Page 62 of The New Couple in 5B

“There was a letter from Ivan to Dana. It was on the top of the box and now it’s gone.”

She seems thoughtful, has gone a bit interior. “Thatisstrange. I have to agree with you.”

“Would he lie, Ella? Just to cover his mistake?”

Something flashes across her face but then it’s gone.

“I can’t imagine he would. But who knows? Some people in this building can get a little nasty when things don’t go their way.”

It echoes Dr. Black’s thoughts. “Xavier Young was in the elevator that morning. I’m wondering if he saw anything.”

“Oh, Xavier,” she says with an eye roll. “He’s lovely, but like most men he’s only ever thinking about himself. I doubt he noticed a thing.”

It seems like another odd thing to say.

“Can you connect me?” I press.

She blinks at me, then, “Of course. I’ll run his number over later.”

It’s then that I notice she doesn’t carry a phone with her. If she did, I’d press for the number right there. I’ll log on to the building website and see if I can find it that way.

“Was he at game night last night?”

She shakes her head, then puts a hand to her throat again and that’s when I notice with a jolt that she’s wearing the same pendant that Chad and Dana were wearing.

“Your necklace,” I say. I can’t help but stare, remembering Dana.

She looks down. “Oh, this silly thing,” she says lightly. “I gave one to your husband the other night for good luck.”

“Did you give one to Dana?”

I flash on Dana’s face again, and push the image away hard. In the foyer I hear that strange crackling noise.

The intercom.

Is Abi listening?

“Oh,” she says. “Maybe? Or Ivan did, perhaps? I have a drawer full of them. They’re party favors, really. You’ll think it’s silly, but we have an astrology night. Miranda, our medium, comes, and we talk about our star signs, bring questions, make decisions. Sometimes she brings her tarot cards.”

My mother had a beautiful deck of tarot cards. As a child I was fascinated by the images—Death, The Hanged Man, The Lovers. My mother explained each card to me in depth, each layer, the meaning of an upright card, an inverted one. I could probably do a reading myself. Not that I would.

Ella goes on. “I ordered those off the internet as a lark. I give them as gifts all the time. Would you like one? Here, I insist.”

She takes off the necklace and lays it on the table. We both stare at it.

“It’s lovely,” I manage, clearing my throat. “Thank you. It must be my lucky day.”

I rise and fetch from my bag Dr. Black’s figurine. She takes it.

“This is a nice one.” She turns it around, looking at it from all sides. “Where did you get it?”

“My—” I am about to saytherapistbut for some reason I don’t. “My friend gave it to me. A good luck gift for my new book.”

She regards the hand for another moment, and then places it back on the table.

“Your book about the Windermere.”

“That’s right. In fact, I have some questions for you when you have time.”

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