“And so am I,” she said. She stopped talking while their lunch was served. “In a manner of speaking,” she said, when the waiter had left.

“I should think you would have cooled off considerably,” Stone said. “After all, you’re dead.”

“Being dead has its advantages,” she said, “but if you run into someone you used to know, it can come as a shock to them.”

“Has that happened to you?”

“From time to time, but I’ve always managed to duck out before we came face-to-face.”

“I think I prefer you as a blonde, though.”

She laughed. “I’m probably the only redhead in Palm Beach with blond roots.”

“So you’re finding it a strain, being dead?”

“I’d rather be alive.”

“Well, there is the insurance company,” Stone said.

“That’s why I called you. I want you to represent me in squaring things with those people.”

Stone blinked. “You mean you want to give them back their twelve million dollars?”

“Of course not,” she said. “Well, not all of it. I thought you might negotiate a settlement. What do you think the chances are of that?”

“I think the insurance company would be very surprised to get any of their money back.”

“How little do you think I could give them?”

“Who knows? After they get over their initial shock, they’ll probably begin to wonder who wants to give it to them. After all, both the culprits are dead.”

“I read about your part in sending Paul back to St. Marks,” she said.

“I hope you derived some satisfaction from that,” Stone replied. “After all, he could have stopped your ‘execution’ at any time, and he didn’t.”

She shrugged. “Well, that’s all in the past, isn’t it?”

“Apparently not, if you’re still suffering the after-effects.”

“Stone, I’ve always been an honest person. You mustn’t think I’m some sort of career criminal.”

“I don’t. I’ve always thought it was Paul’s idea to screw the insurance company.”

“It was. Of course, I went along with it, after he’d spent a few months persuading me. Who knew it would end the way it did?”

“Did you love him?”

“Oh, God, did I love him, and for years! It had begun to wear off, though, by the time we hatched the plot. My plan was to take half the money and kiss Paul goodbye.” She smiled. “That’s when I fell into your bed.”

“As I recall, it was your bed, but it hardly matters. I had just had the shock of my girl running off with somebody else, so I was easy.”

“Yes, you were,” she said, her voice low. “Maybe, now that I’m going to be legal again, we could see something of each other.”