Page 23 of The Note

“Or they got into a fight that escalated,” May said, “and now his body’s at the bottom of the Long Island Sound. Or he got mad at her for notbelieving him, and her body’s in the Sound, and he’s on the run.”

“This is getting ridiculous,” Kelsey said, her voice shaking. “No one’s body is in the Sound. Maybe they got into a fight and he stormed off, and now she reported him missing because he’s ghosting her.”

“Or more likely,” Lauren said, looking directly at May, “it has nothing to do with that stupid note.”

“There’s two numbers here,” May said. “The East Hampton police department and this other number with a 401 area code. It’s probably for the family. We can call them instead.”

“And they’ll immediately give that information to the police,” Lauren said. “And then that many more people will know about the immature stupid shit we pulled.”

May’s gut was telling her the note and David Smith’s disappearance had to be connected. She tried a different tack. “We could make an anonymous phone call saying we saw the couple bickering near their car in Sag Harbor on Friday.”

“And how are you going to make an anonymous call to the police?” Lauren asked. “They can trace everything these days.”

“I don’t know. I can find a pay phone.”

“Where?” Kelsey asked. “In 1997? That’s not going to happen, May.”

“You don’t have to insult me, Kelsey. You’re the one who did this.”

Lauren shook her head emphatically. “I know you think you’re doing the right thing,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her. “But Kelsey and I are right. We don’t actually know anything that would help the police. And calling them is just going to put us in the spotlight all over again. Think about how embarrassing that will be—three grown women starting some Crank Yankers bullshit with a couple of strangers over a parking spot. You want your students and your fellow faculty members thinking of you as petty like that?”

May could feel her head beginning to prevail over her instincts. The reality was that they had no proof that this David Smith was in danger or that his current whereabouts were related to the note Kelsey had left on the car. They had all been through so much, and the last thing they needed was to be in the public eye again. She had dodged the bullet once, when Fordham decided not to revoke her offer at the law school after the subway incident.

Something like this would surely derail her when she came up for contract renewal next year. Not to mention the repercussions to Lauren, who had written the note, and to Kelsey, who had left it.

Kelsey literally jumped when a chirp soundedfrom her cell phone. She picked it up from the kitchen island and looked at the screen.

“Shit. It’s Nate. His train is almost here. I need to go get him from the station.” She grabbed her keys and walked out the front door, taking May’s phone and car keys with her.

15

May had her laptop open on the kitchen island, staring at the screen in frustration. She had been searching for information about the missing man since Kelsey had driven off, but to no avail. Even with the benefit of the area code from the flyer, which covered the entire state of Rhode Island, the name was simply too common, and every online search she tried seemed to bring up a hundred different David Smiths.

“Total waste of time,” May said as she sat back on her stool and crossed her arms.

Lauren was picking at the cinnamon roll, shaking her head with disapproval. “Will you pleasejust give this up? You are not going to find that man in a sea of a million people with the same name, and even if you did, what exactly do you expect to learn? You’re going to play Sherlock Holmes from a computer and figure out where he is? He obviously has someone looking for him. And if he’s wearing Gucci sneakers, they probably have the resources to find him without your help, May. This isn’t your job.”

May typed in another search:David Smith Rhode Island wealthy. Among the hits were a quote from someone named David Smith who said that “art isn’t made for the wealthy,” a statement from a Rhode Island state senator that the wealthy needed to pay their fair share, and a wealth manager named David Smith. She clicked on the wealth management firm’s website, but the picture wasn’t a match. “Not our David Smith,” she reported.

“He is most definitely notours,May. You’re letting that crime-obsessed imagination of yours go wild. The note was just a joke. I’m sure they laughed it off and threw it away. Think about it.”

“But what if you were actually right? What if he really was cheating, and that note made his girlfriend check his phone or whatever? That’s exactly the kind of fight that can set off domestic violence.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that.” Lauren sighed, wiping her fingertips on a paper napkin. “But think,May. If hewasn’tcheating, there’s no way an anonymous note is going to lead to a fight like the kind you’re talking about. He’d show her his phone or do whatever he needed to convince her the note was a prank. Will you give me that?”

May nodded reluctantly.

“And if hewasactually cheating, the police who are looking for this man will find that out. They’ll read his texts. All his emails. Check out his dating profiles or whatever. It always comes out once the police start to look. Aren’t I right about that?”

May conceded that point as well.

“And they’re also going to find out where this man was going. They’ll ping his phone or whatever voodoo they do. He’s probably paying for stuff on a credit card. Isn’t that what the police will do?”

May had to admit that everything Lauren was saying was true and led to an inevitable conclusion. “Yes,” she conceded, “which means that we really can’t tell them anything they won’t find out on their own.”

Lauren had been nodding along as she spoke. “So we’re good now?” Her face fell when May hesitated.

“There could be cameras on Main Street, though. What if they see Kelsey leaving that note there? And if there’s footage of us getting back into the car, it’s Josh’s license plate.”

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