“We’ll have to see about that. She also wants to take up the option she has on two pieces of property adjoining her estate in Bel-Air, so you might speak to Chase about extending her line of credit another one hundred million, just in case.”

“Will do. I have some paperwork on the property option; it came to us yesterday, along with her other files from her former attorney. I’ll take care of it.”

“The option expires soon, so time is of the essence.”

“Got it. Bye.” Eggers hung up.

“Okay,” Stone said to Dino. “Let’s have some lunch and then run down to Parker Center and see this guy in jail.”

23

Stone signed in at Metro Jail and sat down to wait to be called. The waiting room was jammed, mostly lawyers and women, many with children. Half an hour later Stone was shown to a lawyers’ meeting room, apparently a courtesy that Harvey Stein had requested.

James Long was shown into the room by a guard and had his handcuffs removed. He was a tall, slender man in his fifties with graying hair and the start of a beard. He was wearing the standard orange jumpsuit. They shook hands.

“Mr. Barrington? Harvey Stein said you were coming to talk to me. I’m glad to see you; it’s good to talk to anybody besides my cellmate.”

“I understand,” Stone replied. “I hope you’re being treated well.”

“Not especially,” Long said. “I’m in here, not because I’ve committed a crime, but because they want me to rat out my friend Barbara Eagle. Funny thing is, I don’t have any knowledge of what they say she did. All I did was meet her in Mexico and fly her to Yuma, where she left us. In the process, she, of course, met my pilot, and it’s that introduction that they’re holding me on as an accessory. Somebody murdered him in his home, so he can’t back me up.”

“I hear Barbara escaped from jail down there,” Stone said.

“I didn’t know that. She called and asked me to meet her in Acapulco, and I did. We spent a couple of days there, then came back to this country. I don’t even know where she went after Yuma. In any case, she’s managed to get herself a pardon in Mexico, so she’s not wanted for anything. The LAPD has gone nuts over this business, and she’s not even in L.A.; she’s in San Francisco.”

“Has your attorney explained all this to the D.A.?”

“Of course he has, but they don’t want to listen to the truth; they just want a witness against Barbara. Harvey is filing for a writ of habeas corpus to get me out.”

“Well, good luck. In the meantime I have some good news. A client of mine is interested in buying your shares in Centurion Studios.”

“What is he offering?”

“It’s a she, and she’s offering twenty-five hundred dollars a share.”