I have to revise a few chapters because I found that I changed a characters name in mid-stream. My OCD won't let that ride.

Chapter 87.

It didn't take me long to fill Johnny in on the conversation I'd had with his brother. I watched his face as I told him how anxious Peter was to reconnect with his kids. He seemed surprised, but not particularly convinced.

"I told him he could show his good faith by releasing their trust funds, not that they really need the money, but he doesn't know that. In fact, he doesn't know anything about what they've been trying to do."

Johnny nodded. "It would be interesting to find out what he's been doing this afternoon and evening, wouldn't you say?"

"Well, I suppose, but I doubt it will get us any closer to finding Jess and Nina."

"What about the restaurant where they had their meeting this afternoon?" Wilson asked. "We never did establish whether they showed up, or who the owners are."

We had let that slip, I knew, but mainly because no one knew where the meeting was supposed to be. "They had to have mentioned something to someone at least about what kind of restaurant it was."

"Perhaps my nephew knows something," Johnny said.

"Did he impress you as the sort of person they'd confide in?" My own opinion of Petey varied from neutral to negative, depending on the day of the week. "More likely they would have said something to Petey's estranged wife."

"Did you talk to Ellie?" Wilson asked.

"No, but maybe we should." I pulled out my phone and found her number in my contact list. As I punched it in, I thought about the fact that she'd been the starting point for where I was today. I wouldn't have met Jess if it hadn't been for Ellie and Christopher.

She picked up quickly. "Hello?"

"Ellie, it's Dr. House. I'm sorry to bother you at such a late hour."

"Not at all. Chris has been down for a while and I was just finishing putting all of his things away."

"The two of you are alone?"

"Well, yes. Who else did you think might be here?"

I was surprised Chase wasn't with her, but instead used the question to get to the reason for my call. "I thought Jess or Nina might have stopped by after all of their meetings today."

"No. I haven't seen either of them. Isn't Jess home?"

"Um, no." I tried to sound unconcerned. "Did you talk to them?"

"Well, Nina called around noon to tell me the meetings went well this morning. They clinched deals with a Japanese sushi place and a sandwich shop near the University. But you probably already knew that."

"Sure, sure. Uh, did she say anything about the place they were going this afternoon?"

"The Melting Pot? Only that they liked the idea of adding a fondu place to the others, but if it didn't work out, they were none the worse off."

"Of course." As I talked to Ellie, my mind was racing. Where had I heard that name before, The Melting Pot? "Well, gotta go. Bye, Ellie." I ended the connection and turned to Wilson and Johnny. "What do either of you know about The Melting Pot? It's a fondu place in downtown Princeton."

Wilson nodded. "Yeah, I've been there a couple of times."

"What about it?" Johnny asked.

I opened the browser on my phone and typed in the name. "That's where they were going this afternoon. Seems to me I read something about the place lately."

"Isn't that the place where they found a cook in the back alley, stabbed to death?" It figured Wilson would know that.

"Yeah, here's the story." I'd found the link to it on my phone. "The cops decided it was a mugging, nothing to do with the restaurant."

Johnny shook his head. "I'm not familiar with the place, and I don't remember the incident."

I handed him my phone so he could read it. "Does this ring any bells?"

He read through it and returned the phone to me. "There was a murder in Trenton soon after I arrived in the States. The Maitre d' at a seafood restaurant was found stabbed in the early hours of the morning, and it, too, was attributed to a mugging." He shook his head. "But I heard stories that it was retaliation. The owner of the restaurant had swindled an investor. Unfortunately, the investor had connections. The man who was killed was the brother of the owner."

I felt the blood drain from my face.

Wilson swallowed loudly. "So what do we do? We can't go to the cops with this."

"If Jess and Nina are missing for a long enough time, we could. But that might be too late."

"But why would anyone target them?" Wilson asked.

I shrugged. "Who knows what either of them might have said that was taken in the wrong way?" I puffed out my lips. "How do we find out who owns the place?" I asked Johnny.

"Let me make a few calls. I still can't believe this can't be settled quickly without anyone getting hurt." He stood. "I'll be right back."

We watched him go, then Wilson turned to me. "Do you believe him? That he's not connected in some way?"

"We have to believe that he'll do whatever he can to help his nieces, whether he's connected or not." I fiddled with my coffee spoon. "If I thought it would help, I'd go over to that restaurant right now."

"Why not? We should do that anyway." Wilson started to stand up. "We can demand to know what happened to them, who they talked to this afternoon and when they left, if they did."

"It's not the worst idea you ever had." But I remained seated. "Let's see what Johnny finds out first, then we'll drive over there."

Wilson sat down again. Twice he started to say something, but seemed to think better of it.

Finally, Johnny returned. He tossed a sheet of paper on the table as he sat down heavily. "The restaurant is owned by the Bertoli family. The incident you mentioned earlier was the only time there was anything unsavory associated with them or any of their enterprises."

"House and I are going over there to find out if Nina and Jess ever showed up this afternoon."

Johnny nodded. "That's certainly a reasonable question to ask." He tapped the paper. "I'm going with you. They're my nieces and I have to be sure they're alright."

"We don't want anyone there to think we're suspicious of them," I warned.

"Oh, no. Nothing like that. Just that they didn't arrive home and we're retracing their steps." Johnny smiled. "We'll keep it very pleasant and make no accusations." He motioned to the waiter to clear the table, then stood again and led us out the back way. "I'll take my own car, if you don't mind."

"That's fine."

We drove to downtown Princeton with Johnny following. The GPS didn't get us too lost. Half an our later, we'd parked a few doors down from the restaurant, and Johnny found a parking place across the street.

"Perhaps I should take the lead," he said when we met him in front of the place.

I thought about it, looked at Wilson, and nodded. He opened the front door and stepped inside. We weren't far behind.

A hostess greeted us. "Table for three?"

Johnny glanced at us and quickly came to a decision. "No, we're not here to dine. I wonder, is the manager here this evening by any chance? Might I have a word with him?" I knew he could be suave.

She smiled at him. "I'll see whether Mr. Bertoli is free." She led us to a bench near the entrance. "Please wait here. I won't be long." I sat and looked around. The customers were all well-dressed, talking quietly over pots of boiling liquids and periodically dipping pieces of meat, cheese or bread into them before popping them into their mouths. I'd never been partial to fondu, but I knew there were plenty of people who were.

After a few minutes, the hostess returned with a tall, imposing man in an expensive-looking dark-gray suit. "You wished to speak with me?" He looked from one of us to the others.

Johnny stood again and faced him. "Yes. We wondered if you'd seen my nieces earlier today. Nina and Jessica Giordano." He went on to describe them.

I watched Bertoli's face for any sign of recognition, but there was none. When Johnny stopped, he shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know them. You say they were here this afternoon?"

I joined the conversation. "They had an appointment to talk to someone about offering catering services using your restaurant to supply the food."

"I know nothing about that, but they would have seen our assistant manager if they were here." He turned to the hostess. "Is Julio here?"

"I believe he took the evening off."

Bertoli spread his hands out. "You'll have to return tomorrow, I'm afraid."

"Don't you have a way we can contact Julio now?" Johnny wasn't about to give up so easily.

Bertoli shook his head. "I'm afraid we can't give out personal information about our employees."

"You seem to be afraid of lots of things," I commented.

He frowned at me and sighed. "Miranda, are any of the staff who were here earlier still on duty?"

"No, Mr. Bertoli. But I think Luca is still in the back office."

Bertoli nodded. "Yes, I saw him earlier." He sighed again. "Come with me." He led us to the back of the restaurant. On the right side were the swinging doors to the kitchen and in the center was a hallway with a sign indicating the restrooms were in that direction. We continued past the restrooms to a door on the left with a large 'Private' sign on it.