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“Nineteen thousand two hundred and fifty dollars and a pretty nifty briefcase too.”

“Pretty nifty,” I parroted. “Where you from?”

“A small town in Ohio called Martins Ferry.”

“The poet James Wright is from there.”

“Who?”

“Never mind. I read a lot of those files you left. It’s certainly suspicious, and I can’t see why a lawyer of Braun’s caliber would back down. So I’ll put the money in a safe place and use it until the case is solved, Man is dead, or I decide that he’s culpable.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you still working at Braun’s office?”

“I plan to quit tomorrow.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Why not?”

Before I could answer there came the haunting notes of “Clair de Lune” by Debussy. Instantly I hit a button on the intercom that would mute any sound and turn on a red light on Aja’s desk. Then I took a burner phone from the top drawer, and as I picked up the phone I put a finger to my lips for my client.

I pressed a button on the side of the burner for the reply to the second e-mail of the day.

“Mr. Braun?” I said.

“Mr. Boll.”

“I was hoping that you’d call. I’m really stumped with this case.”

“Who are you?”

“A private detective working with a concerned group over the disappearance of Ms. Mudd. No one has heard from or seen her in over a week and we’re very concerned about her welfare. She has diabetes and her grandchildren depend on her for childcare.”

“There’s nothing wrong with Ms. Mudd,” Braun said in his most reassuring, most dissembling lawyer’s tone. “No one knows her whereabouts because no one needs to know.”

“I don’t understand you, sir.”

“It’s not for you to understand. Just take my word when I tell you that Johanna Mudd was in danger, but now she’s someplace safe.”

“Even her daughter and son don’t know how to reach her?”

“It’s better for everyone that they don’t.”

“I can’t say that to my clients.”

“Her son and daughter?”

“No. An interested third party.”

“This is a very delicate situation, Mr. Boll. You must give me your clients’ names so that I can assure them myself. And so that I can impress on them just how important secrecy is.”

I took the appropriate six beats to pretend to be considering this action.

“I can’t just hand over my clients’ names,” I said. “But I will meet with them and tell them there’s more to the case than I at first thought. I’ll tell them that you’re willing to meet…”

“I need to meet with you too, Mr. Boll. We have to talk.”