“Surely Prince would be bidding for them, too,” Stone said.

“And if he got them, he’d have a majority,” Rick pointed out.

“I think what we have to do,” Stone said, “is canvas all the other share owners and see if we can buy another bloc or two that would give us fifty-one percent.”

“Let me talk to some of them and see if they would rather sell to us than Prince.”

“It would be in their interests, wouldn’t it, to keep the studio operating as it is now?”

“Certainly, for some of them who want to continue to make pictures. I’ll start on that tomorrow morning and get back to you.” Rick looked around. “In fact, I’ve seen a couple of them here tonight; perhaps I’ll get an opportunity to speak to them.”

“Good idea,” Stone said. “Face-to-face might work best.”

They worked their way through the line for dinner, and Stone found a large table. Arrington left Prince and rejoined him.

“What did you think of Mr. Prince?” Stone asked her.

“Oh, he’s charming,” she said. “I knew he would be. I wouldn’t trust him any farther than I could throw him, though.”

“What good instincts you have,” Stone said, laughing. “I was in line with Rick and Glenna Barron, and he’s going to talk with some of the other shareholders about our buying their shares. I think we’ve got a shot at this, starting with those owned by Jennifer Harris’s estate.”

“If you say so,” Arrington said. “As long as I don’t have to sell other securities.”

“Something I think you should do,” Stone said, “is to take up the option on the four acres adjoining your property here. I think that addition would make your acreage much more valuable.”

“Vance got those options just before he died,” Arrington said. “There are two parcels of one point eight and two point two acres, both with very nice houses on them. The owners are elderly and would probably like to move into some sort of assisted facilities. The prices are very good, too, given the appreciation of real estate in this neighborhood. I’d have to pay, let’s see, about eighteen million for the two.”

“When do the options expire?” Stone asked.

“Quite soon, I think; I’m not certain of the date.”

“We’ll get Woodman & Weld on that tomorrow,” Stone said. “We don’t want to miss this opportunity.”

Dino came and sat down at their table. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you earlier,” he said, “but I talked to Sergeant Rivera this afternoon, and he’s going to arrest Prince’s driver tomorrow.”

“What for?” Arrington asked.

“For the murder of Jennifer Harris,” Dino replied.

“We think Prince had her killed to get hold of her shares,” Stone said.

“Prince plays that rough?” Arrington asked.

“We believe so.”

“Should I be worried?”

“No, harming you wouldn’t help him. Your shares would go into the trust for Peter, and I’ll be his trustee. The Woodman & Weld trust department is already working on the documents.”