“And you, Jack,” Stone replied. He held Stephanie’s chair for her. And turned to find a very beautiful blonde, wearing a gold lamé sheath, standing behind him. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties.

“Good evening,” she said. “I’m Adele Lansdown.” She offered her hand.

Stone took it. “How do you do? I’m Stone Barrington.” He held her chair for her, then sat down, unable to believe his good luck.

“You,” she said, “are apparently the most eligible man at this shindig; otherwise, Stephanie would not have seated you next to me. She’s been trying to fix me up ever since my husband died.”

“I’m very sorry for your loss,” Stone said.

“Well,” Adele replied, “you’re about the only one who is.”

“Was he ill?”

“Only for about three seconds,” Adele replied. “He died of a gunshot wound.”

“Who shot him?” Stone asked.

“I did,” Adele replied.

Stone was taken aback for only a moment. “And yet you are a free woman. Or are you out on bail?”

She laughed. “I was not charged in his death,” she said.

“You must have had a good lawyer.”

“No, I had a black eye and a broken arm—the detectives in charge of the investigation deemed that sufficient evidence that I was defending myself.”

“I used to be a police detective,” Stone said, “and I would never have dreamed of arresting you.”

“Are you still?”

“No, I retired some years ago. I’m an attorney.”

“You went to law school after being a police officer?”

“Before,” Stone said. “I took the bar afterward.”

“At what firm are you?”

“I’m of counsel to Woodman & Weld.”

“A very fine firm,” she said. “I considered hiring them to deal with my husband’s estate.”

“I trust you found competent counsel.”

“I found them; whether they were competent is another matter. I wish I’d gone with your firm. What does ‘of counsel’ mean?”

“It means I’m not a partner, and I work from my own offices.”

“Hmmm,” she said. “Are you what they call a fixer?”

“I’ve been called worse,” Stone said, “but all attorneys are fixers, or at least they’d better be, if they want to hold on to their clients.”

“And what clients do you represent?” she asked.

“I range across the client list,” Stone replied, “but my principal responsibility is a company called Strategic Services.”

“Oh, I read an article in Vanity Fair about them last year,” she said. “Very interesting outfit.”

“They are, indeed.”

“I’m impressed, Mr. Barrington.”

“Stone.”

“And I’m Adele,” she said. “Perhaps we could talk later about Woodman & Weld handling my affairs.”

“I’d be happy to introduce you to the managing partner, Bill Eggers,” Stone said, “but I’m not sure I want a business relationship with you.”

“And why not?” she asked.

“I’d rather take you to dinner and discuss that,” Stone said.