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Glatt’s marriage had broken down and he was to be seen around Milwaukee in the company of a cosmetically enhanced stripper and ‘adult entertainment performer’, the ex-girlfriend of a Green Bay Packers linebacker, they felt this was not a reassuring sign. When he was arrested in a house near the UW Milwaukee campus in possession of a bag of hydroponic marijuana and three grams of cocaine, in the company of three partially dressed UW undergraduates, the writing was on the wall. Within twenty-four hours, the bulk of Glatt’s clients had demanded their money; within forty-eight, his attorney had summoned them to a meeting at the Pfister Hotel on Wisconsin Avenue, where he read a short statement from his client to the effect that he had been borrowing from Peter to pay Paul – or at least, to pay Paul a higher return than the market would allow – and now Peter’s money was all gone. And so was Paul’s. And none of the other apostles were doing too good either.
    â€˜Oh. My. God. And … does that not mean you guys are in trouble?’
    Claire shrugs and shakes her head, almost embarrassed to admit it.
    â€˜Not really. I mean, yes, OK, we’re broke, we have pretty much no savings. We’ve got to start again in terms of the college fund. But we can, I guess. We have income. We’re not under pressure otherwise, financially, I mean. Or any other way. At least, that’s what I thought.’
    â€˜Are you thinking again?’
    â€˜
No.
Danny let me know … I know it sounds stupid, but … there’s a picture and an ornament downstairs …’
    And Claire takes her through it, Mirabell and Millamant and
The Way of the World
, the ornament of the lovers from
The Palm Beach Story
and how it’s a sign that all is well, the laptop packed away on which there may be an email. As she explains it, each piece of reasoning sounds even more lame than the last. Dee nods her way through it all as if she’s agreeing, then tips her head from side to side to weigh it up.
    â€˜So why is there no message on your phone?’
    â€˜I don’t know.’
    â€˜Why not leave a note under the ornament, or up here?’
    â€˜He was in a rush?’
    â€˜If he had time to leave the ornament and hang the picture, he had time to write a note, even a scribbled “Don’t worry, love Dan” on the back of an envelope.’
    â€˜I don’t know. In case someone found it?’
    â€˜Someone else? Who? Whoever killed the dog?’
    â€˜No. No, the dog was a sick Halloween prank.’
    Claire shows Dee the werewolf mask, which seems to freak Dee, and the postcard, which seems to freak her even more. The picture on the postcard, which Claire hadn’t registered until now, is a blurry painting of what looks like two faces staring out of a window, glowing red flames all around them. Let’s hope that’s not supposed to be a clue.
    â€˜Kids, on drugs,’ Claire says. ‘It probably had nothing to do with everything else.’
    â€˜But you can’t be sure.’
    â€˜I can’t be sure about anything. But that’s what my guess is. That’s what I would tell the cops. Except I don’t want to call them.’
    â€˜Because …’
    â€˜Because I’ve always trusted Danny. And he’s never let me down. And he has to have had a good reason for what he’s done. And if he’s in trouble, I don’t want to make more for him.’
    â€˜Do you think there’s someone pursuing him? And that’s why he had to get out so fast?’
    â€˜There could be. I don’t know why, but … there could be.’
    â€˜Is there a Halloween connection? Trick or Treat, this says.’
    â€˜I told you, it’s probably kids.’
    â€˜Say it isn’t. Say it’s all connected.’
    Claire flashes on their Halloween party of a week ago, the last time she saw Danny. The guy in the Death cowl