Page 72 of Murder on the Upper East Side

Hannah bit at the inside of her cheek. It was hard to find a hole in Theo’s logic, but he was Bash’s best friend. Of course he would never think the worst of him, would be quick to divert suspicion, even when Bash had every reason to be murderously furious with Madison.

And then there was the matter of Elle. ‘If that’s all true, then what did she mean by,When we getout of here, I’ll get to work. We’ll clean this up, together?’

Theo stood and started for the door, clearly eager to wrap up the conversation. ‘I assume she was referring to the shadow accounts. Cleaning up Beaumont Capital.’

‘Probably.’ Unless Elle had come to another conclusion. Unless… she also suspected Bash of murder.

Now more than ever, Hannah needed to talk to Elle. She just had to find a way to make the conversation happen.

Theo placed his hand on the doorknob. ‘Whenweget out of here…’

‘Yes?’

‘I’d like to see you again. Dinner downtown? You pick the place.’

In spite of herself, a smile tugged at the corners of Hannah’s lips. That Theo was clearly changing the subject was not lost on her. Why was he so eager to put a pin in their chat about Bash and Elle? Because they were all friends, or because Theo didn’t want her digging too deep?

‘Hannah?’ he asked when she hadn’t responded.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to see Theo again after this. As soon as Madison’s murder had been solved, as soon as she’d succeeded in clearing her name, closing the door on Prescott once and for all sounded damn good. Still, after all this time, it was impossible to deny that it felt nice to be noticed by Theodore Fitzgerald. Maybe more than nice.

Hannah looked up at him, keeping her face impassive. ‘I’ll think about it. First let’s just make it through tonight, okay?’

Theo smiled. ‘Deal.’

Whatever Bash had said to Chef Bernard to get things moving, it had worked. In the dining room, the kitchen staff had laid out an impressive buffet. It was a little after five in the morning, earlier than Hannah was accustomed to eating breakfast, but then again, she wasn’t accustomed to staying up all night trying to solve a murder, either. The smells hit her first: buttery croissants and scones, quiche two ways, poached salmon with dill hollandaise, beef tenderloin, and freshly pressed coffee. As she got closer, a cold table with smoked salmon, chilled asparagus, and a tomato, peach, and burrata salad came into view, as did a dessert spread of fruit tarts and pastel macarons. Fresh linens had been laid out on the tables. At the bar, servers poured glasses of freshly squeezed juices and two varieties of champagne. Because what everyone needed was more alcohol.

The sun wasn’t yet up, but the mood had shifted with the arrival of breakfast. Everyone was sleep deprived and famished, but conversations were notably brighter and peppered with laughter as everyone descended upon the food. Hannah glanced around for Elle, finding her already seated with a slice of quiche Lorraine and a steaming mug of black coffee.Damn, that coffee smelled divine. Bash and Beatrice occupied the chairs on either side of her.

Hannah made her way to the end of the buffet line. Getting Elle alone was not going to be easy. As the line moved forward, she clocked Theo at the carving station, his plate already piled high with gruyère and chive scones, herb omelette and salmon. A white-gloved server nudged a scone aside to make room for a glistening slice of beef tenderloin.

Hannah’s stomach growled. The line was moving slowly, and those almond croissants were calling to her. She looked down the line – Ami was picking up a napkin roll and a plate. Etiquette be damned, everyone here already thought she was a killer. Maybe she should just cut in, join her sister.

But someone else had the same idea. Hannah watched as Alex DuPont walked over to Ami and tapped her on the shoulder. Another person Hannah would love to talk to. Ten years had passed, but Alex still looked much the same as he had in high school. Deliberately messy red hair, lots of freckles, tall and trim. Tonight, he was wearing a charcoal tux, Ralph Lauren Black Label, accessorised with Prescott cufflinks. Ami turned, and Hannah watched as her sister’s face changed, mild curiosity turning to surprise. Or was that… fear?

What the fuck?Hannah’s stomach growled again, but she ignored it, stepping out of line and ducking behind the buffet, then slipping beneath the table, the white linen offering cover. Okay, yes, she waseavesdropping again. She felt worse listening in on her sister than she had on Elle and Bash, but this wasn’t really about Ami, was it? Getting anything out of Alex directly was going to be near impossible. He’d just lost his sister, and peppering him with questions would get her precisely nowhere.

Besides, if Ami needed someone to save her from their conversation, she would be right there.See?Justified.

The clink of Ami’s plate, placed back on the stack. ‘Go ahead,’ she heard her sister murmur to the guest behind her in line.

‘I’ve been trying to get you alone all night.’ Alex’s voice held a plaintive note. ‘I thought…’

‘I know,’ Ami said quickly. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Are you avoiding me?’

As far as she knew, Ami hadn’t spoken to Madison’s little brother in years. After Madison sabotaged prom, Alex had largely faded into the background of her sister’s life. They’d overlapped for one more year at Prescott, after Hannah and Madison had graduated, but Ami hadn’t spoken about Alex much during that time. She’d met her ‘for ever friends’ that year – a girl named Honor who was now living in Paris with her cyclist fiancé, an international student named Cherry, and several others. As happened with so many high school friendships and almost-relationships, Ami and Alex had fizzled. Secretly, Hannah had been relieved. She still felt some responsibility for what had happened back then, no matter how unintentional,but maybe Ami and Alex had simply never been meant to be. She’d been thrilled to watch Ami settle into a relatively drama-free group of friends in her junior year.

To the best of her knowledge, Ami and Alex hadn’t had a falling out, just a fade out. But the look on her sister’s face a moment ago hadn’t been happiness or even indifference at reuniting with an old friend. Why hadn’t Ami said anything about Alex when they’d been talking in the library a couple of hours ago? Either she’d been keeping something from her, or something had changed between now and then. Ami was a grown-up, but she was also her little sister. Whatever was going on between them now, she was going to make it her business to find out.

Alex’s question hung in the air, unanswered.

For a moment, Ami fidgeted uncomfortably, and Hannah held her breath, worried they’d move away from the buffet table. Carefully, she nudged a fold of linen aside and peeked out. Her view was mostly obstructed by the legs of the guests in the buffet line, but she could catch glimpses of Alex and Ami, standing just to her left. Ami shifted, scratching at her calf through her baby blue gown.

‘Truthfully, I didn’t know what to say, after your sister… I’m really sorry, Alex.’

‘Right. Thanks.’