‘Wayne. Yes, I know. I’m his wife. He’s not here. I don’t know where he is. I haven’t seen him for three days.’

The answer caught him off-guard, and for a second he didn’t know where to go with it. Lamar dead, and this other guy—his former security head—AWOL.

‘Your husband worked for Eugene Lamar, is that right?’

‘Yes. Until … I don’t know, must’ve been a month ago, now. Five weeks.’ Sounding offhand about it. She couldn’t have heard the news yet.

Vincent said, ‘Three days. So you haven’t seen your husband since Sunday?’

She paused. The Range Rover’s turn signal clicked out the interlude. She said, ‘You’re talking like he’s on the run. Or he’s done something.’

‘I’m just trying to locate him.’

‘Yes. But has he done something?’

‘Not that I know of.’

‘Okay. Who’d you say you are? The new security?’

‘That’s right. I’m Vincent.’

‘Not a bad apartment, right? He was there six years. I used to do week on, week off.’

He waited.

She said, ‘Anyway, yes: I haven’t seen him since Sunday morning. He didn’t tell me anything, really. He just said they’d had trouble at work, and he needed to go to Atlanta for a while. I don’t know how long a while is. The first I knew about any of it, he was standing there in the hallway with his bag packed. And then the taxi was here and … Well.’

‘So you don’t know where he is?’

‘No, I don’t. He hasn’t called, and I mean, I’m talking on his phone now, so it’s not like I can call him. A lawyer dropped by the house—Wayne’s own lawyer, not long after he’d gone—and I couldn’t even tell him anything. I don’t know where he is. Atlanta’s not a small place, is it?’

He wanted to ask more about this lawyer, but if he came on too strong it might close her down. He said, ‘Is he still in security?’

‘No. He consults for movie people—you know, makes sure they get the police details right. What’s this about, anyway? Your message said it’s urgent.’

He’d thought there was a chance of getting through this without anything too heavy, but the truth was right there now, blocking his way. He said, ‘Eugene Lamar’s dead. There was a shooting at his home this morning.’

‘A what?’

‘A shooting. He was murdered.’

‘Murdered. Oh, Lord. Oh, heavens. That’s terrible.’

Vincent said, ‘I just wanted to let Wayne know, in case he can shed some light on it.’

‘Why … why would he know something?’

‘I just thought he might’ve seen something that concerned him.’

‘Concerned him. Well. Fifty-seven years on earth … you might need to book him in for a few talks.’