“I called the airline and got two seats on a flight that’s leaving this morning. There are a few more spaces available, if you want to change your reservation. We have to leave for the airport in ten minutes.”

“Can you be ready to leave town in ten minutes?” he asked Jane. She was lying on her back, her eyes and mouth wide open, and didn’t move. “We’ll be staying.”

“Oh, well, since you are, I’ll stop by your room and give you a list of all the video equipment, just so you won’t forget anything. And I’ve written up a little contract for you to sign, saying you take full responsibility for getting it all back to Boston.”

“What if we’d decided to come back with you?” he asked her.

“You didn’t,” she said. “Also I’ve got your airline tickets, the paperwork on the van, the receipts for the deposit on the rooms . . .”

A few minutes later, she knocked on his door, handed him a fat manila envelope of paperwork, her handwritten contract, and a pen. “I’ll have to have my lawyer check this over first,” he said.

“Very funny. The main thing is, don’t check the equipment at the curb. Flag down a skycap—make sure he’s a real one; you can tell by the photo ID and the shoes. If they’re all beat up, get someone else—and follow him to the counter.”

“I will. Anything else?”

“I’m just trying to be helpful, Desmond.”

“I know that, and you are. In fact, you’ve been extremely helpful all along, and both Jane and I appreciate it.”

Tim was standing at the edge of the curb, and when a taxi pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, he waved his scrawny arm to flag it down.

“And we appreciate Tim’s help, too.”

Chloe had an efficient black suitcase, a little canvas sarcophagus on wheels. So far, he’d seen her in three different outfits. How she managed to fit them all into such a tiny case was a mystery. She passed the suitcase to Tim. “Load it in the trunk,” she told him. “And make sure there’s nothing on top of it because my PalmPilot’s in there.” She peered over his shoulder, into the room. “Is Jane still there?”

“I think she’s in the bathroom.”

“Tell her I’ll see her back at the station.” She leaned in and gave Desmond a soft kiss on the cheek, almost as if she were bestowing a gift. She smelled of bergamot and orange oil, and her lips were warm, and watching her walk to the taxi, toss her lush black curls, and step into the back seat, Desmond felt as if a gift had been bestowed upon him.

2.