A FEW DAYS LATER, Derek Fallowfield’s solicitor appeared at his country house with the documents for the property purchase. Laurence signed them and phoned his bank with instructions for transferring the funds.

The following day Laurence and Theresa said goodbye to his parents, then they met Don McEvoy at Oxford Airport and flew back to the States, via Iceland and Labrador. Oliver met them at Teterboro, where they cleared customs, and Laurence took Don aside. “How am I doing in the airplane?”

“Very well. Your experience in the King Air has been of value, and your technique is very good. I’m impressed with your knowledge of the avionics. Frankly, you’re better at that than I am. If you’re feeling good about flying the airplane, I don’t think you need me anymore.”

“I’ll call you when I need to brush up on things.”

“All you need to do now is fly,” Don said.

—

IN THE CAR, Laurence said to Theresa, “I’ve grown accustomed to your company. Why don’t you move into my place, and we’ll get your things tomorrow?”

“All right,” Theresa said, “we can experiment with that, but I’m keeping my apartment, just in case.”

—

BACK AT THE FAIRLEIGH, Laurence found a thick envelope from the Ralph Lauren designer with fabrics, wallpapers, pictures of furniture, and drawings waiting for him.

“This looks wonderful,” he said. “I particularly like the way they’ve enlarged the master bath by using the closet next door. Tell your colleague it’s a go, I won’t change a thing.”

“First thing tomorrow,” she said, “right after I see how Butch is doing in the shoe department.”

—

BUTCH, as it turned out, was doing very well in the shoe department. “My specialty has become moving customers up from leather shoes to alligator,” he told her over lunch. “It’s easy to spot the ones who can afford it. They’re moving me to the Purple Label suit department at the end of the week.”

“That’s good news. Once you’ve worked in a few more departments, you should aim for a personal shopper’s job. You’ve clearly got the personality for it.”

Butch beamed at her. “Thanks, sis, that’s high praise, coming from you.”

“I see you’re expanding your wardrobe,” she said, fingering a lapel. “Don’t overdo it—even with your employee discount, it’s expensive.”

“I’ll be very careful, I promise you. Oh, I moved into a slightly nicer apartment yesterday. You’ll have to come over.”

“Is Curly still with you?”

“Nah, he’s got his own place and a job doing legal research for a lawyer acquaintance of his. He got a lot of experience in the prison law library—he was even writing appeals for other prisoners.”

“I’m glad you’re both doing so well,” she said. “Your parole officer must be pleased.”