Smithback turned, an eager, expectant, nervous look on his face. But the tall, copper-haired woman swept past him without so much as a glance, arrowing straight for the food table.
“Hey Nora! I’ve been trying to reach you all day!” O’Shaughnessy watched the writer hustle after her, then returned his attention to his ham-and-cheese sandwiches. He was glad he didn’t have to do this sort of thing for a living. How could they bear it? Standing around, chatting aimlessly with people you’d never seen before and would never see again, trying to cough up a vestige of interest in their vapid opinions, all to a background obbligato of speechifying. It seemed inconceivable to him that there were people who actually liked going to parties like this.
… our closest living relatives…
Smithback was returning already. His tuxedo front was splattered with fish eggs and crème fra?che. He looked stricken.
“Have an accident?” asked Pendergast dryly.
“You might call it that.”
O’Shaughnessy glanced over and saw Nora heading straight for the retreating Smithback. She did not look happy.
“Nora—” Smithback began again.
She rounded on him, her face furious. “How could you? I gave you that information in confidence.”
“But Nora, I did it for you. Don’t you see? Now they can’t touch—”
“You moron. My long-term career here is ruined. After what happened in Utah, and with the Lloyd Museum closing, this job was my last chance. And you ruined it!”
“Nora, if you could only look at it my way, you’d—”
“You promised me. And I trusted you! God, I can’t believe it, I’m totally screwed.” She looked away, then whirled back with redoubled ferocity. “Was this some kind of revenge because I wouldn’t rent that apartment with you?”
“No, no, Nora, just the opposite, it was to help you. I swear, in the end you’ll thank me—”
The poor man looked so helpless, O’Shaughnessy felt sorry for him. He was obviously in love with the woman—and he had just as obviously blown it completely.
Suddenly she turned on Pendergast. “And you!”
Pendergast raised his eyebrows, then carefully placed a blini back on his plate.
“Sneaking around the Museum, picking locks, fomenting suspicion. You started all this.”
Pendergast bowed. “If I have caused you any distress, Dr. Kelly, I regret it deeply.”
“Distress? They’re going to crucify me. And there it all was, in today’s paper. I could kill you! All of you!”
Her voice had risen, and now people were looking at her instead of at the man at the podium, still droning on about classifying his great apes.
Then Pendergast said, “Smile. Our friend Brisbane is watching.”
Nora glanced over her shoulder. O’Shaughnessy followed the glance toward the podium and saw a well-groomed man—tall, glossy, with slicked-back dark hair—staring at them. He did not look happy.
Nora shook her head and lowered her voice. “Jesus, I’m not even supposed to be talking to you. I can’t believe the position you’ve put me in.”
“However, Dr. Kelly, you and I do need to talk,” Pendergast said softly. “Meet me tomorrow evening at Ten Ren’s Tea and Ginseng Company, 75 Mott Street, at seven o’clock. If you please.”
Nora glared at him angrily, then stalked off.
Immediately, Brisbane glided over on long legs, planting himself in front of them. “What a pleasant surprise,” he said in a chill undertone. “The FBI agent, the policeman, and the reporter. An unholy trinity if ever I saw one.”
Pendergast inclined his head. “And how are you, Mr. Brisbane?”
“Oh, top form.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“I don’t recall any of you being on the guest list. Especially you, Mr. Smithback. How did you slither past security?”
Pendergast smiled and spoke gently. “Sergeant O’Shaughnessy and I are here on law enforcement business. As for Mr. Smithback—well, I’m sure he would like nothing more than to be tossed out on his ear. What a marvelous follow-up that would make to his piece in today’s edition of the Times.”
Smithback nodded. “Thank you. It would.”
Brisbane stood still, the smile frozen on his face. He looked first at Pendergast, then at Smithback. His eyes raked Smithback’s soiled tux. “Didn’t your mother teach you that caviar goes in the mouth, not on the shirt?” He walked off.
“Imbecile,” Smithback murmured.
“Don’t underestimate him,” replied Pendergast. “He has Moegen-Fairhaven, the Museum, and the mayor behind him. And he is no imbecile.”
“Yeah. Except that I’m a reporter for the New York Times.”
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking even that lofty position will protect you.”
… and now, without more ado, let us unveil the Museum’s latest creation, the Hall of Primates…
O’Shaughnessy watched as a ribbon beside the podium was cut with an oversized pair of scissors. There was a smattering of applause and a general drift toward the open doors of the new hall beyond. Pendergast glanced at him. “Shall we?”