one of you. I can’t thank you enough.”
A relaxed smile from some of the participants Chris, Vince, and Dr. Weiss got up together.
“I’m glad it’s over,” Chris said.
“Understandable,” Martin Weiss said. “From what I’ve heard today, both you and your mother have shown remarkable strength through all this.” “You do what you have to do, Doctor.”
Nona came up to them. “The others are leaving, but I wish you people would come back to my office for a cocktail. You’ve certainly earned it.” “Oh, I don’t think…” Weiss shook his head, then hesitated. “I must check in with my office. If I can do it from there?”
“Of course.”
Chris debated. He realized how low he was feeling. Darcy’s secretary had said she was going straight home. He wondered if he could talk her into a quick dinner. “Can I get on line for the phone too?”
“Dial away.”
The beeper went off on Vince’s belt. “I hope you have a lot of phones around here, Nona.”
Vince dialed from the secretary’s desk and received a message to call Ernie at the 21st Century Play-wrights’ Festival office. When he reached him, Ernie was brimming with news.
“I’ve got the guest list. Guess who was there that night?”
“Who?”
“Erin Kelley and Jay Stratton.”
“Holy smoke.” He thought of the description North had given him of the man who had taken his card. Tall. Late thirties or early forties. Well-spoken. But Erin Kelley! That afternoon in Kelley’s apartment Darcy had selected a pink and silver dress for Erin to be buried in. Darcy had told him Erin bought it to wear to a benefit. Then when he’d picked up the package of shoes that had been mailed to Darcy’s apartment, she’d said that the evening slipper in the package went better with Erin’s pink and silver dress than the ones Erin had bought herself. He suddenly knew why the shoes went so well with it. Her killer had been at the benefit and seen her wearing that dress. “Meet me in Nona Roberts’s office,” he told Ernie. “We might as well go downtown together.”
In the office Dr. Weiss seemed more relaxed. “No problems. I was concerned that one patient might need to see me tonight. Ms. Roberts, I’m going to take advantage of your kindness. My youngest son is a communications major and will be graduating from college in June. How does he get a foothold in this business?”
Chris Sheridan had moved the phone from Nona’s desk to the windowsill. Absently, he fingered the dusty plant. Darcy wasn’t home. When he’d called her office, her secretary had been evasive. Something about expecting to hear from her later. “A very important meeting had come up.”
His intuition was pounding at him. Something was wrong.
He knew it.
Darcy wasn’t supposed to wait any longer than six o’clock. She stayed until six-thirty, then decided to give up for tonight. Obviously the woman who called hadn’t been able to meet her. She paid for the Perrier and left. She stepped out onto the street. The wind had stirred up again and seemed to cut through her body. I hope I can get a cab, she said to herself. “Darcy. I’m so glad I caught you. Your secretary said you’d be here. Hop in.”
“Oh, you’re a lifesaver. What luck.”
Len Parker huddled in a doorway across the street and watched the vanishing taillights. It was just like last time when Erin Kelley came out and someone called her from that station wagon.
Suppose this was the same person who had killed Erin Kelley? Should he call that FBI agent? His name was D’Ambrosio. Len had his card. Would they think he was crazy?
Erin Kelley had walked out on him and Darcy Scott had refused to have dinner with him.
But he’d been mean to them.
Maybe he should call.
He’d spent a lot of money on cabs following Darcy Scott these last couple of days.
And the phone call would only cost a quarter.
Chris turned from the window. He had to ask. Vince D’Ambrosio had just come back into the room. “Do you know if Darcy is answering another one of those damn ads tonight?” he demanded.
Vince saw the concern on Sheridan ’s face and ignored the belligerent tone. He knew it was not directed at him. “I understood from Nona that Darcy was planning an early night.”
“She was.” The smile vanished from Nona’s face. “When I called her office, her secretary said she was going straight home from that hotel she’s redoing.” “Well, something changed her mind,” Chris retorted. “Her secretary sounds very mysterious.”
“What’s her office number?” Vince grabbed the phone. When Bev answered, he identified himself. “I’m concerned about Miss Scott’s plans. If you know what they are, I want to hear them.”
“I’d really rather let her get back to you-“ Bev began, but was interrupted. “Listen, miss, I have no intention of interfering with her private life, but if this has to do with a personal ad, I want to know. We’re getting very close to solving this case but no one is in custody.”
“Well, promise not to interfere-“
“Where is Darcy Scott?”
Bev told him. Vince gave her Nona’s number. “Ask Miss Scott to call me immediately when you hear from her.” He hung up. “She’s meeting a woman who claims she saw Erin Kelley leave Eddie’s Aurora in the Village the night she disappeared, and can describe the man she met outside. This woman hasn’t come forward because she was with a guy who wasn’t her husband.” “Do you believe it?” Nona asked.
“I don’t like the sound of it. But if Darcy meets her in that bar, it should be okay. What time is it?”
“Six-thirty,” Dr. Weiss said.
“Then Darcy should be phoning her office any minute. She was only supposed to wait until six for that caller to show up.”
“Didn’t the same thing happen to Erin Kelley?” Chris demanded. “As I understand it, she went to Eddie’s Aurora, was stood up, left, and disappeared.” Vince felt the skin on the back of his neck start to crawl. “I’ll phone there.” When he reached the bar, he fired rapid questions, listened, then slammed down the receiver. “The bartender says a young woman answering Darcy’s description walked out a few minutes ago. Nobody showed up to meet her.” Chris swore under his breath. The moment when he’d found Nan ’s body fifteen years ago today filled his mind with sickening clarity. An escort from reception tapped on the half-open door. “Mr. Cizek from the FBI says you’re expecting him,” she told Nona.
Nona nodded. “Show him in.”
Cizek was pulling the thick guest list for the Play-wrights’ gala from a bulging manila envelope as he came through the door. It was stuck. When he tried to yank it out, the clip fell off and the pages scattered. Nona and Dr. Weiss helped to retrieve them.
Chris was clenching and unclenching his fists, Vince noticed. “We have two strong suspects,” he told Chris, “and we have a tail on both of them.” Dr. Weiss was examining one of the pages he picked up. As though he was thinking aloud he commented, “I’d have thought he was too busy with his personal ads to go to parties.”
Vince looked up quickly. “Who are you talking about?” Weiss seemed embarrassed. “Dr. Michael Nash. Forgive me. That was an unprofessional comment.”
“Nothing is unprofessional at this point,” Vince said sharply. “It could be very important that Dr. Nash was at the benefit. You sound as if you don’t like him. Why?”
All eyes were on Martin Weiss. He seemed to be debating with himself, then said slowly, “This must go no farther than this room. One of Nash’s former patients, who now consults with me, noticed him in a restaurant with a young woman she knew. The next time she saw that young woman she teased her about it.” Vince felt his nerves tingling the way they always did when he sensed a break in the case. “Go on, Doctor.”
Weiss looked uncomfortable. “My patient’s young friend said that she had met the man when she answered his personal ad and wasn’t surprised to learn that he had lied about his name and background. She felt distinctly
