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log my
     
cell phone kept of outgoing calls. Nope. I'd definitely dialed
     
the right number. It just wasn't Nora's.
     
Huh.
I stared at my steering wheel for a moment before
     
     
grabbing the phone again and dialing. This time a young,
     
pleasant-sounding female voice.
     
"Good morning, Centennial One Life Insurance."
     
"Very convincing, Molly," I said.
     
"Really?"
     
"Absolutely. If I didn't know better, I'd think you had a
     
nail file in you hand."
     
Molly was my new receptionist. After Nora followed me
     
to work, it was decided that the "field office" could no
     
longer be a one-man operation.
     
"Do me a favor, will you?" I asked. "Run a cell phone
     
check on Nora."
     
"The number's not already in her folder?"
     
"It may be, but I want to make sure she hasn't changed it
     
recently."
     
"Okay. Give me ten minutes."
     
"I'll give you five."
     
"Is that any way to treat your new receptionist?"
     
"You're right," I said. "Make it
four
minutes."
     
"No fair."
     
"Tick, tick, tick…"
     
Molly had been out of school for only two years. While
     
still a little green, according to Susan, and prone to the oc-
     
casional lapse in judgment, she was proving to be a quick
     
study. No surprise then when she called me back in
three
minutes.
     
     
"It's still the same number we have for her," said Molly.
     
She read it to me, and I checked it against the number Nora
     
had given me.
     
I had to smile. The only difference was the last two dig-
     
its. They were flip-flopped.
     
Interesting.
     
Maybe I was the one who mixed them up. Or maybe that
     
was what Nora wanted me to think. Or, at least allow for.
     
"Anything else you need?" asked Molly.
     
"No, I'm all set. Thanks."
     
I said good-bye, putting down the phone in favor of my
     
notepad. On purpose or not, Nora had managed to elude
     
me once again. Now what?
     
I'd learned early in my career that sometimes there is a
     
difference between information you have and information
     
you can use. This was one of those times. I had Nora's cor-
     
rect cell phone number but had to act as though I didn't.
     
With my banged-up hand I wrote her a note and left it
     
at the front door of Connor Brown's house. I was fairly sure
     
she'd get it. The question was when.
     
     
----
Chapter 49
     
IT WAS THE NEED for closure that had Nora back in Briar-
     
cliff Manor a couple of days later. Despite Connor's sister's
     
offering her the use of the house for as long as she wished,
     
Nora wanted to move on. Actually, she hoped never to see
     
the bitch from California again.
     
The offer she
was
going to take Elizabeth Brown up on
     
was possession of the furniture. All 11,000 square feet of
     
it. As the interior decorator, Nora knew what everything
     
cost -- and everything cost a lot. A small fortune, really.
     
One she was all too pleased to pocket in the name of assuag-
     
ing Lizzie's guilt, or whatever it was.
     
All she needed was a little help.
     
"Estate Treasures, can I help you?"
     
"Hi, it's Nora Sinclair calling. Is Harriet there?"
     
"Sure, Nora, hold on a second."
     
Nora switched ears with her cell phone. She was in the
     
backseat of the Town Car that was taking her out to Con-
     
nor's house.
     
Harriet got on the line. "Well, if it isn't my favorite deco-
     
rator."
     
"I bet you say that to
every
decorator."
     
"As a matter of fact, I do. And wouldn't you know, they
     
all believe me. So how's business, Nora?"
     
"Pretty good. That's why I'm calling."
     
"So when can I expect you here in the shop?"
     
"Actually, that's going to be my question to you, Harriet.
     
I need you to make a house call."
     
"
Oy.
Where am I going? New York City, I hope. Nora?
     
Talk to me."
     
"Briarcliff Manor. A client of mine recently passed away."
     
"I'm sorry to hear that."
     
"So was I," said Nora calmly. "Anyway, I was asked to
     
deal with his furnishings on behalf of the estate."
     
"You want to