“You are an habitué of Elaine’s restaurant, are you not?”

“I’m in there a couple of times a week.”

“For how long?”

“For many years.”

“Have you forgotten that Susan Bean was also an habitué of Elaine’s?”

“I was never aware of that.”

“You have no recollection of seeing her there?”

“None.” Stone began to wonder where this was going.

“On at least one occasion, you picked her up at the bar at Elaine’s, took her home, and had sex with her, did you not?”

Stone was brought up short by the question. He racked his brain for any memory of such an incident. He had, he knew, met women at Elaine’s, and sometimes those meetings had resulted in sex, but that had not happened for a long time, not since he had left the police force. “I have no recollection of such an incident,” Stone said.

“Would it surprise you to learn that Susan Bean remembered such an incident?”

“It certainly would. When was this supposed to have occurred?”

“Do you have any recollection of meeting a woman named Jean Martinelli at Elaine’s?”

“The name doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Ms. Martinelli also works for the District Attorney’s Office, and she was also an habitué of Elaine’s, often in the company of Susan Bean. She recalls meeting you there on several occasions. She recalls your leaving the restaurant in the company of Ms. Bean, and she recalls being told by Ms. Bean the following day that the two of you had gone to her apartment and had sex. Do you deny that this occurred?”

“I have no recollection of any of this,” Stone said. “How long ago was this supposed to have happened?”

“That’s not relevant,” Deacon said.

“Relevant to what?”

“Relevant to the murder of Susan Bean.”

“I should think it would be very relevant,” Stone replied.

“Let’s say that the incident in question occurred before the Van Fleet legal matter.”

“Then you’re talking of more than six years ago?”

“Approximately.”

“And how does this alleged incident relate to the murder of Susan Bean?”

“If it’s not relevant, Mr. Barrington, why have you been lying to us?”

“I haven’t lied to you,” Stone replied, with some heat. “You’ve made an allegation that I had some prior relationship with Susan Bean, however brief, some years ago. I’ve told you that I have no recollection of such a relationship, and that’s the truth.”

“When you began speaking with Ms. Bean in Martin Brougham’s library, you were renewing an old acquaintance, weren’t you, Mr. Barrington?”

“I had no reason to think so.”

“In fact, when you introduced yourself to Susan Bean, she told you that you had met before, didn’t she?”

“She did not. She indicated nothing of the sort.”

“Describe your conversation with her.”