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me I only get one call,’ said Claire.
    ‘One call? That’s ridiculous . . .’ Morgan began to protest. And then, in the next moment, the enormity of what Claire was saying registered in Morgan’s mind. ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute . . .’ Morgan pleaded.
    ‘I called you,’ said Claire simply.
    Morgan felt dizzy, as if the airport lounge was tilting. ‘What . . . are you talking about? Are you saying that they’re questioning you because . . . they think that you . . .?’
    ‘They’ve arrested me,’ said Claire.
    For a moment it was Morgan who was silent. Like everyone else, she’d heard of innocent people being arrested, convicted. But that was an aberration. Normally if you were arrested, it was because the police had reason to believe you were guilty. Or she had always believed that until this moment. But Claire . . .? No. Claire kill her husband and her baby? It was . . . impossible. Almost . . . laughable. For a moment, Morgan felt as if she was in some bizarre dream, that this call wasn’t even real. But it was real. ‘Claire,’ she said. ‘I don’t know how this has happened, but I do know that it’s some awful mistake. Oh, my God . . .’ Morgan glanced at the clock on the wall facing her. How long will it take me to get there, she thought? She had taken the airport shuttle to get to Kennedy. She would have to go back to Brooklyn, and get her car. She was calculating hours. It would take too long. Claire needed help right away. ‘Look,’ said Morgan. ‘You need to have someone with you. Do you and Guy have an attorney that you use . . .?’
    ‘No,’ said Claire. ‘Not really.’
    ‘Well, listen. I don’t know what’s going on, but I know you shouldn’t say another word to the police until you have an attorney with you. It doesn’t matter if you’re innocent. We’ve all seen enough TV shows about this sort of thing to know. This is how innocent people get into trouble. You just tell the police you can’t say anything more to them until an attorney gets there, OK? Then when the attorney arrives, you explain everything to him. He will tell you what to do.’
    ‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Claire.
    Morgan could picture her friend, her eyes vacant, shaking her head. Morgan wished she could reach through the phone and shake her by the shoulders. ‘It definitely does matter,’ said Morgan. ‘Claire, you have to listen to me now. That’s why you called me, right? You called me so I could help you. So, listen. You tell them to get you an attorney. If you ask them to do that, they have to do it.’
    ‘It’s too late,’ said Claire.
    ‘It’s not too late,’ said Morgan. ‘You just tell them that. Say you want an attorney and then don’t answer any more questions or say another word. I will be there as soon as I can.’
    ‘I already told them,’ said Claire.
    Morgan’s heart skipped a sickening beat. ‘Told them what?’
    ‘That I did it,’ said Claire. ‘I killed them.’

FOUR
    W hat?’ Morgan asked weakly.
    There was the sound of shuffling and voices getting louder in the background. She could hear the muffled sound of Claire’s voice, dull and leaden. A conversation was going on between Claire and a brusque male voice, and then Claire returned to the phone. ‘I have to go, Morgan,’ she said sounding almost like a child. ‘I did what you said. I told them that I want an attorney.’
    ‘Let’s go,’ the male voice rumbled in the background.
    ‘I have to go now. They’re putting me in a holding cell,’ said Claire. ‘Please, hurry, Morgan. Please. I need you.’
    Morgan’s mouth was so dry that she wondered if she could utter a sound. ‘I’ll come,’ she tried to say. The phone was dead before Claire could reply.
    Morgan snapped her phone shut and put it back into her satchel. For a moment she sat there, staring down at the industrial-looking carpet on the lounge floor. The middle-aged woman across the aisle leaned over, and