Chapter 6: Ask Me Nicely

I went straight from the diner to the Marlowe, and I took Bea with me.

It was nine on a Saturday morning, and the lobby was full of people carrying brunch bags and dog leashes.

The doorman looked up and recognized me at once.

"Ms. Donahue," he said carefully. "I'm afraid your access has been closed."

"I know. I'd like to ask a question."

"I'm not able to discuss residents."

"It's not about a resident." I put my phone on the desk with the app open. "It's about this."

I held up the screen so he could see the grey line.

"Approved by L. Stroud, unit owner," I read aloud. "That's every one of them. A hundred and forty-eight. Is L. Stroud the owner of unit 14C?"

The doorman said nothing.

A woman with a stroller had stopped behind me, pretending to read her mail.

Bea folded her arms and planted her feet.

"It's a yes or a no," Bea said. "You get paid to say one of them."

"I'm not able to..."

"Then I'll call the owner myself," I said, and tapped the phone.

I didn't have her number.

I tapped the desk's intercom, instead, and pressed 14C.

It rang twice.

"Yes?" said Lydia.

Her voice came out of the little speaker bright and warm.

"This is Maddie."

"Oh!" she said. "Honey. Stay right there."

The line went dead.

The doorman looked at his keyboard and stopped typing.

The elevator opened a moment later.

Lydia stepped out in a cream silk robe and fuzzy slippers, with her hair down around her shoulders.

Daisy was tucked under one arm.

Nobody in the lobby looked surprised to see her, because everyone there knew her.

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