Chapter 7

Nobody answered Dani right away.

Then Gina set her purse on the desk.

"People say things when they're upset."

Dani looked at her.

"For twelve years?"

Sal turned away.

Ruth gathered the pages into their original order.

She photographed the folder's contents with permission.

Then she wrote down where each page belonged.

Dot watched her hands.

Dani watched the doorway.

The waiter came upstairs again.

The officers were leaving their cards downstairs.

They might contact everyone for follow-up interviews.

No one had been arrested.

Gina's shoulders settled.

She looked at Dani.

"You see?"

Dani stood.

"I see they're not guessing."

The waiter remained in the doorway.

"There's something else."

Gina closed her eyes briefly.

"What?"

"The bride wants her coat."

Sal looked toward the stairs.

"Tell her I'll be right down."

"She asked Dot."

Dot picked up her key ring.

Then she hesitated beside Dani.

"I'll wait," Dani said.

Dot left with the waiter.

Through the open door came the distant piano.

Someone had started playing softly.

Ruth's phone vibrated.

She stepped into the hallway to answer.

Sal went to the landing.

He did not go farther.

Gina and Dani remained beside the desk.

Gina opened her purse.

She took out a checkbook.

Dani looked at it.

"What are you doing?"

"Fixing what can be fixed tonight."

She uncapped a pen.

"The coat."

"Your lost wages."

"Something for the embarrassment."

Dani said nothing.

Gina wrote a figure.

Then she turned the checkbook around.

Five thousand dollars.

Dani's lips parted.

Gina saw.

"It won't bring your mother back."

"But neither will digging through old papers."

Dani stared at the number.

Her right thumb rubbed her left palm.

Then she looked up.

"What do you want?"

"I want my daughter's wedding back."

"That's not mine to give you."

"I want you to go home."

"And the police report?"

Gina tapped the pen against the page.

"You can tell them we worked it out."

The office doorway darkened.

Sal stood there.

Gina turned the checkbook toward herself.

"I offered to pay for the coat."

Sal looked at Dani.

Dani answered him.

"She offered to pay if I went away."

Gina pushed back her chair.

"That isn't what I said."

Ruth returned from the hall.

She saw the open checkbook.

Then Dani's face.

"Don't sign anything without your own lawyer."

"I haven't asked her to sign."

Ruth glanced at Gina.

"Then that should be easy."

Dani looked at the check again.

Her eyes filled.

She blinked until they cleared.

"That would cover a lot," she said.

No one interrupted.

"My rent."

"My car repair."

"More than the coat."

Gina set the pen down.

"Then be sensible."

Dani picked up the loose report number.

She slipped it into her blouse pocket.

"No."

Gina's jaw tightened.

"You'd rather make trouble?"

"I'd rather keep my statement."

Ruth nodded once.

Sal said nothing.

Dani took the photograph from the desk.

"Can I have a copy of this?"

Ruth offered to make one downstairs.

Dani handed it over carefully.

Then she faced Sal.

"I need somebody who doesn't work for you."

"A lawyer," he said.

"Yes."

"I can pay-"

"You can't choose."

Sal nodded.

Ruth opened her contacts.

"I can give you independent referrals."

"They'll decide whether they can help."

Dani took the names.

Gina tore the check from its book.

For a moment, she held it between two fingers.

Then she folded it into her purse.

Dot returned carrying a folded white wrap.

Her eyes moved from Gina to Dani.

"What happened?"

"She offered me money."

Dot put the wrap down.

Dani touched her eleven dollars through the coat.

"I didn't take it."

Dot drew a slow breath.

Then she looked toward Gina's purse.

"There's something else I didn't throw away."