“All right, someone will drive you to Rome now. You’ll be picked up tomorrow morning at eleven o’clock and driven to the American Embassy, which will issue you a new passport, then you will be driven to the airport. I’ll see that you have a seat on the two PM Alitalia flight to New York, and that a ticket is waiting for you. Is that satisfactory?”

“Most satisfactory,” Hedy said.

“You must remember that you will need to return to Rome for Casselli’s trial, in a few months.”

“All right, if I have to.”

“I’ll have your things at my Paris house overnighted to New York tomorrow,” Stone said. He handed her his telephone. “Now call Arthur.”

She took the phone and walked a few steps away. “How do I call the States?” she asked. Stone gave her the code. She was apparently connected quickly, because she spent the next three minutes talking rapidly, then hung up and handed Stone his phone. “Arthur is having me met.”

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” Stone asked.

“I’ll let you know if I think of something.”

“You have my number. Do you still have your cell phone?”

“Yes,” she said, patting her pocket. “And you wouldn’t believe where it’s been.”

Dante stepped up with his female officer. “This is Maria. She will drive you to Rome and your apartment. Are you ready to go?”

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to go,” she said. She grabbed a plate of food and a glass of wine from a kitchen counter. “Let’s go, Maria.”

Stone and Dante watched them walk to the elevator and go down. “What was that all about?” Dante asked.

“Hedy felt that we had taken too long to find her. I’ll explain it all tomorrow, if she’s speaking to me.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Dante said. “She’s pretty angry.”

“What’s going on over there?” Stone asked. Two of his men were sitting at the dining table, speaking to one of the male guests.

“We’re identifying all the men and checking our computer for arrest warrants. At the very least, we’ll be charging them with associating with criminals—that is, Casselli and the other guests. I believe we’ll net a couple of dozen convictions from this crowd.”

Dino walked up. “What’s going on? I just saw Hedy leave with a policewoman.”

“She’s upset with me, says I didn’t do enough to find her quickly.”

Dino shook his head. “Are you ready to get out of here? I don’t think they need us anymore.”

“I’ll get someone to drive you,” Dante said.

“It’s a pity you didn’t speak up sooner,” Stone said. “We could have ridden with Hedy.”

Dino laughed. “From the look of her, she’d probably go for my gun.”

“What about your drums?”