“Daltry found her very quickly,” Stone said. “She didn’t even know she was coming out here until this morning. I talked to her around six o’clock, after the bronze head was delivered to my office, and she was certain he wouldn’t be able to learn where she was.”

Sample’s cell phone rang, and he talked for a moment, then closed it. “The NYPD found Daltry at an opening for another artist in downtown Manhattan. Witnesses put him there from six o’clock onward. There were no grounds for an arrest.”

“Then he has an accomplice,” Stone said. “He had me run down by a car last week when he had established an alibi elsewhere.”

“We’ll run down all his contacts and see if we can isolate a suspect who doesn’t have an alibi. I don’t think we need keep you any longer, Stone. Thanks for coming out here. You, too, Dr. Larkin.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help,” she said.

They left the dining room and walked outside. The corpse had been removed from the front porch, and an ambulance was driving away from the house.

“A neighborhood kid spotted it,” Sample said. “The porch light was on.” They had started down the steps, but Sample pulled Stone back, out of Eliza’s earshot. “Stone, were you fucking her?”

“Yes, but we’d only known each other a short time.”

“I’ll try to keep that out of the record, since it doesn’t seem relevant.”

“Thanks, Charley,” Stone said. The two men shook hands, and Stone and Eliza walked back to his car.

No one spoke for another ten minutes, then Eliza said, “You don’t lead a dull life, do you?”

“Sometimes it’s not dull enough,” Stone replied.

They went back to Eliza’s apartment, and she warmed up dinner.

“The wine is delicious,” she said.

“Everything is delicious,” he replied.

When they had finished, he helped with the dishes, then made to leave, but she held him back.

“Stay with me tonight,” she said. “You’re still in shock; you shouldn’t be alone.” She led him into the bedroom, undressed them both and pulled him into bed.

They lay there in each other’s arms, hardly moving, until they finally fell asleep.

The following morning she made them breakfast, then walked Stone to the door.

“We can’t see each other for a while,” he said.

“Why not?”

“Because this Daltry thing isn’t over. If he learned about you, you might become a target, and I don’t want that to happen. I took a lot of precautions to see that I wasn’t followed here tonight, but I can’t go on doing that; it’s too dangerous.”

“I understand,” she said, standing on her tiptoes and kissing him. “I’ll wait for you to call me when this is over.”

“I hope it’s soon,” Stone said.