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“I was there once for a party of fifty and it felt roomy.”
“So the place could accommodate more,” Bree said.
“You can’t get in there,” Luster said. “They’d turn you away at the door.”
“But not you,” Bree said. “You could get in. Be my fly on the wall.”
“Not without an invitation, I couldn’t.”
“You’ll be Brad’s date. Someone in the biz looking out for his well-being, eager to meet Victor, perhaps as a customer.”
“I don’t—”
“You got Brad’s phone number, I assume?”
“Well, yes.”
“You’ll ask him, then?”
The fashion designer hesitated, then said, “Oh, why not?”
“Last question: Would you wear a wire?”
“A wire?” Luster said and chuckled. “Bree, you just gave me goose bumps.”
Luster said he’d text Bree if his young friend agreed to bring him along to Paula Watkins’s special gathering. Bree figured the odds were against Luster getting inside. But you never knew unless you tried.
After they hung up, Bree stood and paced the hotel room. She glanced at her watch. Eight thirty. Alex’s flight had left Boston at eight, which meant they couldn’t talk until at least eleven.
She was thumbing through her contacts, looking for Detective Salazar’s number, when the phone rang. Bluestone Group. A number she recognized. “Elena,” Bree said.
“That was quite the impressive report. Do you believe it?”
“Wasn’t I convincing?”
“Well, to be honest, from the thirty-thousand-foot perspective, I’m still skeptical because you don’t have witnesses willing to go on the record. And this banker, Sammy, he knows for certain Duchaine is carrying that kind of personal debt?”
“He has a financial position that will be negatively affected by that debt if she goes bankrupt,” Bree said. “So, yes, he sounded upset enough to know. And don’t forget Detective Salazar has heard the same kinds of stories about money pressures.”
“And she has been unable to get a search warrant because none of the stories came with hard evidence or a group willing to step forward and speak against Duchaine.”
Bree took a deep breath, actually glad for the challenge. “Elena, I agree there’s a long way to go to get it nailed down, but just in the half an hour since I submitted my report, I got the kind of break that could flip things. Paula Watkins is having a party the day after tomorrow, in the evening.”
“Okay …”
Bree explained and Martin was quiet for a long time. Finally, she said, “I wore Frances Duchaine clothes for more than a decade. They make my skin crawl now. Be careful, and I’ll send your report to our client to get approval for you staying on up there. Have you told the NYPD detective?”
“She’s my next call,” Bree said.
“Really impressive work, Bree,” Elena said.
“Thank you, and you still have no idea who we’re working for?”
“An attorney in Cleveland who represents other parties. That’s as far as I’ve gotten. But Tess Jackson is originally from Cleveland. Maybe she knows more than she’s letting on. Maybe that’s why Luster’s been helping you.”
“To end competition from Frances once and for all?”
“I’ve heard worse motives in my time.”
