Stone sat down, and immediately he heard another man’s voice coming from an adjoining room through an open door. “Bill?” the voice said. “Come on in.”

Eggers stood up. “I’m sorry,” he said to Stone, “but there’s no time. Just listen a lot and follow my lead. Say yes to anything he says.”

“Not if he propositions me,” Stone said, but Eggers was already leading the way into the next room. Stone followed, and a very tall, very slender man in his mid-thirties came around a desk and shook Eggers’s hand. “How are you, Bill?”

“Very well, Thad,” Eggers replied. “Let me introduce a colleague of mine. This is Stone Barrington. Stone, this is Thad Shames.”

“How do you do?” Stone said, shaking the man’s hand. He knew just enough about him to know who he was, but no more than that. Software came into the equation, and multimillions. Stone didn’t follow finance or business very closely.

“Good to meet you, Stone,” Shames said. “Bill says you can solve my problem?”

Stone glanced at Eggers. “Yes,” he said, more confidently than he felt. Shames was dressed in a nicely cut dark suit, but his shirt seemed to have been laundered but not pressed. His tie was loose, and the button-down collar’s tips were not buttoned. Shames waved them both to a pair of facing sofas and, as he sat down and crossed his legs, revealed that he was also wearing a battered pair of suede Mephisto’s, a French athletic shoe. His blond, nearly pink hair was curly and tousled and had not been cut for months. He was clean-shaven, but Stone doubted that he could raise a beard.

“I’ve got a press conference at the Waldorf in an hour,” Shames said, “so I’ll make this as quick as I can.”

Stone and Eggers nodded automatically, like mechanical birds.

“I’ve met this spectacular woman,” Shames said, then waited for a reaction.

“Good,” Eggers replied.

“Yes,” Stone said.

“I think I’m in love.”

The two lawyers nodded gravely.

“Congratulations,” Eggers said.

“Yes,” Stone echoed.

“This is a lot more important than I’m making it sound,” Shames said, grinning. “I’ve never been married, and, well . . .”

Not getting laid, Stone thought. Horny. Vulnerable rich guy.

“Anyway, she’s just spectacular. I feel so lucky.”

He doesn’t realize yet she’s taken him, Stone thought.

“What’s her name?” Eggers asked.

“That’s just the thing,” Shames said, blushing. “I’m not sure I know.”

“When did you meet her?” Eggers asked.

“Last weekend.”

“Where?”

“In the Hamptons.”

“At this time of the year?”

“Oh, it’s getting awfully chic out there in winter, now,” Shames replied. “All the most interesting people go out there on winter weekends. You don’t have to put up with the summer tourists and all their traffic.”

“Sounds great,” Eggers said. “Who introduced you to, ah, her?”