The Lost Years

49

After lunch, Mariah and Alvirah went back to wait at Lillian’s apartment building. Alvirah brought a sandwich and coffee for Willy. They sat for the rest of the afternoon in the lobby. At five o’clock it was Willy who voiced their growing sense of apprehension. “If Lillian was meeting Richard to sell that parchment to him, it’s sure taking a lot of time,” he commented as he got up to stretch his legs.

Mariah nodded. At lunch she had tried to keep up with the conversation, but she felt crushing disappointment after hearing Lillian’s message to Richard. It had robbed her of the faint optimism she had been allowing herself to feel that, given a showdown with Lillian, she might be able to persuade her to quietly return the parchment.

Now she wondered if the revelation that Lillian had the parchment and that Richard was willing to buy it might not be enough to have criminal charges brought against both of them.

Dad, this is the woman you loved, she thought, realizing that the bitterness she had been trying so hard to overcome was returning in full measure. She knew that during lunch Greg had recognized how quiet she had been and had tried to reassure her that the parchment would be recovered and returned to the Vatican Library.

“I never would have thought of Richard as capable of doing something so underhanded,” Greg had observed. “I’m absolutely stunned.” Then he’d added, “Nothing Lillian did would ever surprise me. Even while she was involved with Jonathan, I always wondered if she didn’t have something going with Charles too. Maybe it was just because they were both big moviegoers. But still, when Lillian wasn’t with Jonathan, it seemed to me that she spent an awful lot of time with Charles.”

Mariah knew the last thing Greg wanted to do was upset her, but the thought that Lillian might have been involved with Charles as well was galling. It was all she could think of as they waited hour by hour in the lobby. Finally, at five thirty, she said, “I think what we need to do is to let Detective Benet hear your recording of that phone call, Alvirah. I guess if he hears it, it would be enough to have him confront both Lillian and Richard. I think I’ll go home now. For all we know, Lillian and Richard are out together celebrating somewhere.”

“I’ll be right back,” Alvirah said. “The new doorman just came on duty. I’ll have a talk with him.” When she returned a few minutes later, she was obviously pleased with herself. “I gave him twenty bucks. I told him that we have a surprise for Lillian, that her cousin is in town unexpectedly. That’s you, Mariah. I gave him my number. He’s going to tip me off when she gets back.”

Mariah reached into her purse and pulled out Benet’s card. “Alvirah,” she said, “I don’t think we should wait any longer. It’s time to call Detective Benet. You can play the tape for him as soon as you get home and let the chips fall where they may.”