He was still saying the words when he remembered again his cousin Alice had been in his dream last night. He had thought of her earlier this morning, too. Are you always going to be an asshole about women? The business between Maryellen and him had never been resolved, only abandoned. He had forced himself to stop thinking about her when he’d realized his torment wasn’t going to end any other way.

As John returned to the table, he peeled a couple of bills from his roll, dropped them on the table, picked up the check, and motioned Devlin toward the door. “Outside,” he said quietly at the cash register. “One call was all I needed to make, and I’ll tell you about it outside.”

Devlin waited at the curb. John was out of the restaurant almost at once. He took Devlin by the elbow and strode up the side street toward the Bowery, away from the precinct station. He covered his mouth with his knuckles. “No Cummings,” he said. “They never heard of him. Nobody by that name ever at One-twelve. You sure of everything you told me?”

Devlin had to catch his breath. “Cummings. Tom and Irene Quinn. Lake Tranquility, New Jersey. And another guy.” He shook his head. “Oh, no. I’m going to remember it.” The block lifted: Lederer. Bob. “Bob Lederer.” Devlin’s stomach felt on fire. “The car parked outside was a faded orange Pontiac with a New York Statue of Liberty plate. On the front seat was one of those airline folders they put the tickets in.” He remembered the colors. “TWA.”

“Any writing on it? Were the blanks filled in?”

Devlin shook his head. There was still Lake Tranquility and the Quinns, a house and real people. And Nelson, whether Gerrity had ever heard of him or not. Devlin had Nelson on tape, solid evidence. “I want to see how many faded orange Pontiacs have Liberty plates.”

John said, “You want to run down Antonucci.”

Devlin was looking around. “Assume I’m being set up. Is Levine part of it?”

“You’ll find out soon enough. It doesn’t make much sense. Why would he bother? To pay back a favor? Where’s the evidence Harry Levine owes that kind of favor?” John grinned. “And even if he is in on it, the surveillance you’ll be under won’t be just window dressing. All concerned are going to have to give a good account of their time. I’m willing to bet you still have a few hours before they connect you with Antonucci. After that, it’s anybody’s guess. In the meantime, I’m going to try to get a line on him. If I’m lucky, I might be able to make the connection before anybody else does. Who knows, maybe you’ll remember on your own.”