Stone tried not to sound annoyed. “Please take a note to Mr. Harkness. Tell him Detective Stone Barrington would like to speak with him at once, and that it’s important.”

“I’m sorry, but—”

“Please do it now. This is police business.”

The woman hesitated. “All right,” she said finally. “What is your number?”

“I’ll hold.”

An irritating minute passed, then: “Barron Harkness.”

“Mr. Harkness, this is Stone Barrington. I’m at your apartment building, and I want your permission to enter Sasha Nijinsky’s apartment. The doorman insists on speaking with you before allowing entry.”

“But why?” Harkness asked. “Sasha never moved into the apartment; there’s nothing there. Legally, she didn’t even own the apartment; she was supposed to have closed on it the morning after she…”

“It appears that a moving company followed instructions she gave before her disappearance and moved her belongings into the apartment. The doorman let them in.”

Harkness hesitated, then spoke. “I’ll be right over there,” he said, and hung up before Stone could speak further.

Stone replaced the receiver and turned to Dino. “Harkness is coming over here.”

“Why?” Dino asked.

“Who knows? Maybe he’s being protective of his building’s reputation.”

The doorman spoke up. “That sounds like Mr. Harkness,” he said. “He and the board are very picky about what goes on here. That’s why I wouldn’t let you in. It woudda been my job, y’know.”

Stone nodded, then joined Dino on a sofa in the lobby to wait for Harkness.

They didn’t have to wait long. A black Lincoln Town Car pulled up at the curb, and Harkness strode into the building. He shook hands with Stone and was introduced to Dino. “All right,” he said, “let’s get this over with. I’ve got to get back to the office.”

“We don’t really need you for this,” Stone said, “if you’d like to go back now.”

Harkness fished a letter from an inside pocket and handed it to Stone. It was from a midtown law firm.

“You’re her executor?” Stone asked. “But we don’t even know that she’s dead.”

“I got the letter this morning; it was the first I’d heard of it.” He shrugged. “I guess I’m representing Sasha in this,” he said, “so, unless you want to get a search warrant, I’m going to have to go into that apartment with you.”

“All right,” Stone said.

“Eddie,” Harkness said to the doorman, “I’ll use my pass-key. We won’t need you.”

On the elevator, Stone turned to Harkness. “You say you didn’t know that Ms. Nijinsky had appointed you executor of her will?”

“Didn’t have a clue,” Harkness replied. “I was astonished, to tell you the truth.”

“Mr. Harkness, did you and Sasha Nijinsky ever have a romantic relationship?”

Harkness looked him in the eye. “Stone, I haven’t the slightest intention of answering that.”