Shielded from the black man and seeming to take confidence from the presence of Stone, who probably looked like most of the people he knew, Duncan nodded. “I’m an investment banker,” he said. “My office is in Rockefeller Plaza.” Having established that he was a person worthy of belief, he went on. “Last evening, about six thirty, a friend and I were leaving the Harvard Club, on West Forty-fourth Street. We had ordered a car from the club’s service, and a black car pulled up and let a man out. I looked at the number on the window and thought it was car number twelve, which was the number on the slip the steward had given me, so I opened the door and started to get into the car.” He paused, as if uncertain as to whether he should continue.

“Go on, Mr. Duncan,” Stone said, nodding reassuringly.

“Well, there was a woman in the backseat. She turned to me, surprised that someone was getting into her car. I apologized and began backing out, and she said, ‘Don’t worry about it, all these cars look alike.’ I closed the door and checked the number again, and it was number twenty-one, not twelve.” He stopped and looked to Stone as if for approval.

Stone wondered if he had missed something. “Mr. Duncan…”

“You didn’t tell him, Mr. Duncan,” Dino said to the man.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I quite missed the main point, didn’t I?” Duncan chuckled.

“Yes,” Dino said.

“What is the main point?” Stone asked, baffled.

“Oh, well, the woman was Sasha Nijinsky,” Duncan replied, as if Stone should have known it all along.

The hairs stood up on the back of Stone’s neck. Here was an obviously solid citizen with a close-up sighting. “Why did you think it was Sasha Nijinsky?” Stone asked, hoping against hope that the man was not simply some upper-class fruitcake.

“Well, I’ve seen her on television several hundred times.”

“Sometimes people on television look different in person,” Stone said.

“And I sat across the table from her at a dinner party less than two weeks ago,” Duncan said firmly.

Stone looked at Dino. Dino made a how-about-that face.

“Did she recognize you?” Stone asked.

“I don’t think so, and I was in and out of the car so fast that I never really engaged her in conversation. But it was Sasha Nijinsky, I’m absolutely certain of it. I wouldn’t really have come in here about this, but my wife said it could be important, since Sasha is missing.”

“Missing?” Stone asked. Nobody knew she was missing. The press still thought she was in some hospital or other.

Dino held up a fresh copy of the Daily News. SASHA VANISHES, a headline screamed.