“Walk me to the car, and I’ll tell you everything I know on the way.”

I’ll bet we’ll have time left over, Stone thought. “Sure. And, Thad?”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t you let me walk you across the street and get you a new shirt for this press conference.”

“Across the street?”

“Turnbull and Asser is right across from the hotel. Won’t take a minute.”

Shames looked down at his shirt. “Guess it couldn’t hurt,” he said.

“They have shoes, too.”

Chapter 3

3

AS THEY PASSED THROUGH THE LIVING ROOM OF THE huge suite, a woman’s voice rang out.

“Thad?”

Shames and Stone stopped and turned. An attractive young woman wearing a chef’s smock was waving from the adjacent dining room.

“Yes, Callie?” Shames replied.

“Do you have any idea how many for lunch, yet? I’m turning it over to the caterers, and they’d sure like to know.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Tell them to plan for a hundred. If there are leftovers we can donate them to a good cause.”

“Right,” she said. “See you in PB.”

Shames rang for the elevator. “Now, about Liz,” he said to Stone. “What do you want to know?”

“Describe her appearance.”

Shames held a hand across his chest. “She comes up to about here.”

“Five-five, five-six?”

“I guess.”

“Was she wearing heels?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Hair color?”

“A dark brunette.”

“Long? Short?”

“To her shoulders; maybe a bit longer.”

“How old was she?”

“Thirtyish, I guess.”

“Weight?”

“Mediumish, I suppose.”

“Body?”

“Attractive.”

“Anything else distinctive about her appearance? Nose?”

“Turned up.”

“Eyes?”

“Blue, I think.”

Jesus, Stone thought, I’m glad the girl didn’t commit a crime; she’d get away with it.

The elevator arrived, and they got on.

“Let’s talk about her name again, Thad. What made you think that Liz might not be her real name?”

“Just a feeling.”

“Try to remember if she said anything specific about her name.”

“I asked her, ‘What’s your name?’ And she said, ‘Liz will do.’ And I said, ‘What’s your last name?’ And she said, ‘Just Liz.’”

“Well, she’s pretty cagey. Do you think she knew who you were?”

“If she did, she didn’t give any sign of it. She asked me what I did, and I told her.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I said I was a software entrepreneur. She said, ‘Like Bill Gates?’ And I said, ‘Well, not quite on that scale.’ That was the only time we talked about work.”

“You didn’t ask her what she did?”

“Oh, yeah, I did. She said, ‘I’m retired.’ And I said, ‘From what?’ And she said, ‘From marriage.’”

“So she divorced well?”

“I guess.”

“How was she dressed?”

The elevator reached the ground floor, and they went to the checkroom.

“She was wearing this sort of dress.”

“Did it look expensive?”