‘And you haven’t seen it since then?’ He looked dubious.
‘I haven’t thought about it, to tell you the truth. I generally use MasterCard or Visa, and it seems to me that the Amex card expires this February. So I must have figured Lucy could have it until then.’
‘You’d better call her.’
‘I will.’
‘Because if she doesn’t have it, Kay, then I’m going to suspect Gault stole it when the Engineering Research Facility was broken into last October.’
This was what I feared.
‘What about your bills?’ he asked. ‘Have you noticed any strange charges over recent months?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘I don’t recall there being any charges at all during October or November, ‘I paused. ‘Should we cancel the card or use it to track him?’
‘Tracking him with it may be a problem.’
‘Because of money.’
Wesley hesitated. I’ll see what I can do,’
Eugenio returned with our pasta. He said he was trying to remember if there might be anything else.
‘I think his last time here was Thursday night,’ He counted his fingers. ‘Four days ago. He likes the bistecca, the carpaccio. Uhhh, let me see. He got funghi e carciofi one time and cappellini plain. No sauce. Just a little butter. We invite him to the party. Every year we do this to show appreciation to friends and special customers,’
‘Did he smoke?’ Wesley asked.
‘Yes, he did,’
‘Do you remember what?’
‘Yes, brown cigarettes. Nat Shermans,’
‘What about drinking?’
‘He like expensive Scotch and nice wine. Only he was’ – he lifted his nose – ‘snobbish. He think only the French make wine,’ Eugenio laughed. ‘So he usually got Chateau Carbonnieux or Chateau Olivier, and the vintage could be no earlier than 1989.’
‘He only got white wine?’ I said.
‘No red, none. He would not touch red. I send him glass on the house once and he send it back,’
Eugenio and Wesley exchanged cards and other information, then our maitre d’ returned his attention to his party, which by now was going strong.
‘Kay,’ Wesley said, ‘can you think of any other explanation for what we’ve just learned?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘The description of the man sounds like Gault. Everything sounds like Gault. Why is he doing this to me?’ My fear was turning to fury.
Wesley’s gaze was steady. ‘Think. Is there anything else of late that you should tell me about? Weird phone calls, weird mail, hang ups?’
‘No weird phone calls or hang ups. I get some strange mail, but that’s fairly routine in my business.’
‘Nothing else? What about your burglar alarm? Has that gone off more than usual?’
I slowly shook my head. ‘It’s gone off a couple times this month, but there was no sign of anything out of order. And I really don’t think Gault has been spending time in Richmond,’
‘You’ve got to be very careful,’ he said almost irritably, as if I had not been careful.
‘I’m always very careful,’ I said.
6
The next day, the city was at work again, and I took Marino to lunch at Tatou because I thought both of us needed an uplifting atmosphere before we went to Brooklyn Heights to meet Commander Penn.
A young man was playing the harp, and most tables were occupied by attractive, well-dressed men and women who probably knew little about life beyond the publishing houses and high-rise businesses that consumed their days.
I was struck by my sense of alienation. I felt lonely as I looked across the table at Marino’s cheap tie and green corduroy jacket, at the nicotine stains on his broad furrowed nails. Although I was glad for his company, I could not share my deeper thoughts with him. He would not understand.
‘Looks to me like you could use a glass of wine with lunch, Doc,’ Marino said, eyeing me closely. ‘Go ahead. I’m driving.’
‘No, you’re not. We’re taking a taxi.’
‘Point is, you’re not driving so you may as well relax.’
‘What you’re really saying is that you’d like a glass of wine.’
‘Don’t mind if I do,’ he said as the waitress appeared. ‘What you got by the glass that’s worth drinking?’ he asked her.