Latte Trouble - By Cleo Coyle Page 0,61
friend of the unfortunate Jeff Lugar. Suddenly Matteo’s off-the-wall theory about Lebreaux working behind the scenes to destroy the Village Blend’s reputation sounded more plausible. Could Lebreaux actually be using Bryan like some kind of demented hit man—even if it meant spiking a latte with cyanide and committing a totally random act of murder? Was it possible that Bryan missed killing Lottie, harmed a friend instead, and now felt guilty?
Madame and I rode the elevator down to the lobby. We were about to leave the hospital when I spied Mr. Eighties on his way back up—presumably to Jeff Lugar’s room. He slipped past us without a glance, stepped into an empty elevator.
I squeezed Madame’s arm. “I’ll be right back,” I whispered. Then I stepped into the elevator next to Bryan Goldin. We were the only two occupants as the doors closed and the elevator ascended.
The button for the tenth floor was already glowing, but I tapped it anyway. The doors slid shut, I pressed my back into the corner and glanced at the young model. He glanced at me in return—just a quick look, the way people check one another out in elevators. It was clear he hadn’t recognized me, or was very good at feigning indifference if he had. Of course, I didn’t exactly stand out in a crowd—not the way Goldin did with his buffed appearance, stylish, expensive clothes, dyed hair, and outlaw tattoos.
The elevator gave a jolt, then started to rise. If I was going to pounce, it was now or never. “Excuse me, but you’re Bryan Goldin, right?”
He blinked in naked surprise. Then the curtain of cool indifference descended. “Yes,” he said.
“I saw you the other night. At Lottie Harmon’s party.”
He squinted, took a closer look. “Do you work for a designer label? Or maybe a magazine, Ms…?”
“Cosi. Clare Cosi. Actually I saw you at the party, and the other night, too. On the yacht with Mr. Lebreaux.”
Goldin shifted uncomfortably, glanced away, then poked the elevator button impatiently.
“Are you a friend of Lebreaux?” I asked, forcing a smile. “I’ve known Eduardo for years…”.
“I know Lebreaux,” Goldin said, allowing the statement to hang there.
The elevator stopped at seven. The doors slid open. I thought Bryan was going to bolt but he stayed, using the distraction as a chance to turn his back on me. Two conversing nurses stepped into the elevator. One pressed the button for eight, then someone called from the corridor and the two women hurried out of the elevator again. The doors closed and Goldin and I were alone again.
“I bet you’re a model,” I cooed.
“Sometimes,” Goldin muttered.
I wondered about his connection, if any, to Lottie’s runway show with Fen tomorrow. “Do you model for Fen?”
Bryan Goldin curled his lips in a near-perfect imitation of Billy Idol. “Of course.”
Of course? Odd choice of words, like it was a given or something. Was it simply confidence bordering on arrogance? Or something else? I was about to ask another question when the elevator stopped on eight and the door opened. No one got on, and we waited for a moment. Then, as the doors were about to close, Bryan Goldin slipped between them and hurried down the corridor. I tried to follow but he’d timed his exit perfectly and the doors closed in my face.
On the tenth floor, I walked back to Jeff Lugar’s room and peered inside. Save for the quiet hiss of the respirator, the room was silent. Jeff Lugar was alone, sleeping soundly. I wanted to see if Bryan would return, but after fifteen minutes he still hadn’t, so I walked back to the elevator.
TWENTY-TWO
AS Mr. Raj drove us back to the West Side of Manhattan, I told Madame what I’d discovered—which wasn’t much, in my estimation.
Bryan Goldin knew Lebreaux and he’d modeled for Fen. But all that got me was a legitimate reason for his being on the Fortune and at Lottie’s party. I also brought Madame up to date with Rena Garcia’s murder. “Eduardo Lebreaux might have had a motive for instigating the poisoning at the Blend. But he has no motive I can see for poisoning Rena Garcia, which pretty much rules out Matteo’s theory that Lebreaux is behind all this.”
“Eduardo is a cad and a criminal,” said Madame, “and he may even be capable of murder. But only if it’s in his interest, and I must agree with you, Clare, that I don’t see the motive for murdering Rena Garcia, that poor girl. If Eduardo were truly behind it,