Chapters (66)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- Acknowledgements
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
“Uh-oh,” Stone said. “I hope we’re not headed toward a conflict of interest here.”
“You can hope,” she said, sipping her champagne.
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SIX
The subject somehow got changed, and eight o’clock was approaching, so they were on their first course at the Park Avenue Café before they came back to Willa’s work.
“Aren’t you curious about which of your clients I’m considering prosecuting?” she asked. “Want to guess?”
“Willa,” Stone said, “so many of my clients are teetering on the brink of prosecution that it could be an injustice to even mention a name.”
Willa laughed, a healthy sound. “All right, it’s Herbert Fisher.”
Dino began laughing.
“What’s funny?” Willa asked.
“Herbie is always on the brink of prosecution,” Dino said, “often for something he didn’t do.”
“You’re acquainted with Mr. Fisher?”
“Yes, he’s been in my holding tank a few times.”
“An habitual criminal, then?”
Stone spoke up. “An innocent man who seems to have a gift for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, he was married a short time ago, and the experience seems to be lending stability to his existence. Which of the patently false charges against Herbie are you considering pursuing?”
“How about murder?” she asked.
“In what degree?”
“Has he committed more than one murder?”
“Herbie has never committed a murder, although he was once required to defend his life against Dattila the Hun, whom the press liked to describe as ‘a Mafia kingpin.’ ”
“Oh, yes, I heard about that. He walked.”
“It was, as I pointed out, self-defense.”
“I think he got very lucky,” Willa said.
“Good luck is not something that haunts Herbie’s life,” Stone replied.
“Really? I think he’s very lucky to be walking our streets at this moment. If not for the actions of an inexperienced prosecutor, he would be held without bail as we speak.”
“Wait a minute,” Dino said, “are you talking about the death of his girlfriend, who fell or jumped from Herbie’s penthouse terrace a while back?”
“No, I’m talking about the girlfriend who received, at the very least, a helping hand from Mr. Fisher.”
“Well,” Dino said, “I happened to be in charge of that investigation, and also present at a conference between your prosecutor and Herbie’s attorney—Mr. Barrington here—and I thought, given the feather-light weight of the evidence, your prosecutor made a good call.”
“Thank you, Dino,” Stone said. He turned to Willa. “I was able to demonstrate, through fingerprint evidence, that the young woman in question, Sheila, opened the terrace door without assistance and disappeared over the parapet while Mr. Fisher was spending half an hour or so with a magazine, at stool.”
“And how were you able to prove that?” Willa asked.
“I offered to deliver Mr. Fisher for a colonoscopy, but your prosecutor declined.”
Willa burst out laughing. “That’s preposterous!”
“Not so much as the allegation against my client.”