City of Liars and Thieves (29 page)
Read City of Liars and Thieves Online
Authors: Eve Karlin
I had imagined that the well would be damp, but the bricks were dry, more tan than red. They were narrow and small, but the well itself rose several feet above my head. The bricks on top were broken and rough. I gazed at my feet, wondering how far the hole descended, then looked straight ahead, knowing that Elma fought for her last breath inches from where I stood. I reached out, touching where Elma died and Caty mourned. It was a remarkable feeling, satisfying, yet sad.
In August 2014, more than six years after I first learned of the Manhattan Well and a handful of days before I was to return this manuscript to my publisher for the final time, I paid one last visit to the site where Elma died. The bistro that sat above the well was gone. 129 Spring Street was nearly invisible behind scaffolding and, while the façade seemed to be intact, the building had been gutted. The ground-floor plywood was stamped with white block letters that read
POST NO
BILLS,
but someone had spray-painted
The Love Child
in hot-pink script on either side of the makeshift door. The reference makes me wonder for the umpteenth time if Elma was pregnant when she died. A pair of black-and-white signs read
DANGER: DO NOT TRESPASS,
which also seemed strangely appropriate. Fifteen feet below, in the dark recesses of the basement, Elma's well awaits the future.
Courtesy of the author
The Manhattan Well
To Ally, Jason, and Ben
mentsI am grateful to my inspirational editor, Nina Shield, who helped me bring Caty and Elma back to life.
To my husband, Dave, who accompanied me on field trips to abandoned wells and cemeteries.
To my friend and witness Liz Rosenbaum.
To Carolyn Foley for her expertise and friendship, and to all the others who have lent their ears and support: Peggy Weiss, Linda Clark, Elizabeth Laytin, Shelley Lichtenstein, Christine Knapp, and my agent, Stephany Evans.
PHOTO: CECELIA FIORIELLO
E
VE
K
ARLIN
was born and raised in New York. She is a graduate of Colgate University, where she studied literature and creative writing. Karlin worked in publishing for more than a decade, in marketing at Random House, at
Newsweek
magazine, and, later, as a foreign book scout with clients in the United Kingdom, Italy, Holland, Brazil, and Japan. She has had several short stories published in
The East Hampton Star
and has been a contributing writer for Patch.com. She lives in East Hampton, New York, with her husband and their sixteen-year-old triplets.
City of Liars and Thieves
is her first book.
Every great mystery needs an Alibi
eOriginal mystery and suspense from Random House
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