Page 60 of Diamonds

My heart races.“Who?Svetlana?”

“No…”

I snap my neck around.Footsteps, coming from the opposite direction of where we were.“Someone’s coming.Whatever it is, just grab it.”

“If I grab it, Bill will know that something’s up.”

“Then just take the files, leave the folder.Replace the papers you take with some other paper to make it look full.”

The footsteps are growing louder.

“Maddox?”I whisper.“Maddox!”

Finally, he exits the office, a fistful of papers in his hands.I turn around and nearly crash into a tall, slender man in a lab coat.

“Oh!Excuse me.”

He eyes Maddox and me.“What are you doing here so late?”

I swallow.“Sorry, sir.We’re friends with Bill.He— A friend of ours died recently, and he performed the autopsy.He wanted to give us the results in person.”

The man raises his eyebrows.“Couldn’t have waited until morning?”

“He promised us he’d give us the information as soon as it came in,” Maddox says.“She was a very good friend, and we just wanted answers.”

“And you’re off to the Met Gala?”he asks, scanning our clothes.

“We were at the symphony when we got the call from Bill,” I say.

“Indeed we were.Fantastic program.Are you familiar with Shostakovich?”Maddox asks.

“Never heard of him.”

“Well, he’s great.”Maddox shifts his gaze.“Anyway, we’re actually headed out now, but we were going to stop for the bathroom.”

Duke Goldman, M.D.—according to his nametag—narrows his eyes.“Bathrooms are closed.They always are outside of regular business hours.”

“There you have it,” Maddox says.“We’ll just hold it then.Thanks, and sorry for the bother.”

He grabs my hand and we leave out the nearest door, allowing it to lock shut behind us.

We get into the car and all the tension from the last hour—the news about May, the playing cards, Maddox sneaking into the office, and our exchange with the other coroner, Duke, hits me in a big wave.I let out a resonant sob.

Maddox immediately squeezes my shoulder.“It’s okay, babe.Let it out.That was scary.”

I grab another tissue out of my purse and blow my nose.“Sorry.That was just…somuch.And we’re no closer to figuring out May’s identity.”

“But we have some leads,” Maddox says.“We have those playing cards, and we have the name of the guy who saw Svetlana alive last.”He brandishes the papers he stole from Bill’s office.“And we havethis.”

I wipe my eyes.“What did you grab?”I lean over.It’s another coroner’s report, but one from several years ago.

The name at the top?

Henry Hathaway.

“Henry Hathaway?Is that…?”

Maddox nods.“It’s about time I told you about my father.”