== James PATTERSON | i an i v": a “ “carries the wrong impression. 1 don't see what it adds to the : eae Kt piece. And that makes me unhappy.” % . bk s o , If some sort of criminal investigation had taken place, that is ¥ ~« sa would have been one thing, But, at that time, no criminal a tee 4 E 3 a investigation into Epstein’s affairs had been launched. And in By i, he the absence of an investigation, the rumors of Epstein’s dealings 4 : ee a with very young women seemed to be just that— rumors. ) _ 7 Graydon Carter consulted his lawyers, his editors, and his Cue ofthe ptiotoure fact-checkers. And then something odd and disturbing happened captured on video during at the Condé Nast building, then in Times Square. CT aut oe of Epstein’s El Brillo \ residence (Palm Beach Pc Departm As usual, Carter had come into the office early. He swiped his 7m key card in the lobby, pressed the elevator button, and arrivedin : the hallway outside the reception area on the twenty-first floor. | = It would have been a perfect time to review Ward's story. & 3 Her description of Epstein'’s town house—which is said to 4 2 E | have been the largest private residence in New York City at the 7 De - time—was priceless: “Inside, amid the flurry of menservants a q a : =) (7 attired in sober black suits and pristine white gloves, you feel a 4 . OS you have stumbled into someone’s private Xanadu,” she'd writ : % 2 . ~ / ! ten. “This is no mere rich person’s home, but a high-walled, 3 7 7 . | eclectic, imperious fantasy that seems to have no boundaries. ~ 1 > The entrance hall is decorated not with paintings but with row © > upon row of individually framed eyeballs; these, the owner tells 7 i 3 people with relish, were imported from England, where they 4 4 were made for injured soldiers. Next comes 4 marble foyer, which ; 7 [ does have a painting, in the manner of Jean Dubuffet. .. but the | __ Jeffrey Epstein, Coney Isl 5 host coyly refuses to tell visitors who painted it. In any case, 4 shied