elaine said, 'Pam, could I ask you a question?'
'Sure.'
'You're in the game, aren't you, dear?'
I thought, Jesus, how did I miss that?
'I don't know what you mean,' Pam said.
'You were working that night, weren't you?'
'How did you know?'
Elaine took the girl's hand. 'It's all right,' she said. 'Nobody's going to hurt you, nobody's here to judge you. It's all right.'
'But how did you—'
