“I see.” Chloe puckered her lips and stepped back. “It’ll be a classy piece, published ahead of her twentieth masterpiece. My working title is, ‘The Enigma of Being Essie.’”

Liv performed a slow blink of disbelief.

“Are you her PA?” Chloe said. “What’s it like working for a bestselling recluse? I’ll be discreet and Sheen will pay for your time.”

Trying to emulate one of Essie’s steely glares, Liv narrowed her eyes. “I’d prefer to pull out my own teeth.”

Chloe’s face set like concrete. “No worries, hon. I’ll find out what I need from my other sources,” she said with a sniff. “Ted Mason’s already agreed to meet me.” She said Essie’s ex-husband’s name as if it was a shiny coin on the pavement for Liv to pounce on.

Liv pretended to think for a while, biding her time. She fixed Chloe with a disarming smile. “Ted Mason? Wow. Well, I suppose if he’s going to—” As the journalist hung on to her words, Liv shot out a hand and grabbed the roses, pulling them inside the apartment. “I’ll make sure Essie gets them,” she said. “There will be no interview.”

She slammed the door shut and double locked it. Her heart pounded wildly as she returned to the writing room. The roses left a trail of white petals along the hallway.

The bouquet was from Bloom and Dale florists, but the sender’s name was missing. Liv wondered if Chloe had bought them herself and engineered the delivery. Or had she hijacked a gift from Essie’s man?

“Hey.” Chloe rapped on the door. “I’m only asking what everyone wants to know. What happened to Essie Starling? And why are you dressed like Georgia Rory?”

Liv heard the journalist moving around outside for a while. She considered phoning the building concierge to complain about an intruder, but then saw the gray shadow beneath the door disappear. After a few minutes, Liv slowly opened it. She circled the landing area before blowing all the air from her lungs.

The thought of Chloe digging around for information about Essie made Liv grind her teeth. What if Chloe discovered the author was not only missing, but dead? She shuddered when she remembered allowing Chloe to dart into the building. How had the journalist known Essie’s address? Had she been loitering outside the apartment block to try to get a story? And if she was tracking down people from Essie’s past, how much longer would it be before she uncovered the truth of Essie’s death? What might Chloe discover if she took the meeting with Ted?

Liv adjusted her necktie. Georgia Rory wouldn’t stand for such a thing, and neither would she.