“Did you share your concerns with her at the time?”
“Yes. She blamed Austin for not making a move in her direction. Said she wasn’t going to sit by the phone waiting for his call.”
“No, she doesn’t seem the sort who would sit around waiting for a man.”
“She’s definitely not.” I sipped my cocktail. “And you were here when she told us about Alex manipulating her into inviting him back to her place.”
His lip curled in derision. “Yes, I remember that part. So now where are we?” He consulted his notepad. “Let’s go on. Tell me again what the name of the restaurant was?”
“Kasa. It’s an Indian restaurant. There’re a few of them around the city. We laughed about that, because she’d just returned from India. But she still had a taste for Indian food.”
“Just a moment.” He dropped the pen on the notepad, glanced around the room as though he’d lost something, then turned to look at me. “She’d just returned from India?”
“Yes, she took a tour group there. I told you.”
“No, you didn’t. You left out that rather interesting detail.” His forehead was creased in thought. “How recently did she return from her trip?”
I gave him an odd look. “Are you sure I didn’t tell you this already?”
“No, you absolutely did not.”
“I’m sorry. I guess I’ve been distracted.”
“Yes, well.” He scribbled something on his notepad. “Plenty of distractions lately.”
“I’ll say.” Most of the distractions had been caused by Derek and his sudden constant presence in my life. Not that I was complaining. I gathered up our empty plates and took them into the kitchen. Derek beat me to the sink and took over, washing the dishes as we talked. I got the funniest little twinge around my heart as I watched him work in my kitchen. Talk about distractions.
“Anyway,” I continued after forcing my gaze away from his wet, soapy arms, “Robin was on her way home from the airport when she stopped at Kasa to get dinner to go.”
He ran hot water over each dish and utensil and placed them in the drainer. “And she was in India for what? Two, three weeks?”
“Three weeks.”
“Any idea where she went?”
“I know she landed in New Delhi and the trip centered around that area of the country. She took them to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. I think they rode elephants in Jaipur and camels somewhere else. You know, the usual. Then the group flew home and she flew to Varanasi to see her mother.”
“Her mother lives in Varanasi?” He tilted his head to look at me. “Why didn’t I know this?”
Frowning, I considered the question. “I’m really not sure. Anyway, she stayed with her mom for three days, then flew home.”
“And then she flew home,” he mused. “I assume she gathered her baggage, obtained her car from long-term parking, and headed for home. Unless someone picked her up. Did you?”
“No,” I interjected. “She drove her neighbor Sharon’s car to the airport and left her Porsche at home in the garage.”
“Why didn’t she just call a cab?”
I shrugged. “She did, but it didn’t show up and it was getting late, so Sharon gave her the keys to one of their cars. They have, like, four old cars.”
“Why didn’t Sharon just drive her?”
I smiled at his logical questions. Sometimes circumstances just weren’t logical. “Sharon was sick, and Robin didn’t mind paying the parking lot fee. It’s a tax writeoff for her.”
“Okay,” he muttered. “Okay. So she’s driving home. It was a long flight. She was hungry, so she stopped to pick up takeaway at this Indian restaurant.”
“That’s exactly how she described it.”
He nodded as he dried his hands on the dish towel. “So she was waiting for her food when a good-looking fellow walked in and struck up a conversation with her.”
I leaned back against the counter. “You’re making it sound like he was following her.”
“Am I?”
“You are. And that answering-a-question-with-a-question thing that you do? It drives me a little cuckoo.”
“Does it?”
I made a face and he grinned. “Sorry, love.”
I didn’t believe him for a second. “Where were we? Oh, yeah, that creep had to have been following her. That’s where you’re going, right?”
“Yes, that would be my guess.”
“Your guesses are usually accurate,” I said with grudging admiration.
“Thank you, love.” He held my face in his hands and kissed my forehead. “I know this is tough for you. Do you want to stop?”
“No, I’ll be better once we figure this out,” I said, and began to pace the short length of the kitchen. “So he asked her out to dinner, where he manipulated her into inviting him to her home. And then he… what? Drugged her in order to search her house for a tiny flash drive?”
“Go on.”
“What I can’t understand is, why do these people think Robin has the flash drive?”
“Because someone alerted them to the fact that she was bringing it back from India.”
“But who? And why? And how?” I looked at him with suspicion. “I don’t believe for a minute that Robin had anything to do with this, but I’m willing to admit that Alex might’ve been under the illusion that Robin brought the flash drive back from India.”
Derek smiled his approval. “All right, let’s continue on that track.”
“Okay, but I had another thought. There must’ve been a lot of planes coming in around the same time as Robin’s.”
“Yes?”
“So maybe someone on Robin’s plane or in the terminal dropped the flash drive into her carry-on bag, then followed her out and signaled someone like Alex to keep following.”
“It’s a possibility.”
“A lame one, right?”
He held up both hands. “I didn’t say that.”
“I appreciate it.” I stared at the floor as I started pacing again, this time moving out to the living room, where there was more room to roam. “Here’s another possibility. Maybe Alex was told to look for a certain woman and he mistook Robin for that person.”
“Mistaken identity?” He moved his head back and forth as if weighing the possibilities. “It could happen.”
I sighed. “It’s far-fetched, I know.”
“Darling.” He stepped into my path and put his hands on my shoulders. “How much do you know about Robin’s tour guide business?”
Confused, I looked at him, then did a double take. “No, no, no. Don’t go there.”
“It’s a simple question.”
I jerked back from him. “You honestly believe her tour guide company is a cover for espionage activities?”
“Is it?” he asked mildly.
“Stop that.” I jabbed my finger at his chest. “Stop doing that question thing and stop thinking Robin is a spy.” I was seriously cranky now.
He wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back. He caught me off guard or I would’ve sidled away from him.
“I have no doubt that Robin is completely innocent,” he said, and kissed the top of my head.
I clutched his waist as I glared at him. “You’re damn straight she is.”
“Of course she is.” He met my gaze. “Another theory you haven’t mentioned is that Robin did have the flash drive and simply didn’t know it. Perhaps someone slipped it into her luggage, as you suggested. Or she might’ve brought it back from India as part of something completely innocuous. A souvenir or a trinket. She’s obviously American, and there might’ve been people scoping the terminals, looking for someone like her. A random choice. Someone friendly, innocent, trusting. Who better to use as a mule to smuggle something into the country? Once she was safely inside the U.S., they sent someone to collect it.”
“I like the random theory, but I can tell you don’t believe it.”