“I wish you were coming with me.” I looked up at him, taking in the familiar details of his face.

He paused. “I’d better not be seen at the Plaza. Just in case. So I’ll say good-bye here, Georgie. Take care of yourself and don’t do anything silly, promise?”

“I might say the same for you,” I said. “You know I worry about you.”

“I’ll be just fine.” He brushed back a strand of hair from my cheek. Then cupped my head in his hands and kissed me again. “It won’t be too long. I promise,” he whispered. “Now off you go.”

Mummy was lying propped against the pillows reading a magazine. She barely looked up as I came in. “Been downstairs, have you? Anything fun going on?”

“No, rather quiet actually,” I replied. “How long do you plan to stay in New York? Cy and Stella are leaving tomorrow.”

“I have to do a little shopping first, darling,” she said. “I’m told there will be nothing in Reno. And one has a duty to see what New York has to offer.”

So after breakfast Mummy went off to attack the New York department stores and I went to sit by the fountain in Central Park. Suddenly I saw two familiar figures coming toward me: Algie Broxley-Foggett and with him Tubby Halliday.

“What ho, old bean,” Algie said. “Fancy bumping into you again.”

“Oh, you’re still here, I see. Not off to the Wild West then?”

“I’ll get around to it when the money runs out, I suppose,” Algie said. “But Tubby here has things to do in New York and his newspaper is paying for his hotel so I took advantage of his kind offer to share a room. Where are you staying?”

“The Plaza,” I said.

“My, my. Hear that, Tubby, old bean? She’s staying at the Plaza. We’ll simply have to come and visit.”

“I don’t think you’d better,” I said hurriedly. “We’re leaving any moment and I’m with my mother.”

“Well, that’s not too friendly of you,” Algie said. “I’ve always wanted a tour of the Plaza.”

“I thought you were heading for Hollywood,” Tubby said.

I looked at him warily, trying to remember how much of this was common knowledge. “For a short while, I think.” I stood up. “I had better be getting back. My mother will wonder where I’ve gone to.”

I felt them watching me as I walked away. Why was Algie so keen to see inside the Plaza? And what was Tubby doing in New York?

Chapter 12

ON A TRAIN TO RENO

FRIDAY, JULY 20, 1934