After the shower Jack scanned his limited wardrobe for something to wear, only to get mad at himself for such stupid indecision. He couldn’t remember the last time he had trouble deciding about clothes. Ultimately he donned his usual jeans, blue chambray shirt, darker blue knitted tie, and tweed jacket with leather patches on the elbows. After a quick brush of his short hair to encourage it all to go in the direction it preferred, Jack went back down to the street and retrieved his bicycle.

The ride across the park was uneventful. He went south on Fifth Avenue until Eighty-fourth Street, which he took over to Second. The restaurant was just a few doors up from the corner. With slightly tremulous fingers Jack secured his bike with the requisite number of locks. As he entered the restaurant, he wondered why he was as anxious as he was.

Elio’s was crowded. To Jack’s left the small bar was five people deep. To his right were a group of tables with the usual complement of TV personalities having their dinners. Pushing his way deeper into the restaurant, Jack scanned the other diners for Laurie’s familiar face and burnished auburn hair. He didn’t see her.

“Can I help you?” a voice asked over the din. There was the slightest guttural hint of a German accent.

Jack turned to face the smiling maître d’.

“We’ve a reservation, I assume,” Jack said.

“And the name?”

“Montgomery, I suppose,” Jack said.

The host consulted his list. “Ah, yes, of course. Miss Montgomery is not here yet, but one of the other members of your party is. He’s at the bar. I’ll have your table in a moment.”

Jack worked his way among the standing clientele, heading in the general direction of the bar. He saw Lou sitting on one of the tall stools, clutching a beer and intermittently pulling on a cigarette. Jack touched him on the arm. Lou glanced up at him with a hangdog expression.

“You don’t look happy,” Jack said.

Lou guiltily stubbed out his cigarette. “I’m not. I’m concerned. You got me worried about Laurie when you talked to me this morning. Since I was with her a good part of the day, I couldn’t help but notice that she was acting weird, like she was all gassed up about something. When I finally got up the courage to ask her what was up, she just laughed and said I’d find out tonight. I’m afraid she might be leaving town. I’m thinking she got a job someplace else. You medical examiners are in demand. I know that for a fact.”

Jack couldn’t suppress a smile. Looking at Lou was like looking in a mirror, and the image was pathetic. Obviously, Lou had been torturing himself with the same possibility.

“Go ahead and laugh at me,” Lou said. “I deserve it.”