“I, um, can’t. Yet.” Miriam had worked it through. The whole story was just too weird to lay on Paulie without some kind of proof to get her attention. “However, you can do me a big favor, okay? I need to get to a rest area just off a road near Amesbury with some hiking gear. Yeah, I know that sounds weird, but it’s the best way to make sure nobody’s following me. If you could ride out with me and drive my car home, then put it back there two days later, that would be really good.”

“That’s…odd.” Paulette looked puzzled. “What’s with the magical mystery tour?”

Miriam improvised fast. “I could tell you, but then I’d have to get you to sign a nondisclosure agreement that would make anything The Weatherman offered you look liberal. And the whole thing is supersecret; my source might spike the whole deal if I let someone in on it without prior permission. I’ll be able to tell you when you pick me up afterward, though.” If things went right, she’d be able to tell a more-than-somewhat-freaked Paulie why she’d vanished right in front of her eyes and then reappeared in front of them. “And I want you to promise to tell nobody about it until you pick me up again, okay?”

“Well, okay. It’s not as if I don’t have time on my hands.” Paulette frowned. “When are you planning on doing your disappearing act? And when do you want picking up?”

“I was—they’re picking me up tomorrow at 2 P.M. precisely,” said Miriam. “And I’ll be showing up exactly forty-eight hours later.” She grinned. “If you lie in wait—pretend to be eating your lunch or something—you can watch them pick me up.”

Friday morning dawned cold but clear, and Miriam showered then packed her camping equipment again. The doorbell rang just after noon. It was Paulette, wearing a formal black suit. “My God, is it a funeral?”

“Had a job interview this morning.” Paulette pulled a face. “I got sick of sitting at home thinking about those bastards shafting us and decided to do something for number one in the meantime.”

“Well, good for you.” Miriam picked up her backpack and led Paulie out the front door, then locked up behind her. She opened her car, put the pack in, then opened the front doors. “Did it go well?” she asked, pulling her seat belt on.

“It went like—” Paulette pulled another face. “Listen, I’m a business researcher, right? Just because I used to be a paralegal doesn’t mean that I want to go back there.”

“Lawyers,” Miriam said as she started the engine. “Lots of work in that field, I guarantee you.”