I wanted to tell her she shouldn’t have been so rude the last time I came to call, but by then, the impulse seemed petty.
* * *
Roger Angstrom got his story—actually, several stories—on the life and death of Tadzio Buczek, on Eliz Pritz, now dubbed the Black Widow of Remsenburg, and one on me. I cooperated as much as I thought client confidentiality would allow, but told him that would have to be the end of it. I apologized for any behavior that might have misled him into thinking I had any personal interest. In doing so, I reaffirmed my heart-and-soul commitment to Harry Goodlander, who, thank God, never had to know such a thing was ever in doubt.
I was at his house the night Long Island broke the all-time record for both snowfall and continuous cold temperatures. We’d set up a double bed in the living room so we could lie there and sip Champagne, nibble on pâté, and watch what turned out to be the last big blizzard of the year.
“Maybe Armageddon’s not so bad,” I said.
“Adaptability. Humans are good at it.”
“We’re also good at selfishness and cruelty.”
“Only a few of us. Statistically, you’re far more likely to encounter acts of kindness.”
“Ever the optimist,” I said.
“Glass half full.”
“That can be remedied,” I said, using the Champagne bottle to top it off.
Also by Chris Knopf
Bad Bird
Short Squeeze
Black Swan
Hard Stop
Head Wounds
Two Time
The Last Refuge
About the Author
Chris Knopf is the author of two previous Jackie Swaitkowski mysteries, Bad Bird and Short Squeeze, and the Sam Acquillo mystery series, including The Last Refuge, Two Time, Head Wounds (which won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Mystery), Hard Stop, and Black Swan, as well as the stand-alone novel Elysiana. He lives with his wife, Mary, in Avon, Connecticut, and Southampton, New York.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS.
ICE CAP. Copyright © 2012 by Chris Knopf. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover illustration by Simon Williams
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Knopf, Chris.
Ice cap : a mystery / Chris Knopf. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Thomas Dunne book.”
ISBN 978-1-250-00517-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-01425-2 (e-book)
1. Women lawyers—Fiction. 2. Hamptons (N. Y.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3611.N66I28 2012
813'.6—dc23
2012005481
e-ISBN 9781250014252
First Edition: June 2012