M. Gessen

$50,000, half up front, half upon completion.

As a show of good faith, Alan gave David a gold coin.

He'd been carrying it around in his wallet.

They googled its market price, $1,950.

The undercover agent agreed to round up.

So Alan would now need to transfer $23,000 for the job to get done and another $25,000 when it was over.

The contract was for consulting.

And once again, the undercover agent gets Alan to reconfirm that he really wants to go through with having Priscilla killed.

Alan is good with the final solution.

A few days after this meeting, Alan and Lena brought the children to the fourth birthday party for my brother's kid in Brooklyn.

The theme of the party was Frozen.

It was the first time I saw Alan after he and Priscilla reached their custody agreement.

And the first time I didn't feel at all conflicted about spending time with them.

It was all above board now.

Priscilla was on her way to New York, too, to spend a few days in the city with O and L. I noticed that Alan and Lena were unusually subdued during the party.

The party was at a playground.

Kids ran on sprinklers and then ate frozen cake, and the birthday child changed in and out of frozen dresses.

Alan and Lena, who brought their poodle, took turns sitting on a bench just outside the playground with the dog, because dogs weren't allowed inside the fence.

And, Alan explained, while he was awaiting trial on the kidnapping charge, he had to be on his best behavior.

He also asked me and my brother Keith, who's also a writer, for advice on selling a memoir of his weeks in jail.