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Contents (62)
  1. Table of Contents
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
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  15. 14
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  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
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  25. 24
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  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
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  41. 40
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  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. AUTHOR’S NOTE

The two shook hands.

“Where’s Herbie?” Stone asked.

“On his way to Lenox Hill,” she replied. “You know him?”

“We’re with the same law firm. Give me the tour.”

“We couldn’t raise anybody, so the doorman took us up. We found Fisher unconscious on the sofa with his fly undone and his penis out. I couldn’t wake him, so we called an ambulance.”

“Did you talk to the girl?”

“Yes, that’s how I got into this. She was in the ER at Lenox Hill, complaining of being raped, but the doctor thought she might be lying.”

“What’s her name?”

“Carson Cullers. Lives a few blocks up Park.”

Stone nodded. “Getting any prints?” he asked the tech.

“Two sets on the glass,” he said.

Stone turned back to DeCarlo. “Fisher has an arrest record, so you can pull his prints. Might be a good idea to see if the girl’s prints are on file. It would save you a trip to her place.”

The tech opened a laptop and went to work feeding the prints through a scanner. “Okay, I’ve got hits on both,” he said. “They match the ones on the snifter, and they’re both on the martini glass, too.”

“Herbie makes her a martini and pours himself a brandy,” Dino said. “He hands her the martini glass, so both their prints are on it. But why are both their prints on Herbie’s snifter?”

“What was the girl arrested for?”

“Possession of a controlled substance—cocaine,” he replied. “She got a suspended sentence and rehab.”

“We got cocaine here,” Dino said, pointing at the coffee table, “but it looks undisturbed.”

“Well,” Stone said, “we know Ms. Cullers knows how to buy the stuff.”

“That’s quite a lot to leave behind,” Viv said. “I wonder why she didn’t take it with her.”

“Because she wanted us to find it,” Dino said.

Viv showed them the panties in an evidence bag and explained her theory about them.

“I want to know what’s in that brandy glass,” Dino said.

The tech opened another briefcase and went to work on a computer analysis of the liquid in the glass.

“How the hell did Herbie get mixed up in this?” Stone asked.

“Who knows?”

“She is a very beautiful girl,” Viv said. “Lots of guys would have gotten mixed up with her.”

“Hey,” the tech said, “I’ve got a hit on the analysis. There’s Ambien mixed with the brandy. It’s a sleeping pill, and it looks like a hefty dose. He drank most of it, too.”

“I’m going to the hospital,” Stone said.

“Me too,” Dino replied. “Viv, you pick up the girl on suspicion of filing a false report. Take her back to the precinct and milk her dry before she can lawyer up. I’ll be over there later.”

“Yes, boss,” Viv replied, then left.

Dino and Stone took a good look around the apartment.

“Nice place,” Dino said. “I didn’t know Herbie had taste, except maybe in clothes.”

“Herbie packs a lot of surprises,” Stone said. “He made senior associate at the firm in two years. Never been done before.”