Jesse started to speak, but I interrupted him. “Did you see the men? What did they look like?”

“How should I know? I saw their backs, not their faces.” Mrs. Decarno shrugged. “Makes me sick. What’s the world coming to?”

I remembered what Bruxton had told me earlier, about how the power had briefly gone off at the building on New Year’s Eve around eight P.M., and how the security camera had been broken. Had the two men come up to my sister’s apartment after that, and had my sister’s impostor let them in? The police knew very little, it seemed, but they’d been certain that there was no forced entry at Claudia’s apartment.

“Did you tell the police about them?” I asked. “This could be incredibly important.”

“Important to you, maybe.” Mrs. Decarno looked me over and wrinkled her pruny face. “But you’re a tramp.”

“Look, I just need to know…” I started to say, claiming enough composure to pretend I was above the fray, when Jesse opened his mouth.

“It’s high time you shut your yap and listen up.” His voice wasn’t loud, but it was fierce. “You’ve got some kind of dirty mind whirlin’ around in there. You pack up the show and go on home now. Tomorrow you’re havin’ another talk with the cops.”

“You think you’re going to tell me what to do in my own building?”

“You know what I think?” said Jesse. “You’re sick with jealousy over other gals. You couldn’t be nice and kind and beautiful, so you hate anyone who is. But I’ll bet anything your husband doesn’t feel the same way.”

Mrs. Decarno’s mouth formed an outraged O. I retreated into Claudia’s apartment, stuffed the form about her miscarriage into my purse and threw my coat over my arm. When I returned to the door, Mrs. Decarno stood tall in her doorway giving Jesse the evil eye. “Let’s go,” I said. I locked the door behind me. Jesse led the way, and I followed him down the stairs, with Tariq bringing up the rear.

“Funny thing, growing up in Oklahoma,” Jesse murmured. “You learn that what’s on people’s lips is what’s going on in their own heads.” I remembered him telling me this before. I knew it had a lot to do with his own sexuality, and how people responded when they discovered he was gay.

Near the foyer, he spoke again. “You’ve still got to tell us what happened back there, Lil,” He stopped mid-step. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Fine, just a little dizzy.”

But that wasn’t entirely true. My head seemed to be spinning again, and the only reason I didn’t collapse on the stairs was that Tariq reached out and caught me.

CHAPTER 20