“No, she told me otherwise. MacIver must have known it when he married her. Apparently he lost interest quickly, but stuck it out as long as he could—in his own style.” Leland told her about the scar. “Finally he said that he didn’t love her and had to have a divorce. They fought for a while, but she gave in.” He recounted the terms of the settlement and then told her about the lies both of the principals had told about the scar.

“Joe, it’s possible that they didn’t want to remember the truth. There are things that I don’t want to think about and don’t remember correctly. You’ve done it, too.”

“I just wish it were as simple as that. By Norma MacIver’s account this guy was slick as hell. He gave her a story that was pure fiction. He lied to his first wife—he was an accomplished, polished liar. There’s no way to get around that. His mother might have something to do with that—I can understand how he would get into the pattern of lying to her. There are a lot of questions still unanswered. I want to know how he got that quarter of a million. Betty Kaminsky didn’t have any idea that he had accumulated so much.”

“All right,” she said, “let me ask you a question: how are you doing?”

“I’m in great shape,” he said.

“I can’t help believing that this is very unpleasant for you. It’s not the same as one of those divorce or custody things. You’re closer to it. You were upset yesterday.”

“That was something else. Don’t you worry about me.”

“How did your client react this morning?”

“She did her reacting last night when she saw the souvenir book. I decided to let it go at that until I could see her. She did say that she had expected something—which is logical, because she’s been able to live with his death only on the assumption that there were things he didn’t tell her.”

“Please be careful of her, Joe.”

“She was calm this morning, Karen. I think that the thing you saw yesterday in the Flamingo was the result of the state of nerves she had built up before she saw me. It had nothing to do with me.”

“That’s as good a reason as any to be careful. You can provide an immense relief for her—you know that I’m putting it delicately.”

He wanted to get off the topic. “What have you decided to do about the weekend?”

“You don’t even know if you’ll still be there, Joe. Let’s talk about it later in the week.”

Her tone had turned harsh. He didn’t know how to answer her.