“The bass,” Walter said, gesturing toward our shared wall. “It has been going on for three afternoons this week. My wife can hear it through the bedroom floor.”
I rubbed my temples again, trying to reconcile his words with the quiet apartment I had left that morning. “My mother is resting in the guest suite. She can barely walk down the hallway without her walker.”
“Well, someone is walking,” Walter said, tapping the silver pen faster. “And they are doing it in heels. It sounds like a parade is going on in there during the day.”
“I will talk to Jessica,” I said. “Perhaps she had a friend over.”
“It is more than one friend, Zayden,” Walter said. “I am just looking out for the building rules. The association is quite strict about excessive afternoon gatherings.”
Walter shrugged, a brief, impatient movement of his shoulders. “Anyway, I have a brief to file. Good luck with the surprise.”
He turned back toward his apartment, his keys jingling in his pocket. I stood in the corridor for a long moment, the hum of the central air conditioner overhead sounding unusually loud in the sudden silence.
I walked down the hallway to my door, pulling the brass-plated master key from my pocket. It slid into the lock smoothly, but as I turned it, a burst of laughter erupted from the other side.
I pushed the door open and stopped on the threshold.
The air in our foyer was thick with the heavy, sweet scent of expensive French perfume mixed with the greasy smell of reheated cooking oil. A high-pitched chorus of voices drifted from the living room, accompanied by the clink of glasses and the steady thump of a jazz record I had never heard before.
I looked down at the dark hardwood floor of the entryway.
Dozens of shoes were piled in a chaotic, sprawling mound against the baseboard. There were red patent-leather heels, expensive leather loafers, and suede boots, none of which belonged to my wife or my mother.
