“I’d have thought Calvin.” Alex’s mind was racing. He looked once around the flat, then picked up Siân’s coat. “I was supposed to get something to him today, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. He still hasn’t turned up?” She shook her head. “Come on. I’ve a friend in Casualty up the road at Chelsea and Westminster. Let’s get you seen to, then you’re coming home with me. We’ll clean up here tomorrow after it’s been inspected; this has gone far enough.”

LUCY LOOKED DOWN, BUT THE HEIGHT DIDN’T ALARM HER. THE LONG, silky strands of her hair whipped back in the breeze, and the fresh air had brightened her olive complexion. She looked a thousand times better, and grinned at her companion. “You knew it, didn’t you? That this was the clue in the text about the ‘strange simian energy,’ and the movies, and the Art Deco foyer.”

“Not for sure until we got here. The King Kong riddle was easy, and the needle pointing upward at the tip of the apple tree—the Big Apple, of course. But I wasn’t sure about the ten thousand square feet of marble, until now. It’s all about being on Thirty-fourth Street. Why is this damned number so significant?”

Lucy realized her cell phone was ringing, the sound almost dead in the wind. Too early for Alex, she thought. He was having dinner with Siân, and it was only nine o’clock in the UK.

“It’s Sandy. Where have I caught you?” His voice seemed richer than ever amid the American accents surrounding her. She cried with the pleasure of realization—or the effects of the wind. What did that nickname tell her?

“On top of the Empire State Building on Thirty-fourth Street. As you’re always ahead of us, you’ll know it’s one of our mysteries.” She changed to a more serious tone. “Alex, is everything all right? I’ve been worrying about you, but you’re at dinner, and I didn’t want to intrude. It’s not Max, is it?”

Alex shook his head to himself, hardly surprised by her instincts anymore. “No, not Max, Lucy. It’s Siân. She had an unwelcome visitor at the flat. I wasn’t able to get the packet to our go-between—who was nowhere to be found. I’ve just tracked down his mother, and she said he’s been in Nantucket for a day or so—though he’s not with her now. He’s on a flight tonight from Boston—”

“Boston?” she interrupted.