Howard nods thoughtfully. “So she’ll be back.”
“No question. And the way she’s going to spend that money, it’s going to attract attention. A lot of attention. People are going to wonder where she came into this fortune. Some people, they shake you down and they’re smart about it. Tuck the money away, save it for a rainy day, that kind of thing. But those kinds of people, they’re in the minority. You find someone who’s sensible with money, they’re not typically into blackmail. You know?”
“I get it,” Howard says. “What if—I can’t believe I’m suggesting this—we gave her more money, from the outset, but made it clear there’ll never be any more. Ever.”
Lewis looks disapprovingly at him.
“Okay, I know, dumb idea,” Howard says. “Maybe, what we do is give her the hundred, but you have a word with her. You can be very persuasive. You scare the shit out of her, make her understand that if she flashes the money around, draws attention to herself, or comes back for more, it might not be in her interest.”
“Hurt her,” Lewis says. “A little.”
Howard can’t look the ex-cop in the eye. He’s watching a Filipino nanny corral three small Upper East Side children, all clad in Burberry, as they head in the direction of the zoo.
“That’s your call, Lewis,” Howard says. “You’re the expert.”
“Yeah,” he says. “That’s why I think you should hear me out on what I think you need to do. Because, you know, we haven’t even addressed your other problem.”
Howard looks at him. “About what she might know.”
Lewis nods.
“I spoke to Bridget,” Howard says. “She thinks it’s possible Fitch might have overheard one of her phone conversations with Morris. And it’s possible they may have discussed his problem.”
“But she doesn’t know for sure.”
Howard shakes his head. “No.”
“But it’s not the sort of thing you want to leave to chance.”
Howard rubs his hands together. “Maybe, if you had a chat with her, you could determine what she knows and what she doesn’t.”
Lewis looks down at his feet. A couple of pigeons are pecking at some specks of popcorn near the toe of his left shoe. He kicks suddenly, catching one of the pigeons in the head. The bird staggers off like it’s had too much to drink.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Howard. If she doesn’t actually know anything, we’ll be telling her we’ve got more to hide than the fact that Bridget swings both ways. Gives her even more leverage.”
“Jesus,” Howard says under his breath. “What a fucking mess. And honest to God, Lewis, how the hell did you miss this about Bridget?”
His eyes narrow. “Maybe because you didn’t ask me to do anything but a superficial check. Finances, criminal record, unpaid parking tickets. She came out smelling like a rose, there. She was so perfect for Morris you didn’t want to dig too deep and run the risk of fucking it up.”
Howard sighs because he knows this is true. But he can’t stop himself from adding, “Well, you should have done it on your own initiative. You should have done what you knew was most prudent.”
“Interesting you should say that,” Lewis says.
“What?”
“I’m going to recommend what I think you need to do about Allison Fitch.”
Howard looks wary. “What?”
“You have to make it so she won’t be a recurring problem.”
“How the hell do we do that?”
Lewis says nothing, waits for Howard to figure it out.
Once he has, his face blanches. “Oh no, you can’t be serious.”
Again, Lewis says nothing.
“Jesus Christ,” Howard whispers under his breath. “No, that’s not—look, I’ve done some things in my time. Things I had to do. But, Lewis, we don’t kill people.”
Lewis gives a measured nod. “It wouldn’t be us, Howard.”
“What?”
“It wouldn’t be us. It wouldn’t be you, and it wouldn’t be me. It wouldn’t be connected to us.”
Howard’s mouth is very dry. “Then…”
“I’ve already had a preliminary discussion with someone about our situation,” Lewis says calmly. “I know her work, and she can do this for us.”
“Oh, Lewis, Jesus.” Howard takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly. Then, abruptly, he turns and says, “Her?”
Lewis nods.
Howard shakes his head. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”
“You have to ask yourself how long you want this problem to continue. If you’re prepared to endure it indefinitely, for this woman to keep coming back for more, for her to blab to her friends how she came into this money, to run the risk that she knows something that could be very damaging to Morris, then go ahead and give her the hundred thousand now.”
Howard puts his head in his hands for a few seconds, then sits up straight, stares ahead, and says, “Do what you have to do.”
TWENTY-THREE