When he entered the living room with the two detectives, the sight Evan saw looked like a scene from a second-rate melodrama, perhaps the one Harold had seen earlier that evening. The table by the window had moved several inches to the interior, and the cheap porcelain vase Gold bought at a different flea market…
The air in the apartment stood still. The only sounds were Evan, Claire, and Harold’s breathing, along with the anxious cicadas chirping in the cottonwoods. For a moment, it seemed time halted its progress. Each person stared at the door. Then, Harold hissed under his breath to Evan, “You careless fool!” He took out a…
The inky-dressed stranger led Evan into the living room of Harold’s suite. Evan looked around for Harold and did not see him, but maybe he’d made himself scarce. There were at least two closed doors he could have been behind. “You wanted to talk about the pearl,” the man in black said, sitting in the…
Evan checked his watch. Four o’clock. He would have just enough time to check in with Sophie at the office before meeting Eye Patch at five o’clock. Sophie looked up from her electric Smith-Corona when Evan walked through the agency door. She looked up without moving her head. Her gray eyes peered at Evan from…
Evan made a beeline for the flea market bazaar where he first encountered the pearl. He grew in confidence that if Katherine possessed the pearl and if he could keep everyone’s eyes off Katherine, there was a chance that everything could work out. One question that he couldn’t get out of his head was if…
Four minutes later, Evan entered the lobby of The Webster. He checked his watch and sucked his teeth in frustration. Not only was he upset by how age and inactivity had slowed him, but he was also mad at Katherine for making him run all the way. It seemed like everything was working against him….
As soon as Evan Gold stepped in from the street, the sound of the phone’s impatient ringing greeted him. He picked up the receiver and held it lazily to his ear. “This is Gold.” The woman’s voice spoke on the other end. Her smooth tone had just a hint of rasp brought on by a…
On his walk back to the office, Evan remembered Katherine’s request to fill out the account paperwork at the bank. He made the necessary detour and took care of the details. It pained him to write every pen stroke and wondered if he was helping or hurting his chances of building trust with her. At…
Gold made his way from The Walnut Grove to The Webster. He noticed a familiar-looking woman tucked away in the corner of the lobby reading a book. Evan realized it was his friend Lauren Bacall. He tugged on the brim of his hat to shield his face a little and sauntered over to the front…
The sound of a car engine waking to life outside woke Evan with a start. It took him an instant or two to get his bearings as the lights of his apartment were still on, and he was not in his bed. He was in his armchair, and Claire was draped across the cushions of…
