Lance slammed the door, and the cab took off. Stone went back inside the gallery.

“Now, will you tell me what happened?” Sarah asked.

“Lance’s friends Ali and Sheila have—had an antique shop in a market in the King’s Road. It was bombed a few minutes ago, and he’s concerned for their safety, and his own and Erica’s.”

Monica spoke up. “What has Lance gotten Erica into?”

“I don’t know the details,” Stone said. “I expect we’ll hear about it in due course, but they’ll be safe at James’s house, I’m sure.”

“Will the police be coming ’round?” Monica asked.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“That’s all I need, to have a lot of policemen crawling all over my gallery.”

“Monica, you are unconnected with all this,” Stone said. “In the extremely unlikely event that a policeman should drop by, just tell him everything you know, up to, but not including, the past ten minutes. You don’t know where Erica is, all right?”

“All right,” Monica said uncertainly.

“More likely than the police is that someone more . . . unofficial . . . might ask Erica’s and Lance’s whereabouts, and your answer should be the same. That’s very important.”

“All right,” Monica said. “And who would these unofficial people be?”

“Whoever bombed Ali and Sheila’s shop. And by the way, you’ve never heard of either of them.”

“That suits me just fine,” she replied. “I didn’t like the look of them. And Lance didn’t even introduce them.”

“I’d better phone James’s housekeeper and let them know that Lance is coming,” Sarah said. She picked up the phone on Monica’s desk and began dialing.

Monica took Stone aside. “Tell me the truth,” she said. “Is somebody going to throw a bomb through my gallery window?”

“Monica, really, you have nothing to be concerned about.”

“Should I call the police?”

“Certainly not; what would you tell them?”

“I don’t know; I could ask for protection, or something.”

“Protection from whom? You’re better off ignorant of this whole business. Practice being ignorant.”

“I always knew Lance would get Erica into some sort of trouble.”

“What made you think that?”

“Lance is always getting these mysterious phone calls on his cellphone, or going off to meet people in pubs or other odd places. He doesn’t have an office, like a normal businessman; he travels at odd times and on short notice, and Erica thinks this is all perfectly normal.”

“Lots of people do business out of their homes,” Stone said. “I, for one, and a lot of what you’ve just said would apply to me, too.”

Monica laughed. “I wouldn’t want you mixed up with her, either. Mixed up with me, on the other hand, would be different. When are we going to have that dinner?”

“I think we’d better postpone that indefinitely,” Stone said.