Win laughed harder. Myron tried to remember the last time he'd seen his friend laugh so openly. It'd been a while. Norm had that effect on people.

Esme Fong glanced at her watch and rose. "I only stopped by to say hello,' ' she explained. "I really must be going."

All three men stood. Norm bussed her cheek. "Take care, Esme, okay? I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Norm." She gave Myron and Win demure smiles accompanied by a shy lowering of the head. "Nice meeting you, Myron. Win."

She left. The three men sat. Win steepled his fingers.

"How old is she?" Win asked.

"Twenty-five. Phi Beta Kappa from Yale."

' 'Impressive. ' '

Norm said, "Don't even think it, Win."

Win shook his head. He wouldn't. She was in the business. Harder to disentangle. When it came to the opposite sex, Win liked quick and absolute closure.

"I stole her from those sons of bitches at Nike,"

Norm said. "She was a bigwig in their basketball department. Don't get me wrong. She was making a ton of dough, but she smartened up. Hey, it's like I told her:

There's more to life than money. You know what I'm saying?"

Myron refrained from rolling his eyes.

"Anyway, she works like a dog. Always checking and rechecking. In fact, she's on her way to Linda Coldren's right now. They're going to have a late-night tea party or something girly girl. ' '

Myron and Win exchanged a glance. "She's going to Linda Coldren's house?"

"Yeah, why?"

"When did she call her'?"

"What do you mean?"

"Was this appointment made a long time ago'?"

"What, now, I look like a receptionist?"

"Forget it." .

' ' Forgotten. ' '

"Excuse me a second," Myron said. "Do you mind if I go make a call?" '

"AmI your mother?" Zuckerman made a shooing motion. "Go already."

Myron debated using his cellular phone but decided not to piss oif the Merion gods. He found a phone booth in the men's locker room foyer and dialed the Coldrens'

house. He used Chad's line. Linda Coldren answered.

"Hello?"

"Just checking in," Myron said. "Anything new?"

"No," Linda said.

"Are you aware that Esme Fong is coming over?"

"I didn't want to cancel," Linda Coldren explained.

"I didn't want to do anything that would draw attention."

"You'll be okay, then?"

"Yes," she said.

Myron watched Tad Crispin walk by in the direction of Win's table. "Were you able to reach the school?"

"No; nobody was there," she said. "So what do we do next?'

"l don't know," Myron said. "I have the override Caller ID on your phone. If he calls again, we should be able to get the number."

"What else?"

"I'll try to speak to Matthew Squires. See what he can for me."

"I already spoke to Matthew," Linda said impatiently. "He doesn't know anything. What else?"

"I could get the police involved. Discreetly. There's not much else I can do on my own."