Officer Rafter nodded. “What about the second time? Same guy?”

“I didn’t see him, but the Escalade was parked outside of my house.”

“Did you get a license plate, either time?”

“No.”

“So you don’t know for a fact that it was the same Escalade.”

“They were both black, and I heard that a big guy with zits went to visit the house of the guy the file’s about, Amadeo Brandolini.”

“Can you slow down a minute?” Rafter asked, writing on his pad.

“Sure. I’m thinking that this break-in tonight has to do with a case I’m working on, about a man named Amadeo Brandolini. That’s the file that was taken, and I haven’t double-checked, but as far as I can tell, his is the only file that was taken. There was even a reporter here today, Jim MacIntire, asking about Amadeo.” Mary met Judy’s eye and she sensed their collective imagination was running wild. Did that reporter have anything to do with this? Mary resolved to call Skinny Uncle Joey and see if Mac was legit.

But Officer Rafter, who didn’t read minds, looked at her with concern. “Ms. DiNunzio, if you truly have reason to believe you’re being followed, I can’t deal with that here. You need to come down to the precinct house and make a report. There are stalking laws on the books.”

“Maybe I will,” Mary said, but she had been through that before and knew it would be USELESS.

“Now, you told me there was usually about a hundred dollars in petty cash. What was the value of your laptop?”

“The office paid two grand for it three years ago, which means it’s worth thirty-five dollars today.” Mary managed a smile. “It’s what’s in it that had value to me, the work I did on the case.”

“What was the value of the case file that was stolen?” Officer Rafter asked, his pen poised over the white pad.

“I thought it was priceless. It contained a wallet and original photos and drawings.”

“How much money was in the wallet?”

“None.”

Officer Rafter made a note. “You said something about drawings. What were the drawings of? Were they, like, art?”

“No.” Mary’s thoughts raced ahead. Besides her and Judy, the only people who had seen the drawings, or even knew they existed, were Frank Cavuto and Mac the reporter. She made a mental note.

“Now, was this client, Mr. Brandolini, an artist or something?”

“No.”

“Then his drawings didn’t have any value.”

“I guess not.” It was hard for Mary to concede.

“How about the photos?’

“No. Family photos.”

Officer Rafter flipped the pad closed. “All right, well, that about covers it. We’ll follow up on the security guard issue and we’ll be canvassing the block for witnesses. We’ll search Dumpsters in the neighborhood and let you know what turns up, if anything.”

“Can’t I do anything? I really want that file back.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I gotta tell you, I’m not overly optimistic. The only thing a witness would see is somebody walking around with an accordion file and a laptop, in the business district. It’s not like they’re running down Walnut with a boosted plasma screen.”

“I understand,” Mary said, disappointed just the same.

“However, if I were you, Ms. DiNunzio, I’d get myself a TRO and file a report about this fellow, then think seriously about taking a vacation.”

Mary snorted. “A vacation? The last thing I want to do is take a vacation. This case is heating up, big-time.”

“It would be good to make yourself scarce, right about now. Get out of town for a while. I know that’s not the party line, but I like to be practical. If someone’s harassing you, go away.” Officer Rafter slipped the pad into his back pocket and returned the pen to his breast pocket. “I’m finished, and you’re all free to go. I’ll join my partner downstairs.”

“Great, thanks,” Mary said, and Judy thanked him, too.

“Let me know if you discover that anything else has been taken.” Officer Rafter moved toward the elevator door. “My partner inventoried everything on the walk-through, but you never know.”

“Sure, thanks again for coming.”

“You’re welcome.” The cop grabbed the elevator, and when the doors slid closed, Mary met Paul’s eye with a final sigh.

“Well, professor,” she said. “I guess we’d better get you out of here. You’ve had enough excitement for one night.”

“It was interesting,” Paul answered, with a smile. He unfolded his arms and turned to Judy. “You told me she was…different.”

Judy laughed. “You academics gotta shake it up once in a while.”

“True.” Paul smiled and turned back to Mary. “But we never did have dinner. Can I get a rain check?”

Mary blushed, surprised. “Sure.”

“Okay, then. I do have an early class in the morning. Quantum mechanics.”

“Yikes. Can’t be sleepy for whatever that is.”

“See ya, Paul.” Judy gestured to Mary. “Walk him to the elevator, girl. It’s the least you can do.”

“Of course,” Mary said, but she wasn’t counting on that good-night kiss. She didn’t even want one. Nothing like a B amp; E to kill the mood. She was just about to walk him out when the phone rang from beneath the mess in the reception area, and Mary turned on her heel. She looked at Judy. Judy looked at her. They both knew who was calling. Things were about to go from bad to worse.

A minute later, Paul had walked himself to the elevator and Mary was on the phone telling Bennie what had happened to her law firm, between apologies. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. The reception area looks like -”

“Are you nuts, DiNunzio? I don’t care about the reception area!” The boss was shouting so loud Mary had to hold the phone away from her head. “I care about you! I care about Carrier! I don’t like the sound of any of this!”

“Bennie, I know, I’m sorry.” Mary had told her everything except for the newspaper part, and now didn’t seem like an opportune moment. The boss had screamed at her before, but never like this. She must really care a lot. “I didn’t realize that -”

“No, I didn’t realize that you were in danger! That a car was following you? I can’t believe Premenstrual Tom’s behind this, but Carrier will deal with him right away. Nothing is worth your getting hurt! Or her!”

“Bennie, honestly, I don’t think I’m in any real danger.” Mary heard the words coming out of her mouth and even she wasn’t sure she believed them. “I mean, if somebody wanted to hurt me tonight, they could have come to the restaurant.”

“And tomorrow they will. Or the next day. Did you tell the cops you were being followed? What did they say?”

“They said I could fill out a report -”

“That’s a waste of time! I want you safe and I can’t come down there until the trial’s over. You have to protect yourself, DiNunzio, until I get back. First thing, shut up about everything. Don’t talk to anyone you don’t know. Don’t tell anyone about Brandolini or any of your other cases.”

Would that include blind dates and major metropolitan newspapers?

“Second, you have to get out of town.”

“That’s what the cop said, but I have so much work to do.”

“No case is as important as your safety! Get out of town!”

Then it hit Mary. Get out of town? Get out of town!

“Take a vacation until I get back and can deal with whatever’s going on!”

“I can’t, Bennie.” Mary couldn’t seem too eager or the boss would get suspicious. “I have to take that dep for you in Reitman tomorrow, remember?”

Judy’s ears lifted like Penny’s.

“No, you can’t take that dep,” Bennie was saying. “Why can’t Judy do it?”

“I think she can -” Mary started to say, just as Judy caught on, frowning deeply. “She says fine, no worries, she can take the dep for me.”

“Excellent! Let her do it. You get yourself a plane ticket. Go to Miami. Get out of town for a week.”

“Bennie, if you really think I should, I guess I could go away for a while.”