Elaine walked back to Herbie’s table and slapped him on the back of the head. Stone could not hear what she was saying to him, but Herbie dipped into Sheila’s handbag and came up with a thick slice of hundreds. Elaine tucked the money into her bosom without a word and moved on to the table of another regular.

“This has always been such an interesting place,” Felicity said, sipping her Rob Roy.

Stone gazed with heartfelt lust at her pale red hair, her unblemished skin, and her very English but nevertheless sexy clothes. “You make it even more interesting,” he said.

Felicity patted him on the cheek. “Aren’t you sweet.”

“See anything outside, Dino?” Stone asked.

“A van, headed downtown,” Dino replied. “I didn’t have a shot. I called it in.” He looked at the floor beside the table. “Where’s the million bucks?”

Felicity spoke up. “Do you mean that there was actually a million dollars in that carrier bag?”

“It was Stone’s retainer,” Dino explained. “Herbie Fisher wanted legal representation.”

Felicity regarded Stone with a curious glance. “And you declined? This is not the Stone I know.”

“So,” Stone said, changing the subject, “what brings you to town, Felicity?”

“Her Majesty’s service,” she replied.

“Oh, come on,” Stone said. “Give us a hint.”

“We are not in the ‘hint’ business,” she said.

“Of course you are,” Stone said. “Hints are what you do. I mean, you never come right out and say anything; you just hint.”

“You may have noticed that I have not hinted. What on earth do you mean by refusing a fee of a million dollars?”

“You do remember Herbie, don’t you?”

“How could I forget him?” she asked. “Asked to take a photograph of an assignation from a rooftop, he fell through a skylight and broke both of one my colleague’s legs, as I recall. Of course, my colleague was already dead, but that hardly matters in the circumstances, does it?”

“It does not,” Stone said, “but you have just illustrated why I didn’t take Herbie’s money. It would have bought me ten million dollars’ worth of trouble.”

“Quite.”

“Would you like some dinner?”

“Yes, please. I couldn’t eat what they gave me at the Saudi UN embassy. I believe it was goat or something very like it.”

Stone signaled for a menu, and she glanced at it.

“Order for me, would you?”

“You’re starved?”

“Ravenous.”

Stone turned to the waiter. “Bring her the osso buco with polenta and a bottle of the Chianti Classico,” Stone said to the waiter.

“That’s goat, isn’t it?” Felicity asked. “Or something very like it?”

“You know very well that it’s veal,” Stone said.

“If you say so.”

“Excuse me a minute,” Dino said, and then headed for the men’s room.

“He’s being discreet,” Stone said. “He knows you want to talk to me about something.”