When she left Tiffany’s house, Laurie looked at the time as she hit send on her phone.
The audio of Charlotte’s meeting with Tiffany was on its way to Jerry. She then tried to call him. It was 6:45 P.M. He often worked far longer hours than this, but he had been eager to celebrate their completion of the episode’s storyboard. As she listened to a fourth ring, she pictured Jerry and Grace having cocktails at Tanner Smith’s, the prohibition era–themed speakeasy they tended to frequent when Laurie didn’t tag along.
She waited through Jerry’s familiar outgoing message, and then left a message at the tone: “Call me as soon as you get this. I know who killed Virginia. We need to meet first thing in the morning to discuss our next moves. I’ll need to work on getting an immunity deal for a witness, and we need Ryan to interview at least one more person. So call me.”
By the time she hung up the phone, it was already 6:48. She was supposed to meet Alex on Central Park South in twelve minutes. The ride to Queens had taken forty-five minutes. The drive back would be quicker in reverse traffic, but it would still be a crawl across the bridge.
She decided that the subway was her fastest option. The F train was almost a straight shot. Even so, she would still be late. She knew he would understand, though. Last night at dinner, they had felt completely comfortable with each other, as if they were finally on the same page. This time, they were jumping in with both feet.
She pulled Alex up on her phone and was about to send him a text message. She hadn’t started typing yet when she heard footsteps behind her.