Page 31 of Murder on the Upper East Side

Gemma rolled her eyes. ‘I’m not really alone. Persea comes every morning to drop off meals and check that I still have a pulse.’

‘Persea?’ Hannah asked.

‘She’s our housekeeper and chef,’ Gemma said. ‘She’s twenty-four, she’s chill.’

‘And don’t forget occasional DJ at Katerina’s house parties,’ Oliver added. ‘Gemma’s mom is deeply into EDM.’

‘Right.’ Hannah’s head swam. Gemma’s parents were currently clubbing in Berlin, and Gemma was home alone, in the occasional care of their twenty-four-year-old housekeeper who was also a DJ. Gemma’s life was almost as alien to her as Madison’s.

‘Yeah, Persea’s the best,’ Gemma said. ‘She kept me sane during PhotoGate.’

‘We’re calling it PhotoGate now?’ Oliver asked.

‘I’ve moved from the crying to laughing stage.’ A wry grin spread across Gemma’s face.

‘About that.’ Hannah tapped her spoon against her lips, deciding. ‘Theo was there tonight, at the club. He seemed to really want me to believe in his innocence.’

Gemma dug her spoon into the pint in front of her and raised her spoon to her lips. ‘I have no hardfeelings towards Theo Fitzgerald,’ she said around a bite of Phish Food.

‘Really?’ Hannah’s brows shot up. Until tonight, Gemma had wanted to talk about anything other than the photos when they’d hung out, and she couldn’t blame her. But it felt important to know if she could trust Theo. And Gemma had been the one to bring up PhotoGate, after all.

‘Really. Staying out of the whole shitstorm was probably the best thing he could have done for me. If he’d made a huge show of declaring his innocence to all of Prescott, things would have just gotten messier. People would have started sniffing around, asking questions about who Ihadbeen with, if not Theo.’

‘So it wasn’t Theo then?’ Hannah asked point-blank.

Gemma rolled her eyes. ‘Of course it wasn’t Theo. As far as I know, that boy was in love with Elle until PhotoGate torpedoed my entire life and ended their relationship. Theo was collateral damage.’

The next logical question was on the tip of Hannah’s tongue. If not Theo, then whohadGemma been posing for? But if Gemma wanted Hannah and Oliver to know, surely she would have told them by now, and something in Gemma’s eyes told her to stand down.

‘Speaking of Theo,’ Oliver said, interrupting Hannah’s thoughts. ‘More Lenox Club, please. What was tonight’s password? Was Grace Olyphant there?’

Gemma laughed. ‘Pretty sure Grace Olyphant lives in LA with her parents.’

‘Sure, but she’s a Vanderbilt. The whole family has held memberships for decades.’

Hannah licked her spoon. ‘No celebs, at least that I saw. And no password either, but the door is unmarked and there’s a strict no-devices policy. Get this – if you don’t belong to the club, a member has to sign a paper vouching for you.’

‘Vouchingfor you?’ Gemma squealed. ‘What happens if you, like, break a ten-thousand-dollar ornate lamp?’

Hannah shrugged. ‘I guess someone’s membership could be revoked.’

Oliver lifted the back of his hand to his forehead and tipped his head to the ceiling. ‘Quelle tragédie. Quelle horreur!’

‘So whatdidhappen?’ Gemma asked, eyes flashing. ‘Anyone get kicked out?’

‘No, but…’ Hannah trailed off. As usual, she felt caught between worlds, playing one group of friends off against the other. She hesitated. Either she’d have to choose, once and for all, or she’d need to get comfortable with playing both sides.

‘But…?’ Oliver prompted.

‘But Edward Beaumont was there. Bash’s brother?’

‘Ugh,’ Oliver said. ‘We’re well acquainted.’

‘Meaning?’ Hannah asked.

‘When Edward was at Prescott,’ Oliver said, ‘he made a giant fucking production of looking down his long, pointy nose at me. He was worse than Bash, which is saying something.’

‘I can see it,’ Hannah said. ‘He was awful tonight. He got wine drunk. Like, thoroughly shitfaced… and made a sloppy play for Madison.’