Mike thanked him for the very interesting exchange, and he asked to be kept informed if anything surfaced regarding Theo or Pierre de Vaumont.

“Do you have a personal interest in the case?” Thomas asked him, and Mike was embarrassed that he should think so. It was very unprofessional of him to inquire about a case he had no involvement in, merely because he was fascinated by her.

“No, I don’t, but it troubles me when the perpetrators can’t be found. They committed a terrible crime and should be brought to justice.”

“We all agree. But we also know that some crimes are never solved. This may be one of them. It may be why they used an unknown team from Russia, so they’d be harder to trace.” Mike thought he was all too willing to accept that outcome, and it was the same impression he’d had when reading about the case. He was sorry for Theo. It wouldn’t bring her husband or son back, but she deserved to have closure and for the men who murdered them to be punished for their deaths.

—

The day after his call to Paris, Mike showered and changed at his office at the end of the day. He put on a suit and new light blue shirt that he kept there and had been saving. He decided to wear a tie, and was freshly shaved. He looked clean and conservative when he left his office in time to meet Theo at the address he had given her. He questioned the choice now. Maybe it was too ridiculous and she wouldn’t like it. It was an old diner on the West Side that looked straight out of the fifties. It had been restored by new owners recently, and the burgers were terrific. They had typical diner food, but at a higher standard than previously. They served delicious meatloaf, southern-fried chicken, mashed potatoes that melted in your mouth, classic hot dogs, homemade ice cream sundaes. He loved the food and had been there a few times, and he hoped she’d think it was fun. It definitely wasn’t La Grenouille or Le Bernardin, the best restaurants in New York. They had comfortable booths, and little jukeboxes in each one, with songs from the fifties, sixties, and seventies. It had become popular since it reopened.

—

She wasn’t there yet when he arrived, and he decided to wait for her outside. He had reserved a booth. At five after eight, a chauffeur-driven SUV stopped in front of the diner. Theo got out, wearing black jeans and a black sweater, with high heels and a black cashmere peacoat. She hadn’t had time to change after her meetings, and had answered work emails and phone calls instead. She had washed her face and put on lipstick and brushed her dark hair until it shone. She smiled when she saw him waiting for her.