Art wanted to ask more about Mexico, but he wasn't sure if that was tactful at this exact moment, so he sat on Ben's desk instead. "Yeah," he said, "Maybe she's friends with Meredith Watchword. For some value of the word friends, I guess."

Of course, if Ellory had told anyone - even a friend - then things could have reproduced and multiplied from there, the truth reaching someone who knew someone who knew Ben had seen Bella Scrimgeour, and maybe that someone was Meredith Watchword. Arthur was well familiar with the way a scandal could develop.

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