Mark keeps encouraging them to talk. If what they’re saying is true—and it may very well be, because the two women seem to know not only the doorman but also everyone entering and leaving the building—they could prove useful. When Lennon arrives, he’ll feel comfortable approaching them—will want to approach them. Which will bring Lennon closer. To me.

Mark’s hand squeezes the gun, his skin tingling with excitement as Jude says, “Have you listened to Double Fantasy?”

“Not yet.”

“You should buy a copy. I think it’s John’s greatest work. If you have a copy, I bet he’ll sign it.”

What a perfect ruse, Mark realizes. If he’s holding it, Lennon will be more apt to stop and sign it. I’ll give Lennon the album and then, instead of removing a pen from my jacket pocket, I’ll remove my gun and shoot him.

Mark waves good-bye and walks up Columbus Avenue, where he finds a record store with posters of Lennon in the windows. He purchases a copy of Double Fantasy and stares at the photo on the cover, a black-and-white shot of John and Yoko kissing.

He imagines his face on the cover.

Imagines himself leaning forward to kiss Yoko.

Imagines Lennon lying on the ground, dead, covered in blood.

It’s late afternoon when he returns to the Dakota. The two young women are still there, standing vigil. As he waits with them, they study the album from front to back.

Jude and Jeri agree that “I’m Losing You” is the best song on the album. “It’s John at his most emotional,” they say with a sigh.

Mark’s never listened to any of the songs, but he’s read enough reviews. He counters with Yoko’s harsh response song, which accuses John of “getting phony”: “I’m Moving On.”

Now it’s time for him to do the same.

“I didn’t come all this way to argue with the two of you,” he says. “I imagine I’ll be doing more than just meeting John Lennon.”

A car pulls up to the front of the building.

Mark keeps his hand on the gun as the passenger steps out.

It’s not Lennon.

Every time a car stops, he experiences an adrenaline rush. Is this John Lennon? Will he step out and greet them? Each time Mark keeps his hand on the revolver.

By early evening, with no sign of Lennon, Mark decides to pack it in. There’s a new day coming. He returns to the Y to strategize.

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Guess I got what I deserve.

—“Baby Blue”

At the end of February in 1966, twenty-five-year-old reporter Maureen Cleave asks twenty-six-year-old John Lennon for an interview. They’ve been friendly ever since she started covering the band for the Evening Standard in February of 1963, back when it was still a big deal to have a London paper mention them at all.