Vicky’s description of the yellow eyes had shocked him. Until then he had almost been able to convince himself that the eyes outside his window had been some sort of illusion. But first had come Gia’s casual mention of the putrid smell in Nellie’s room—it had to be the same odor that had invaded his apartment Friday and Saturday night. Then the mention of the eyes. The two phenomena together on two different nights in two different locations could not be mere coincidence.
There was a link between what had happened last night at his apartment and Nellie’s disappearance from here tonight. But Jack was damned if he knew what it was. Tonight he had looked for more of the herbal liquid he had found in Grace’s room last week. He had been disappointed when he could not find any. He couldn’t say why he thought so, and he certainly couldn’t say how, but he was sure the odor, the eyes, the liquid, and the disappearances of the two old women were connected.
Idly, he picked up a piece of chocolate from the candy dish beside his chair. He really wasn’t hungry but he wouldn’t mind something sweet right now. Trouble with these things was you never knew what was inside. There was always the old thumb-puncture-on-the-bottom trick, but that didn’t seem right on a missing person’s candy. He debated popping it into his mouth, then decided against it. He dropped it back in the bowl and returned to his musings.
If he had found some more of the liquid among Nellie’s effects, he would have had one more piece of the puzzle. He wouldn’t have been any closer to a solution but at least he would have had a firmer base to work from. Jack reached down and checked the position of the little Semmerling where he had squeezed it and its ankle holster between the seat cushion and armrest of the recliner. It was still handy. He closed his eyes and thought of other eyes… yellow eyes…
And then it struck him—the thought that had eluded him last night. Those eyes… yellow with dark pupils… why they had seemed vaguely familiar to him: They resembled the pair of black-centered topazes on the necklaces worn by Kolabati and Kusum and on the one he had retrieved for their grandmother!
He should have seen it before! Those two yellow stones had been staring at him for days, just as the eyes had stared at him last night. His spirits rose slightly. He didn’t know what the resemblance meant, but now he had a link between the Bahktis and the eyes, and perhaps the disappearances of Grace and Nellie. It might well turn out to be pure coincidence, but at least he had a path to follow. Jack knew what he’d be doing in the morning.
Chapter Eight
manhattan
monday, august 6
1
Gia watched Jack and Vicky playing with their breakfasts. Vicky had been up at dawn and delighted to find Jack asleep in the library. Before long she had her mother up and making breakfast for them.
As soon as they were all seated Vicky had begun a chant: “We want Moony! We want Moony!” So Jack had dutifully borrowed Gia’s lipstick and a felt-tipped pen and drawn a face Senor Wences-style on his left hand. The hand then became a very rude, boisterous entity known as Moony. Jack was presently screeching in a falsetto voice as Vicky stuffed Cheerios into Moony’s mouth. She was laughing so hard she could barely breathe. Vicky had such a good laugh, an unselfconscious belly-laugh from the very heart of her being. Gia loved to hear it and was in turn laughing at Vicky.
When was the last time she and Vicky had laughed at breakfast?
“Okay. That’s enough for now,” Jack said at last. “Moony’s got to rest and I’ve got to eat.” He went to the sink to wash Moony away.
“Isn’t Jack funny, Mom?” Vicky said, her eyes bright. “Isn’t he the funniest?”
As Gia replied, Jack turned around at the sink and mouthed her words in perfect synchronization: “He’s a riot, Vicky.” Gia threw her napkin at him. “Sit down and eat.”
Gia watched Jack finish off the eggs she had fried for him. There was happiness at this table, even after Vicky’s nightmare and Nellie’s disappearance—Vicky hadn’t been told yet. She had a warm, contented feeling inside. Last night had been so good. She didn’t understand what had come over her, but was glad she had given in to it. She didn’t know what it meant… maybe a new beginning… maybe nothing. If only she could go on feeling this way. If only…
“Jack,” she said slowly, not knowing how she was going to phrase this, “have you ever thought of switching jobs?”
“All the time. And I will—or at least get out of this one.”
A small spark of hope ignited in her. “When?”
“Don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “I know I can’t do it forever, but… “He shrugged again, obviously uncomfortable with the subject.
“But what?”
“It’s what I do. I don’t know how to say it any better than that. It’s what I do and I do it well. So I want to keep on doing it.”
“You like it.”
“Yeah,” he said, concentrating on the last of his eggs. “I like it.”
The growing spark winked out as the old resentment returned with an icy blast. For want of something to do with her hands, Gia got up and began clearing the table. Why bother? she thought. The man’s a hopeless case.
And so, breakfast ended on a tense note.
Afterwards, Jack caught her alone in the hallway.
“I think you ought to get out of here and back to your own place.”
Gia would have liked nothing better. “I can’t. What about Nellie? I don’t want her to come back to an empty house.”
“Eunice will be here.”
“I don’t know that and neither do you. With Nellie and Grace gone, she’s officially unemployed. She may not want to stay here alone, and I can’t say I’d blame her.”
Jack scratched his head. “I guess you’re right. But I don’t like the idea of you and Vicks here alone, either.”
“We can take care of ourselves,” she said, refusing to acknowledge his concern. “You do your part and we’ll do ours.”
Jack’s mouth tightened. “Fine. Just fine. What was last night, then? Just a roll in the hay?”
“Maybe. It could have meant something, but I guess nothing’s changed, not you, not me. You’re the same Jack I left, and I still can’t accept what you do. And you are what you do.”
He walked out, and she found herself alone. The house suddenly seemed enormous and ominous. She hoped Eunice would show up soon.
2
A day in the life of Kusum Bahkti…
Jack had buried the hurt of his most recent parting with Gia and attacked the task of learning all he could about how Kusum spent his days. It had come down to a choice between trailing Kusum or Kolabati, but Kolabati was just a visitor from Washington, so Kusum won.
His first stop after leaving Sutton Square had been his apartment, where Jack had called Kusum’s number. Kolabati had answered and they’d had a brief conversation during which he learned that Kusum could probably be found either at the consulate or the U.N. Jack had also managed to wrangle the apartment address out of her. He might need that later. He called the Indian Consulate and learned that Mr. Bahkti was expected to be at the U.N. all day.
So now he stood in line in the General Assembly building of the United Nations and waited for the tour to start. The morning sun stung the sunburned nose and forearms he had acquired yesterday on the tennis courts in Jersey. He knew nothing about the U.N. Most people he knew in Manhattan had never been here unless it was to show a visiting friend or relative.