“I don’t like hearing my name advertised on TV, especially not by an egomaniac and not in that tone.”

Madeleine looked concerned. “Do you think he’s putting you in danger?”

What he was thinking, but didn’t say for fear of alarming her, was that the playing field had a precarious tilt when a murderer had your ID before you had his. He shrugged. “I don’t like publicity. I don’t like case scenarios being blabbed to the media. I don’t like wild exaggerations. And I especially don’t like loudmouthed, self-promoting lawyers.”

There was another aspect of his reaction that he didn’t mention: an underlying sense of excitement. Although his negative comments were all true, he had to admit, if only to himself, that a loose cannon like Bincher had a way of shaking things up, of provoking revealing responses from interested parties.

“You’re sure that’s all that’s bothering you?”

“Isn’t that enough?”

She gave him a long, worried, You didn’t really answer my question look.

Gurney had decided to wait until morning to call Hardwick about Bincher’s over-the-top media performance.

Now, at 8:30 a.m., he decided to wait a little longer—at least until he had his coffee. Madeleine was already at the breakfast table. He brought his cup over and sat across from her. As soon as he did, the landline phone rang. He bounced back up and went into the den to answer it.

“Gurney here.” It was his old NYPD way of identifying himself—which he thought he’d gotten over.

The hoarse, low, almost sleepy voice on the other end wasn’t familiar.

“Hello, Mr. Gurney. My name is Adonis Angelidis.” The speaker paused, as if expecting some word of recognition. When Gurney offered none, he went on. “I understand you’re working with a man named Bincher. Is that true?”

Now he had Gurney’s full attention, electrically charged by his recollection of what Kay Spalter told him about the man known as “Donny Angel.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Why do I ask? Because of that TV program he was on. Bincher mentioned your name with great prominence. You’re aware of this, am I right?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You’re an investigator, am I right?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a famous guy, right?”

“I wouldn’t know about that.”

“That’s pretty funny. ‘I wouldn’t know about that.’ I like that. Very modest man.”

“What do you want, Mr. Angelidis?”

“I don’t want nothing. I believe I can help you with things you need to know.”

“What sort of things?”

“Things that should be discussed face-to-face. I could save you a lot of trouble.”

“What sort of trouble?”

“All the trouble in the world. And time. I could save you time. A lot of time. Time is very valuable. We only got so much of it. You know what I mean?”