“I’ll drop by the precinct on the way home and file this,” he said, folding it and tucking it into a pocket.

“I’ll have to arrange some ER entertainment for you fellows some evening soon,” Eliza said.

“You don’t want to do that,” Dino said. “Stone can’t stand the sight of blood.”

“I can so, as long as it’s not mine,” Stone retorted, “but I’d just as soon not watch people suffer, unless you can get Devlin Daltry admitted for grievous wounds. That I’d like to watch.”

“Devlin Daltry, the sculptor?” she asked.

“One and the same.”

“He was the one you just had arrested?”

“For making terroristic threats,” Dino said. “He threatened to put Stone in a wheelchair.”

“I know a woman who went out with him a couple of times,” Eliza said.

“With what result?”

“She broke it off, and he stalked her for weeks. Her name is Genevieve James; she works at the hospital.”

“How long ago was this?” Stone asked.

“Late last year, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. She had to leave town for the holidays in order to have any peace.”

“I’d like to talk to her,” Dino said. “Do you think she’d testify to all this in court?”

“I doubt it,” Eliza said. “She was pretty shaken up by the whole business. But I’ll ask her.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Stone said. “I’m representing another woman who’s had major problems with Daltry. She fears for her life, and I had to get her out of town.”

“Well, I hope you can put the creep away,” Eliza said, returning to her drink.

Stone returned to his second bourbon.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“A whole lot better,” Stone said, raising his glass. “Ah, the wonders of medical science.”

“So you’re a lawyer?” she asked.

“That’s debatable,” Dino said. “‘Disreputable lawyer’ would be more like it.”

“That’s a dirty Communist lie,” Stone said. “I mean, you’ve got to have a disreputable client or two to make a living. After all, they’re the ones who need lawyers.”

“Are you telling me you can’t make a living representing reputable people?” Eliza asked.

“Well, reputable people occasionally sue or get sued, or get divorced, but that’s not likely to lead to a protracted trial, the kind that runs up billable hours.”

“When was the last time you had a protracted trial?” Dino asked.

“That’s beside the point,” Stone replied. “I’m simply replying to your baseless charge of disrepute by using an illustration.”

“It says Woodman and Weld on your card,” Eliza pointed out. “That’s a very reputable firm.”

“Yeah,” Dino said, “and they stay that way by handing off the disreputable clients to Stone.”