Stone complied, clenching his jaw against possible pain. The exercise went well.

“Now give me five deep knee bends.”

This was harder, but Stone managed it. The knee was hurting a little now.

“Now give me five half knee bends on the left leg.”

This seemed extreme to Stone, but, again, he managed. Now the knee hurt like hell.

“Get dressed,” the doctor said.

“What do you think?” Stone asked, pulling on his trousers.

“You’ve healed nicely.”

“So, I’m restored to duty?”

“Oh, I expect so, but that’s not my decision, of course. I’ll just make my report; you’ll hear from your commander.”

“How long?”

“He’ll have my report by the first of the week.”

“So long?”

“I’ll dictate it today; getting it typed is the problem. We’ve taken some staff cuts this year.”

Stone got dressed and called the precinct. Dino wasn’t back yet. He went down to the street and hailed a cab. When he arrived at Hank Morgan’s building, Dino’s unmarked car and a squad car were still outside, and the downstairs door was propped open. Stone ran up the stairs.

The niceties had not been observed. The search warrant was taped to the door, which had been opened with a sledgehammer; the jamb was splintered, and the apartment was a mess. Stone walked through the disarrayed living room and followed the sound of voices to a beautifully designed kitchen. Dino, the assistant DA, and two uniforms sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee. Knives, silverware, and kitchen implements were scattered around the floor.

“Hey, Stone!” Dino called. “You want some coffee?”

“No thanks. You really tore up this place, didn’t you?”

“And look what we found!” Dino crowed, dangling a pistol from his finger by the trigger guard. “Three fifty-seven Magnum, and loaded, too.”

“What else?”

“No copy of a promissory note.”

“So?”

“And I’ll bet she won’t be able to come up with it when it counts.”

“You all finished here, then?”

“Just about. We’ll finish our coffee.”

There was a noise from the living room, and Stone turned to see Hank Morgan standing in the doorway, the search warrant in her hand.

“What the hell is going on here?” she demanded, her voice shaking with anger.

“A legal and proper search,” Dino said, standing up. “You got the warrant right there.”

Morgan turned to Stone, as if she expected she might be able to reason with him. “Just what are you looking for, for Christ’s sake?”

Stone shook his head. “I just got here myself, Ms. Morgan, but, I assure you, the search is legal and proper. I’m sorry about the mess.”

“So, Officers,” she said with withering contempt, “did you find anything? A joint, maybe? Or did you plant some cocaine?”

“We don’t plant stuff in searches,” Dino said, “but we did find this.” He held up the pistol.

“That’s mine,” she said.