The group exchanged small talk for a while, then Stone excused himself and Holly. “We’d better change for dinner,” he said. Everybody made moves in that direction. They followed a crewman below and forward to a cabin with a carved rose on the door. Inside, their clothes had been put away, and their luggage had disappeared. The cabin was large, sporting a plush sofa before a fireplace and a king-sized bed. There were fine oil paintings of yachts and yacht clubs on the wall.

Holly leaped onto the bed. “Perfect!” she said.

“We’ll see,” Stone replied. “What do you think of our fellow guests on the cruise?”

“Oh, I think this is going to be such fun!” Holly said, bouncing up and down on the bed.

19

DINNER STARTED WITH about half a cup each of the first beluga caviar Stone had seen in years. It was almost impossible to find, legally, just about anywhere but in Iran or Russia, and nobody was leaving any on his plate.

They proceeded to an enormous porterhouse steak, about four inches thick, carved at tableside, and the wine was a 1978 Château Lafite-Rothschild, decanted and waiting.

“We are indebted to Clint and Lily Holder for our food and wine this evening,” St. Clair said, “and a good thing, since I was going to give you pizza and wine from a screw-top bottle.”

They all toasted the Holders.

Stone couldn’t help noticing that the casino man, Ozick, was wearing diamond studs and cuff links of about three carats each with his dinner suit, which sported little threads of gold woven into the fabric. His wife, Cassandra, who was forty years younger than he, was wearing a skin-tight dress sewn with rhinestones, if they weren’t actually diamonds. Just the thing for a cruise of the Maine islands.

The Holders, however, were dressed elegantly and with more reserve, though Lily’s diamond necklace attracted attention, and Clint’s studs were tiny oil derricks, encrusted with pavé diamonds.

“Barrington,” Clint Holder said, around a chunk of steak, “I’ve never heard of you. What do you do?”

“I’m a partner in the New York law firm of Woodman & Weld,” Stone replied, “and I serve on a couple of boards.”

“I know your firm,” Holder said. “A hothouse of flaming liberals.”

“I don’t think the partners would take too much exception to that, except for the ‘flaming’ part, but the practice of law is pretty conservative, though some of our clients are not.”

“What boards are you on?” Holder demanded, as if this were a job interview.

“The Steele Insurance Group and Strategic Services. I also serve on the board of the Arrington Hotel Group, of which I am a principal.”

“Ah!” Holder said. “We stayed at your L.A. hotel a few months back, and it was damned fine!”

“I’m glad you had a good experience,” Stone replied.