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“I can’t promise you I’ll succeed. But I’ll have a word with your husband, and I’ll do my best to convey the message that he needs to accept that the marriage is over.”

“He cheated on me, you know. That’s why I left him. And it wasn’t the first time either. He keeps hooking up with all these different women. I know he thinks I don’t know. That he can do this behind my back. But I know. Of course I know. I mean—everybody knows.”

“He’s not very faithful, is he?”

“No, he’s not. Carl has issues, that’s obvious. It’s like an addiction. He just can’t stop. I confronted him about it, of course. And he promised he’d get help. But he’s made those promises before, and each time he breaks them. And so I think for my own sanity I need to put this behind me, and create as much distance between myself and Carl as possible.” She opened her purse and scribbled something on a piece of paper. “This is Carl’s number, and this is his address. Just tell him I sent you. I’m sure he’ll take your call.”

4

Odelia decided to pop into her boss’s office to have a chat about this interesting new story that had just been thrown into her lap. She gave the door to his office a quick knock and ducked her head in. “You’ll never guess who just came to see me,” she said.

Her aged boss looked up from his computer, his white beard waggling bemusedly.“Erica Barn, also known as Erica Strauss.”

She blinked at the man.“Are you psychic?”

Dan laughed.“Of course I am. Didn’t you know? No, she came in here before I showed her your office. She was looking for the famous Odelia Poole.” He leaned back with a grin on his face. “You’re becoming famous, honey. Which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned.”

“I’m hardly famous, Dan.”

“Tell that to Mrs. Strauss.”

“Who doesn’t want to be Mrs. Strauss anymore,” said Odelia, taking a seat at her editor’s desk. “She’s decided she wants a divorce, and she wants me to help her get it.”

“So now you’re a divorce lawyer, are you?”

“Carl is refusing to grant her the divorce, and Erica hopes I can convince him.”

Dan turned serious.“It’s a fascinating story, but watch your step, my pet.”

“Why? You don’t think Carl is liable to get physical with me, is he?”

“No, but he might sic his horde of lawyers on you. The man is extremely litigious, which is probably why we haven’t seen a lot of stories about his rumored infidelities in our local papers. At least not in this paper, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“You don’t want me to write about the man’s upcoming divorce?”

“Once it’s in its final stages, by all means, but I don’t want to risk the man’s ire by writing a lot of unsubstantiated rumor and innuendo.”

“I’ll make sure to keep it clean,” she promised with a grin.

“We are a family paper, Odelia,” Dan reminded her. “And also, unfortunately we don’t have the money to defend ourselves if Carl Strauss’s expensive lawyers descend on us.”

She was a little surprised by the line Dan was taking.“So what are you saying? I should handle this as a personal matter in my own time, not as a representative for the paper?”

“No, you can represent the Gazette all you want, but try not to upset the man too much, will you?”

“I’ll give him the gloved approach,” she promised.

“By the way, how is your article on the Hampton Heisters coming?”

“I’m getting there. In fact I was putting the final touches to the article when Erica walked in just now.”

“Anything new on this infamous crew of thieves?”

“Nothing,” she said. “The police have nothing, and neither do I.”

Dan sat back and rubbed his beard thoughtfully.“A gang of thieves targeting the rich and famous. You would think the Hamptons would have faced such a threat before, but as far as I can tell this is the first time.”

“How many victims now?”

“Five so far, and all of them as high-profile as they come. Jewels stolen, and cash, of course, but also personal mementos that seem to indicate that these thieves are trying to cash in on the fame of these people.”

“Selling the stuff on eBay?”

“Well, that’s the strange thing. Nothing has shown up on any of the auction sites.”

“Maybe they have some fence who’s selling this stuff on the black market?”

“Could be, but your husband would have heard about it if they did.” He shook his head. “No, I have a feeling we’re dealing with something completely different here. Thieves… but also… fans?”

“You think they’re keeping these mementos for themselves?”

“It’s a possibility we have to consider. Which means that we might be dealing with some kind of extreme fandom here.”

5

Even though cats are not allowed on the links, Odelia had still managed to smuggle Dooley and me in. She wanted us there when she conducted her interview with Carl Strauss, though she had asked us to stay hidden, and make sure we weren’t spotted.