“Could you believe it when Chico told us her name? She’s all over everywhere in this town.”

“I’m just reading the transcript of her murder trial. She must have had one hell of a lawyer to get off.” Pam’s phone rang, and she picked it up. “Pam Hale, talk fast.”

A man laughed. “Pam, it’s Hugh Gordon. How are you?”

“Just great, Hugh. How do I rate a phone call from the Great Gordon?”

He laughed again.

“You’ve got to be pitching something.”

“This is more in the nature of a public service,” Gordon said. “An acquaintance of mine, a woman of unimpeachable character, a patron of the arts and a philanthropist, is being pursued by her ex-husband, who has made repeated attempts on her life.”

“Gee, Hugh, that sounds just awful. Who is she?”

“Before I can tell you that, I want to know if you’ll interview her for your weekend show.”

“I can’t tell you that until I know who she is, Hugh.”

“So we’re at loggerheads?”

“Come on, Hugh, you can’t expect me to commit to a major interview with someone whose name I don’t know.”

“All right, but this is in the strictest confidence.”

“Of course, Hugh, it always is.”

“Her name is Barbara Grosvenor, formerly Barbara Eagle.”

“Oh, sure, she’s social dynamite with all that money. Who’s trying to kill her?”

“The ex-husband’s name is Ed Eagle. He’s a big-time attorney out of Santa Fe, does a lot of trial work on the West Coast.”

“I’ll Google him and see what I find.”

“You won’t get the good stuff on Google—you’ll get that only from interviewing Barbara.”

“Okay, I’m in,” Pam said. “I’ll have to talk to my producer, but he pretty much follows my lead.”

“Call me back within the hour, and we’ll schedule.” Gordon hung up.

Pam hung up, too. “You’re not going to believe this,” she said to Sherry. “Hugh Gordon is flogging interviews with the lady! Excuse me,” she said, getting up and smoothing her skirt. “I’ve got to run this by Ron right now to get her on the weekend show.” She took off, running down the hallway.

Chapter 46

Late in the afternoon, as Stone was reading a book in his library, the phone rang, and he picked up. “Stone Barrington.”

“It’s Ed. I just want you to know that I’ve already hired a publicist, and he’s coming to Santa Fe tomorrow with a camera crew.”

“That sounds great, Ed.”