Michael O’Hara meets and is captivated by Elsa Bannister as she is riding in a horse-drawn carriage through Central Park in New York. After they part, he hears her scream and rescues her from muggers. He learns about her past and talks about his. She offers him a job as a crew member on board her yacht. Later he meets George Grisby and Sidney Broome, from whom he learns that Elsa is married to Arthur Bannister, a renowned San Francisco lawyer.
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