Page 79 of Murder on the Upper East Side

Almost immediately, the after-party had spilled out of Madison’s suite and down the hall, into the rest of the DuPonts’ vast penthouse. In the living room, Selena Gomez pumped from the speakers. Some after-prom-goers danced in their formalwear and Golden Goose sneakers; others were engaged in whispered conversations on the couch. Alice St Clair sobbed into Elle’s shoulder about howeverything was going to change, and Elle gave her a prim, if not especially comforting, pat on the head.

Out on the balcony, Alex and Tyler were vaping with the varsity lacrosse team, while inside, Inez scurried between the kitchen and Madison’s wing, offering the guests snacks and sparkling water. Alastair and Charlene DuPont had posted up in the dining room,where they were engaged in a heated game of poker with Bash, Theo and Beatrice. Only the master bedroom, and Alex’s room, were off-limits.

Hannah and Oliver had established themselves in the hallway connecting the living room to Madison’s wing. It was just sheltered enough from the party noise to permit real conversation, while offering a view of the goings-on in the living room and kitchen.

‘I honestly don’t know what I’m doing here,’ Hannah sighed. She’d been inside a mere fifteen minutes, but the chances of uncovering Madison’s secret beau already seemed dim. She’d agreed to come for Ami’s sake – grudgingly! against her better judgement! – but now that she was here, she wasn’t exactly sure how she was supposed to get the job done. She wasn’t a detective. Or even a journalist, yet. And whatever Ami had envisioned – Madison dragging her beloved into the coat closet for a clandestine tryst? – seemed highly unlikely to happen. For the last fifteen minutes, Madison had been in full sight in the living room, dancing first with Elle, then with Ethan and Bruno when Elle had collapsed on the couch. She was the life of the party – and highly visible – in her second outfit of the night, tailored tux pants and a Celine crop-top with a tasteful splash of sequins at the neckline, her red hair spilling in a gorgeous cascade down her back.

If Alex had been right, if his sister really was in a secret relationship, she’d know better than to show her hand in her own home. For all Hannah knew, the other person wasn’t even here.

‘Well,I’mglad you came,’ Oliver said. ‘Even at this supposedly open-invite event, I don’t exactly feel welcome. It’s nice to have a friend.’ Oliver was dressed in an open-collar dress shirt in deep eggplant and a pair of tailored pants. Unlike the Common Projects and Dior B23s now worn by many of their classmates, he’d kept his polished dress shoes on.

Hannah smiled gamely. She hadn’t told Oliver her real reason for coming out tonight, allowing him to believe she’d made the journey up to the Upper East Side for his sake.

‘It feels wrong without Gemma here,’ he said after a moment. ‘I wish…’

She placed her hand on his elbow. ‘Let’s do bubble tea, the three of us. Maybe Tuesday after school?’

He nodded. ‘I’ll send her a text.’

For the next hour, Hannah kept tabs on Madison, casually following her movements around the penthouse. When Madison had tired of dancing, she took a turn out on the balcony, then swung into the kitchen to pick up a glass of champagne. Once, she stepped into a bathroom, but no one followed, and she was back out in under two minutes, hands still dripping from the tap.

It was looking hopeless, but the desire to get Ami the leverage she craved burned in her belly. Madison had cast a long shadow over the second half of her little sister’s sophomore year, beginning with her exclusion from the Montauk wedding in December, then the events of the Orchard & Vine party upstate. She’dspent the entire spring on quasi-house-arrest, culminating in the disastrous promposal last month. Hannah hoped Ami was wrong, that as soon as Madison set foot on Columbia’s campus uptown, she’d forget all about high school. Leave Ami – and Hannah, for that matter – well enough alone.

But she couldn’t deny Ami’s fears had merit. At Columbia, Madison would still be a big fish – but it would be a much larger pond, filled with whale sharks and manta rays from all over the world. Elle would no longer be Madison’s sole competition in the race to the top of the social hierarchy. It wasn’t hard to imagine Madison keeping one foot in Prescott, continuing to wield the power she had where it was guaranteed to produce immediate, gratifying results.

Under Hannah’s careful watch, Madison passed from room to room, filling champagne flutes and switching up the playlist from time to time. Playing the consummate hostess while Inez and her parents faded into the background, turning a blind eye to the still-full bottles of craft sodas and sparkling water and dwindling supply of champagne.

Hannah tracked her movements, but gave her a wide berth, dancing in the living room with Oliver, then chatting idly with Beatrice, then Alex, who emerged from the balcony to fill a plate with mini wagyu sliders, caprese skewers and truffle fries, then vanished into his room.

Finally, at nearly three o’clock, when Hannah’s armsand legs felt filled with lead and her eyes burned with exhaustion, she gave up. Gratefully, she collapsed on the sectional sofa in Madison’s lounge and pulled a soft chenille throw over her entire body. Madison’s suite had emptied out by that time; everyone was in the kitchen devouring the freshly replenished gourmet fries; dancing in the living room to Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and Lorde, or stealing a few moments with their prom date on the DuPonts’ large and well-furnished balcony. Hannah burrowed deeper under the throw, pulling it over her head and breathing in the soft, woolly smell. After a few minutes – Peter Bjorn and John was now piping through the speakers – she began to drift off.

‘In here. Now.’

Beneath the blanket, she stiffened. Madison’s voice was instantly recognisable, and getting closer.

‘You’rethe one who broke the pact. I don’t know why you’re being pissy withme.’

The second voice belonged to Theo. Hannah stopped breathing.

‘Keep your voice down,’ Madison hissed. They were in the lounge now, mere feet from her. The doorknob to Madison’s adjoining bedroom twisted, and through the soft loops of fabric, Hannah watched Madison’s grip tighten around Theo’s hand. She pulled him inside, then closed the door. A long sigh of relief slipped through her lips. They’d been too absorbed in whatever they were bickering about to notice her.

The sectional sofa was pressed up against the wall separating Madison’s bedroom from the lounge. Hannah rolled over and pressed her ear to the wall, hoping the acoustics in this pre-war building fell short of soundproofing. This might be her best shot at learning who Madison had been involved with. Especially if it was… Theo.

‘I am not being pissy,’ Madison snapped. ‘This is serious.’

Theo’s deep sigh was just audible through the wall. ‘It’s only serious because you made it serious. Basically coercing me into breaking up with Elle.’

Hannah’s breath caught.What?

Theo was still talking. ‘Now we’re about to graduate, and all go our separate ways, and I miss her, okay? This entire thing was a mistake.’

Madison huffed. ‘Coerce is such a strong word. I’m sorry, but Elle is meant to shine, and you were holding her back. She was considering following you to Princeton, you know.’

‘She was never—’

But Madison didn’t let him finish. ‘And I was doing you a favour too. Elle never loved you back, Theo. She’s too focused on Elle Harrington to be a good partner. She was only in love with theideaof you.’

‘Even so,’ Theo conceded, ‘that should have been my problem. My decision to make.’