“Credit is their business, Alexis. I’m sure they know how to manage anything and everything to safeguard their identities. It goes without saying we could be wrong about this particular pair. We have to be very careful so as not to alert them in any way. Now, if there are no more questions, I have a lunch to prepare.”

Charles gave a low, sweeping bow, and winked at Myra, whose hands automatically went to her neck, but her pearls were gone. She felt flustered, her cheeks turning pink. She pretended to sneeze to cover her confusion, not that she fooled anyone.

“So, girls, what do you think?” Nikki asked.

“Could it be that easy?” Alexis asked. “First crack out of the gate, and we have names? Names that will ultimately lead us to the people who ruined Harry’s life? I find it a bit of a stretch, but I suppose it might turn out to be right, and we just stumbled into it. Dumb luck at its best. Or red herrings, and everyone is spinning their wheels.”

Kathryn weighed in. “Why, if they are the ones responsible, didn’t they leave town? Even a lousy crook hits the road after a crime. Why did they stay around? It doesn’t make sense to me. So what if they worked at banks? So what if they quit their jobs around the same time? So what if no one knew they were married? Half the people in this town who live together in D.C. aren’t married.”

“Dear girl, aren’t you forgetting that their background checks only go back five years?” Myra asked. “Why would they relocate to the Watergate using different names? That doesn’t even come close to passing the sniff test,” she said testily.

“I think those two are the leaders of a ring that has been operating in the District, Maryland, and Virginia. It’s just my gut feeling, but it’s a strong one,” Annie said.

All eyes turned to Yoko, who hadn’t spoken. “I agree with Annie. It’s them.”

“We need to call Maggie to see how she’s coming along with the interviews she has Ted and Joe working on,” Myra said. “If she’s ready to go to press with another big story, we don’t want to alarm Mr. and Mrs. Carson, or whatever their names are.”

“I’ll call her, but first we all want to know if you are moving back with Charles, and if you need our help?” Nikki said. “We could have you moved in by the time lunch is over.” She grinned.

Myra reached for the pearls that weren’t there. “I haven’t decided yet,” she said primly.

The girls laughed and laughed.

Chapter 9

Lizzie Fox, freshly showered and powdered, stood at the door of her closet. Normally, when she went to sleep she hung her outfit for the next day on a hook outside the closet door so all she had to do was step into it. She hadn’t done that last night and didn’t know why. Maybe it was because she hadn’t decided how to play the game this morning. Did she want to sweep into the bank and bowl over the president? Did she just want to be Harry’s lawyer and go with the facts? Did she want to dazzle and bullshit the bank president until he fell at her knees? A different outfit would be required for each of the above.