## JAMES PATTERSON

"Why?" she asked when she got to speak to Carter directly. "He's sensitive about the young women. And we still get to run most of the piece."

In her notebook, Ward wrote down the rest of what Carter had said: "I believe him," he told her. "I'm Canadian."

But the piece that came out, in the March issue, still created a sensation. It was called "The Talented Mr. Epstein" in a sly refer- ence to Patricia Highsmith's celebrated suspense novel The Tal- ented Mr. Ripley. The film adaptation, by Anthony Minghella, was still fresh in the minds of Vanity Fair's readers. For Graydon Carter, just posing the question Is Epstein some sort of scam artist, like Ripley? had been question enough. And throughout the piece, there were ironies readers wouldn't miss as they drew their own conclusions about Epstein's life story. It came through clearly in the first line of the last paragraph of Ward's 7,500-word story: "Many people comment there is something innocent, almost childlike about Jeffrey Epstein."

In context, the word innocent was rather ironic-so much so that it almost became its own opposite.

Todd Meister: June 20

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{"people":["james patterson","patricia highsmith","anthony minghella","graydon carter","jeffrey epstein","todd meister"]}