“I don’t think he would expect anything to go awry at the Four Seasons for the very reason you just articulated,” Isabelle said. “He knows now that Amalie is going to attend. Unless he thinks that was some kind of ploy to draw him out. But, having said that, he doesn’t know we’re after him.”

“We could have it all down pat, get everyone in place, then he’s a no-show. All that wasted time and effort. Personally, I don’t think he’s going to show,” Yoko said.

“We need to start thinking the way Lincoln Moss thinks,” Nikki said. “For starters, he thinks no one knows Amalie bailed out on him five years ago. He’s managed to cover that all up. Now, suddenly, things have changed. First was the picture and article in the tabloid. At that point, he had to start thinking that someone knew what had happened. Without a doubt, he has hired the biggest and the best investigative agencies around. Abner verified that from his checking account. He’s spent over a million dollars trying to find Amalie, all with nothing to show for it.

“I’m thinking he won’t have the guts to show up Saturday night. But what I think he will do is be there in disguise, sitting in the lobby or hiding behind a palm tree or something. And if it isn’t him in the lobby or behind a palm tree, it will be someone he hires, someone who will let him know if his wife really is attending the gala. For that matter, he could sit in the parking lot and watch unobserved,” Nikki said.

“Wrong!” Maggie said. “Secret Service will be swarming all over the place. The guests of the hotel will probably be assigned a separate entrance, so that means no one will be hanging out in the lobby. Ted and I have covered enough of these events to know that that is how it works. However, there is a possibility, if Moss has the juice he says he has, that he could have booked a room in advance and, therefore, be a guest. With his clout, he could probably still get a room at the last second. Scratch the parking lot. I heard on the radio on my way out here this morning that the District police will be in charge of the parking lot. They said they were canceling all leave and bringing in everyone to help. Moss has got to know all that.”