The last of the lunch crowd lingered over their espressos in the Grill Room of the Four Seasons. Getting a table was easy, since half the crowd had gone back to their offices. Stone and Dino ordered salads and omelettes and a couple of glasses of wine.

“How’d La Biche come to be in Elaine’s at exactly the time you were?” Stone asked.

“She came in looking for you.”

“What?”

“I kid you not. She came in, took a seat at the bar, ordered dinner, and whipped out that Page Six clipping about you representing Herbie Fisher. Asked the bartender who you were.”

“Did he tell her?”

“I don’t know. I was pretty busy. Elaine called me at home and told me somebody was asking about you, so I disappointed my wife, who was snuggled up to me at the time, and got my ass over there in a hurry. There she was, sipping a brandy.”

Stone thought about this.

“So why’d you want to have lunch? I had the feeling you had something on your mind.”

“Something’s brewing with our British friends,” Stone said.

“Oh, yeah?”

“The big cheese arrived from London and has called a meeting of his people.”

“Why do I care about this?” Dino asked.

“Because I think there’s about to be a rumble on your turf.”

“What kind of rumble?” Dino asked.

“Think about it.”

“What, I have to guess?”

“That’s what I’m doing. Anybody call you this afternoon? Any Brits, I mean?”

“Nope. Should I expect to hear from them?”

“I don’t think so,” Stone replied.

“Come on, Stone, what has Carpenter told you?”

“Only that there’s a meeting.”

“And what do you think is going to be the subject of that meeting?”

“Don’t be obtuse, Dino.”

“Okay, I know the subject. What are they going to do?”

“I think they’re going to hunt her down and kill her,” Stone said.

“Right here in New York City?”

“Yes. Of course, they may only want to kidnap and torture her, but I think the chances of taking the lady alive are nil.”

Dino chewed his salad and thought about it. “Okay,” he said finally.

“What do you mean, okay?”

“I mean, it’s okay with me if they hunt her down and kill her, or just kidnap and torture her.”

“Jesus, Dino, you’re a New York City police lieutenant. Are you going to let that happen?”

“Yep,” Dino said, sipping his wine.

“We’re talking about murder, Dino. You’re supposed to take a dim view of that.”

“You’re such a wuss, Stone,” Dino said.

“No, I’m not. I’m just opposed to murder in the streets of my hometown.”

“Well, I’m sure that when the murderers hear about that, there’ll be a dramatic drop in the homicide rate,” Dino replied.

“Dino, you’ve got to do something.”