“We both went to FIT.” Jessica laughed at that and plucked her pajama pants with one hand. “Obviously not the career path I stuck with. I do coding for websites now. Andy was the better designer anyway. After graduating, he’d gone to… geez… some show or gala or whatever, I don’t even remember, and they met there. I recall Andy saying this guy had gone to FIT the same time we did, and I’d found it funny that we’d never crossed paths.”

“Oh yeah? Did they have the same degree and everything?”

“No, I don’t think so. Andy and I were in fashion design. This other guy designed accessories… pretty sure.”

“What makes you so sure?” Doyle asked, flipping back the cover on the pad.

“It must have been a conversation we had.” Jessica reached for the glass of whiskey and tipped it back and forth thoughtfully. “Jewelry, maybe.”

Larkin’s gaze shifted to Jessica. He interjected from across the room, “Designing or constructing jewelry?”

“You’d have to learn both,” she explained.

Doyle looked at Larkin, seemingly waiting for more. When Larkin gave a headshake, Doyle assumed the lead once again. “I want you to think of the time you were around Andrew’s friend the longest.”

She began to nod, then said, “But he’s not going to look the same today—”

“That’s okay,” Doyle insisted.

Jessica leaned back in her chair, reached a hand down, and absently patted PomPom, who was curled up with his small mountain of gifted toys. Larkin could see when the memory returned to her: it was like the pop of an incandescent lightbulb on Jessica’s face. “Oh, wow. Okay. Andy and I were walking home from a bar in the Village. It was cold as hell, so I guess they’d met in winter, yeah? Andy called the guy from a pay phone to meet us. We must have waited for him around the Q? Maybe the 6. One of those trains. I know he had to come downtown. He walked a few blocks with us, then, I don’t know, either Andy wanted to get more drinks in the East Village or his friend did—I can’t remember—but I do know I told them to have fun and I’d walk home. Andy asked if I wanted company. It was dark. I was twenty-one. I was a little tipsy. I said no. Of course, about two or three blocks from home, some guy started following me. I totally freaked and made a beeline for my abuela’s. She was on that block. I stayed the night with her.”