“Nothing life-threatening,” Stone replied, “just a little thorny. But I think that addressing some issues now will greatly smooth things for the future.”

“Tell me about it.”

“For a start, you correctly assessed the resemblance between the photograph of my father and Arrington’s son, Peter.”

“Ahhh,” Eggers said. “So you’re finally willing to cop to that?”

“I’ve always been willing, but Arrington was slow to come to that point. Recent events have changed things.”

“Changed them how?”

“Well, Peter arrived in town a couple of days ago, a day ahead of his mother, who was under the weather. She arrived yesterday. Peter saw the photograph of my father and, apparently, considering some past suspicions, put the whole thing together in a flash. The boy is extraordinarily bright.”

“Every father thinks that, Stone, trust me.”

“Not every father has a son who is graduating from high school at sixteen and is already writing and directing his first feature film.”

“Oh, that kind of bright.”

“Yes. He’s big for his age, mature as most people get in their midthirties, and very well-spoken and well-mannered.”

“I’d like to meet him.”

“You will, in due course,” Stone said. “But now some steps have to be taken to regularize his life.”

“Regularize?”

“He’s been in a prep school in Virginia for a few months, and is now way ahead of not just his peers, but the seniors. He’s also saddled with Vance Calder’s name, and he doesn’t like the treatment he receives because of it.”

“And what’s your solution for handling it?”

“Not my solution, entirely, but Peter’s, and his mother has fully bought into it.”

“Go on.”

“Peter wants to attend a performing-arts prep school on the Upper East Side called Knickerbocker Hall, doing college-level work and attending their film school.”

“Sounds good.”

“And he wants to change his name to Barrington before he applies.”

“I see.”

“And he wants them to think he’s eighteen.”

Eggers blinked. “And how does he plan to do that?”

“Just by telling the school that he’s eighteen. When you’ve met him you’ll see that nobody will doubt him.”

“He’s currently a resident of Virginia?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll have an associated firm in Virginia do a straightforward change of name in the courts down there. They can also notify his school of the change and request that all his records there be changed to Barrington.”

“This has to be done in such a way that no one in the media catches it.”

“Legally, it will have to be advertised locally, but there are always obscure publications that can satisfy that requirement. We have to have a reason stated for the change of name in the petition to the court. What do you want to say?”

Stone thought about it. “Damned if I know.”

“How about: ‘Petitioner wishes his surname to be that of his natural father’?”

“He’s too young to be a petitioner; I suppose Arrington will have to fill that role.”

“I thought he was going to be eighteen.”