“Did you check on the Rome flight?” she asked casually.

“Yes. Dino didn’t see Harkness. His name was on the manifest, though; that means someone used his ticket.”

“Probably a crew member.” She was buckling the belt of her trench coat.

“I can’t prove he wasn’t on the airplane, and, if he wasn’t, then I can’t prove where else he was. Not without your help.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not? If he murdered her, don’t you want him caught?”

She went into the bathroom and began putting on lipstick. “There’s something else you could look into, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Sasha gave him a very large amount of money; I’m not sure how much.”

Stone remembered the funds missing from Sasha’s accounts. “Could it have been as much as two million dollars?”

“Yes. She wanted it back, and he couldn’t come up with it.”

Motive, he thought. Finally, a solid motive. Harkness borrowed the money, then lost it somehow—gambling? Bad investments?

“Why did she give him the money?”

“To invest. Barron thinks of himself as God’s gift to Wall Street. Wall Street thinks of him that way, too; he’s lost millions in his time.” She put her makeup back into her purse and snapped it shut.

“How can I get in touch with you?”

“I told you before, you can’t. I’ll call you soon.” She was in the living room and opening the front door before he could move to stop her. She paused there and looked back. “You were wonderful,” she said. “You’re always wonderful.” She closed the door behind her.

He nearly went after her, then remembered he was naked.

When he got home, there was an invitation in the mail, postmarked Penn Station:

The pleasure of your company is requested for dinner, Saturday evening at nine. A car will call for you at eight thirty.         Black tie

A handwritten note was in a corner:

I so look forward to meeting you.

S.

Chapter

45

Stone spent a good part of the night restless in his bed, wondering how he could use the new information Cary had given him about Barron Harkness. He found a possible answer in the television column of the following morning’s New York Times:

BARKER GETS LATE-NIGHT SHOW

Hiram Barker, the writer and social gadfly, has landed his own interview show, Sunday nights at 11:30 P.M., on the Continental Network, beginning this Sunday. Barker, contacted for comment, said that negotiations had been going on for several weeks and that he expected to be able to attract guests who did not ordinarily give interviews.

Stone picked up the phone and called Hi Barker.

“Hello, Stone, how are you? I hear good things about you from Frank Woodman.”

“I’m very well, Hi. I see in this morning’s Times that you’ve landed a television show.”