"I'm so glad. How are you getting along in school?"
"It's not the pits."
"No more fights?"
"No."
"That's wonderful, darling." Dana studied him a moment. He seemed different somehow, almost subdued. It was as though something had happened to change him, but whatever it was, he certainly seemed a happy child.
When they reached the apartment, Dana said, "I have to go to the studio, but I'll be back, and we'll have dinner together. We'll go to McDonald's."Where we used to go with Jeff.
When Dana entered the huge WTN building, it seemed as though she had been away for a century. As she made her way to Matt's office, she was greeted by half a dozen fellow workers.
"Glad you're back, Dana. We've missed you."
"Glad to be back."
"Well, look who's here. Did you have a good trip?"
"Wonderful. Thanks."
"The place isn't the same without you."
When Dana walked into Matt's office, he said, "You've lost weight. You look terrible."
"Thank you, Matt."
"Sit down."
Dana took a seat.
"You haven't been sleeping?"
"Not much."
"By the way, our ratings have gone down since you've been away."
"I'm flattered."
"Elliot will be glad you've given this up. He's been worried about you." Matt did not mention how worried he himself had been about Dana.
They talked for half an hour.
When Dana got back to her office, Olivia said, "Welcome back. It's been - " The phone rang. She picked it up. "Miss Evans's office...Just a moment, please." She looked at Dana. "Pamela Hudson on line one."
"I'll take it." Dana went into her own office and picked up the phone. "Pamela."
"Dana, you're back! We were so worried. Russia is not the safest place to be these days."
"I know." She laughed. "A friend bought me pepper spray."
"We've missed you. Roger and I would love to have you come by for tea this afternoon. Are you free?"
"Yes."
"Three o'clock?"
"Perfect."
The rest of the morning was taken up with preparations for the evening broadcasts.
At three o'clock, Cesar was greeting Dana at the door.
"Miss Evans!" There was a big smile on his face. "I'm so pleased to see you. Welcome home."
"Thank you, Cesar. How have you been?"
"Just wonderful, thank you."
"Are Mr. and Mrs. - ?"
"Yes. They're waiting for you. May I take your coat?"
When Dana walked into the drawing room, Roger and Pamela both exclaimed at once, "Dana!"
Pamela Hudson gave her a hug. "The prodigal is back."
Roger Hudson said, "You look tired."
"That seems to be the general consensus."
"Sit down, sit down," Roger said.
A maid came in carrying a tray of tea, biscuits, scones, and croissants. Pamela poured tea.
They took seats, and Roger said, "Well, tell us what's happening."
"What's happening is I'm afraid I've gotten nowhere. I'm completely frustrated." Dana took a deep breath. "I met a man named Dieter Zander who said he was framed by Taylor Winthrop and sent to prison. While he was there, his family was wiped out in a fire. He blames Winthrop for their deaths."
Pamela said, "So he had a motive for killing the whole Winthrop family."
"That's right. But there's more," Dana said. "I talked to a man named Marcel Falcon in France. His only son was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Taylor Winthrop's chauffeur pleaded guilty, but the chauffeur now claims that Taylor Winthrop was the driver."
Roger said thoughtfully, "Falcon was on the NATO Commission in Brussels."
"Right. And the chauffeur told him that it was Taylor Winthrop who killed his son."
"That's interesting."
"Very. Have you ever heard of Vincent Mancino?"
Roger Hudson thought for a moment. "No."
"He's Mafia. Taylor Winthrop got his daughter pregnant, sent her to a quack, and she had a botched abortion. The daughter is in a convent and the mother is in a sanitarium."
"My God."
"The point is that all three have strong motives for revenge." Dana sighed in frustration. "But I can't prove anything."
Roger looked at Dana thoughtfully. "So Taylor Winthrop was really guilty of doing all those terrible things."
"There's no question about it, Roger. I've talked to those people. Whichever one of them is behind the murders orchestrated them brilliantly. There are no clues - none. Each murder had a different modus operandi, so there is no obvious pattern. Every detail was carefully worked out. Nothing was left to chance. There was not one witness to any of the deaths."
Pamela said thoughtfully, "I know this may sound far-fetched, but - is it possible that they're all in this together to get revenge?"
Dana shook her head. "I don't believe there was collusion. The men I talked to are very powerful. I think each would want to do it on his own. Only one of them is guilty."
But which one?
Dana suddenly looked at her watch. "Please excuse me. I promised to take Kemal to McDonald's for dinner, and if I hurry, I can do it before I go to work."
"Of course, darling," said Pamela. "We understand completely. Thank you for stopping by."
Dana got up to go. "And thank you both for the lovely tea and for your moral support."
Driving Kemal to school on Monday morning, Dana said, "I've missed doing this, but I'm back now."