Chapter 17: Every Alias

The Founders' Gala was held in the ballroom at the top of the Werner tower.

The doorman found my name on his list at once.

"Mrs. Neil Conway," he said, and held out a gold pen. "Welcome. If you'll just initial here."

"My name is Maisie Corrigan."

He looked at the list. He looked at me.

I was wearing the champagne gown, and over it my father's gray work jacket with the sleeves rolled to my elbows.

On my left wrist was his twin watch with the cracked glass.

"I'll go in anyway," I said, and he stepped aside.

The ballroom held about four hundred people at round tables under a glass ceiling.

I saw donors in black tie and two news cameras.

The entire board sat in a row on the dais, with a podium in the middle of the stage.

Odile stood at it in cream silk with a microphone in her hand.

Gregory sat on her left. His lip was split and swollen, and he had covered it with makeup that wasn't quite thick enough.

Poppy sat on his other side in a green dress, with her hands folded in her lap.

She looked at me once and looked away.

"And before we vote on the trust," Odile was saying, "I want to thank a guest who has had a very hard week. Mrs. Conway, you've come after all."

The whole room turned.

I walked up the middle aisle between the tables, and I didn't hurry.

Somebody whispered, "Is that a mechanic's jacket?"

I went up the three steps to the stage.

Odile held out the microphone to me with a warm smile, and her eyes stayed cold.

I took it.

"Thank you," I said. "My name is Maisie Corrigan, and I'm not Mrs. Conway."

The room made a low sound.

"I'd like to introduce you to my husband," I said. "Gregory, will you stand up?"