Page 44 of Murder on the Upper East Side

Feeling slightly ill, Hannah turned to see Elle andBeatrice walking through the library doors, into the lounge. She straightened. Elle wasn’t alone, but this might be her best chance. She took two steps in their direction. Then, in a stroke of luck, Beatrice gestured to the dining room and Elle shook her head. Beatrice made her way towards the arch, leaving Elle alone.Finally.Hannah picked up her pace.

‘No.’ Elle held up her hand when Hannah was about three feet away, stopping her in her tracks.

‘Excuse me?’

‘Whatever you have to say, I’m not interested. Just no.’

‘Elle.I’m sorry about Madison. I had nothing—’

Elle crossed her arms and sneered. ‘Spare me your condolences. Your article cost me two clients, I owe you absolutely nothing. And unless you want me to get Officer O’Doyle over here’ – she nodded to the uniform stationed at the base of the stairwell – ‘you will leave me alone.’

With that, Elle spun on her heel and followed Beatrice into the dining room.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

This was precisely why she’d planned to stay home tonight. But that was a different road, one she’d sadly not taken. Her article was costing her valuable intel, and it was already after one in the morning. She needed another angle, another in.

When she returned to the bar, a seat had opened up, and gratefully, Hannah took a place on the high-backed stool. Almost instantly, the seats on either sideof her emptied out.Subtle.Once again, she was struck by the desire to hiss and spit at her fellow alumni, but she clamped her mouth shut. Instead, she signalled the bartender, and soon a tall glass of sparkling water appeared in front of her. No more martinis tonight. When she took a large gulp, the bubbles burned her throat.

‘Hey.’

Her head snapped up. Oliver was beside her, pulling out the empty barstool to her right and sliding onto its green leather seat.

‘Hey,’ she murmured.

He adjusted his orange Tom Fords against the bridge of his nose. She wondered if his lenses were still clear glass. ‘How’s it going?’ he asked.

She gave him a noncommittal shrug and took another sip of San Pellegrino.

Oliver frowned. ‘I promised my support, and I know I haven’t been much help yet. In my defence, the detectives kept me in there for ever, and then you disappeared.’

Without a word, the bartender placed two crystal bowls before them, mixed nuts and truffle popcorn. Oliver popped a roasted pecan in his mouth.

For a moment, Hannah considered opening up about exactly where she’d been. She wanted to tell someone about sleeping with Theo, but a not so quiet voice at the back of her head said to keep her mouth shut, even to someone she trusted, like Oliver.

‘No worries,’ she said quickly, dismissing hisconcern. Then she dropped her voice. ‘Did they ask about me? The detectives?’

Oliver nodded. ‘’Fraid so. They wanted to know about your relationship to Madison, but don’t worry. I didn’t give them anything.’

So the detectives were asking around about her. Expected, but not great. All the more reason to clear her head and get back down to business. She gave his hand a small squeeze. ‘I’ve been exploring some leads. Have you kept in touch with Gemma since graduation?’

Gemma had been more forthcoming than Hannah had expected, but she still had the nagging sense that she’d been lying. Maybe Oliver’s response would be telling.

He shook his head. ‘Not really. After she moved to sunny Cali, we basically lost touch. She’ll comment on my posts here and there, I’ll throw her a like, but that’s about it. When she joined me at the bar earlier, that was the first time we’d spoken in years.’

Hannah crunched down on a bite of popcorn. That lined up with what Gemma had told her. Maybe she’d been wrong to focus so much of her attention on Gemma Phipps. Maybe she really had come tonight out of sheer curiosity…

‘So you like Gemma for Madison’s murder?’ Oliver whispered.

Hannah sighed. ‘Maybe. Or Elle, but she won’t give me the time of day.’

‘What about Bash, or Theo?’

She swallowed. ‘I haven’t spoken to Bash yet either, at least since the start of the night. He claimed to have “reformed” since our Prescott days, but I’m sure that’s bullshit. Theo…’

‘You were eating dinner together, when I got out of the interview room.’

She took a sip of water. She’d have to give Oliver something, or he’d start to connect the dots, and divulging anything about what had really gone down between the two of them tonight felt far too risky. ‘He said something about not being as nice as I’d always remembered. Any idea what that was about?’