Great. She could always come back for the next visit, to monitor his progress. And who knows? With the toys Rick and Graham had in their arsenal she might have cameras in her earrings next time.

She asked if there was a restroom downstairs, and Jake nodded toward the back. She took her time finding it, using it, and strolling back to the front, where he was sanding the top of the writer’s table. As he hunched over, she stood directly in front of the metal door for the best footage yet. But there might be a hidden camera watching her, right? She backed away, impressed with her situational awareness and growing experience. She might make a decent spy after all.

She left Jake at the front door and walked around the block to a small Cuban deli where she ordered an iced tea and sat at a table. Within a minute, Rick entered and paid for a soft drink. He sat across from her, smiling, and said almost in a whisper, “Perfect job.”

“I guess I’m just a natural at this,” she said, the knot in her stomach momentarily gone. “Is the camera on?”

“No, I turned it off. I’ll reactivate it when you enter the bookstore. Don’t do anything different. The camera is working perfectly and you got us plenty of footage. We are thrilled that there’s a door connecting the two basements. Now get as close to it as you can from the other side.”

“Nothing to it. I’m assuming we’ll leave the store and walk to lunch. Will you keep the camera on?”

“No.”

“And I’ll be sitting across the table from Cable for at least an hour. You’re not worried about him noticing anything?”

“After you’ve been to the basement, go to the restroom, the one upstairs on the main floor. Take off the scarf and the buckle ring and stick them in your purse. If he says anything, tell him the scarf was too warm.”

“I like that. It would be hard to enjoy lunch knowing I was pointing a camera at his face.”

“Right. You leave now and I’m right behind you.”

Mercer entered the bookstore at 11:50 and saw Bruce rearranging the magazines on a rack near the front. Today’s seersucker suit was striped in a soft aqua shade. So far Mercer had noticed at least six different tints to his suits and she suspected there were more. Bow tie of bright yellow paisley. As always, dirty buckskins, no socks. Never. He smiled, pecked her on the cheek, said she looked great. She followed him into the First Editions Room and he picked up an envelope on his desk. “Ten grand for the two books Tessa borrowed thirty years ago. What would she think?”

“She would say, ‘Where’s my share of the profits?’ ”

Bruce laughed and said, “We get the profits. I have two clients who want The Convict, so I’ll play one off the other and clear twenty-five hundred with a few phone calls.”