Holly stood at the edge of the group around Immi Gotham, waiting for a moment to get Kate Lee away from them. Finally, as a waiter invaded the crowd with a tray of canapes, she was able to touch Kate’s elbow. The two retreated to a corner.
“Don’t look so concerned,” Kate said, smiling, “you’ll scare everybody.”
Holly forced the frown away from her face. “Something disturbing has just arisen,” she said, then she told Kate about the name. “Does Hamish have any siblings?” she asked.
Kate’s smile had disappeared. “As I recall, after his parents were divorced his father remarried and had a son and a daughter, so they would be some years younger than Hamish. Why don’t you call Langley and have them run their names?”
“Apparently, the brother’s first name was Mo, short for Mohammad, but I don’t know the girl’s name.”
“Well, see what you can come up with.”
Holly excused herself, went into the study, and called Langley. Twenty minutes later, she returned, and the first lady rejoined her.
“There’s nothing on them,” she said. “There were hits on the father’s name, but that’s it.”
“Did the search produce anyone else at all named Shazaz?”
“No.”
“Try to get in touch with Hamish,” Kate said. “Ask him for the whereabouts of his brother for the last month. If he can give us that, we’ll have something to go on.”
“Right,” Holly replied. She went back to the study and called the number she had for Hamish. There was a long pause before she was connected.
“Hello?”
“Hamish?”
“Yes.”
“Encode.”
There was some electronic noise, then Hamish came back. “Is that you, Holly?”
“Yes. Something has come up.”
“How can I help?”
“I understand you have a half brother.”
“Mo? Yes.”
“Do you know where he has been for the past thirty days?”
“Yes, he was at my family’s home on the Scottish isle of Murk, south of the Hebrides.”
“For the entire period?”
“Until recently.”
“Do you know where he is now?”
“Yes, he’s at Annabel’s, a London nightclub, sitting right across the table from me. Would you like to speak with him?”
“Ah, no. Was there any break between his time in Scotland and tonight?”
“Only travel time. He arrived by train yesterday.”
“I see.”
“What is your interest in my half brother?” Hamish asked.
“Tell me, is Shazaz a common name?”
“It’s not uncommon, at least, not in the Middle East.”
“Has your brother ever visited the United States?”
“He attended a boys’ school in Virginia for a semester, when he was eight, but he was unhappy there, so he returned to England and completed his education here.”
“Is he an observant Muslim?”
“Yes, but not radically so. I mean, at this moment he is consuming a glass of champagne. I would say he is about as observant as I.”
Holly couldn’t think of anything else to ask. She ended the call and went back to the living room, where people were starting to move into the garden for the buffet dinner, and found the first lady.
Kate listened intently to Holly’s report of her conversation with Hamish. “Well,” she said, “maybe it’s just a coincidence, if the name is not uncommon in the Middle East.”
“I remember that Hamish’s mother’s family has a home-a castle, I think-on a Scottish island,” Holly said.
“Yes, that’s correct.” She was quiet for a moment, looking up at the stars, then she turned back to Holly. “May I borrow your agency phone?” she asked. She walked away toward the light coming from the living room, dialed a number, and spoke to someone.
Who was on the phone?” Kelli Keane asked.
“Just an acquaintance.”
“Why did you say you were at Annabel’s?”
Hamish smiled. “Because she’s in L.A., and if she knew I was here, well…”
“She would be displacing me in bed?”
Hamish turned toward her and took her in his arms. “No chance of that at all,” he said.
Kate came back and handed Holly her phone. “Thank you. I’ve had Langley track Hamish’s phone, and it puts him in Berkeley Square, London.”
Hamish went into the bathroom, taking his phone with him. He pressed a speed dial button, and the phone took a moment to connect.
“Yes?”
“It is I. Where are you parked?”
“Just outside Annabel’s.”
“Wait one hour, then go back to my address and park the car outside the house.”
“It will be done.”
Hamish flushed the toilet, then went back into the bedroom. “Where were we?” he asked, jumping into bed.