“Could you give me directions to his house?”
The man unfolded the hotel map and pointed out the Barrington cottage, then he left, having been rewarded with a very good tip.
“Pretty nice,” Harp said, looking around.
“It’s where they put the help, like corporate pilots,” Herbie explained.
Harp unpacked everything and put her things in the closet and chest of drawers provided, then kicked her cases under the bed.
“I’m impressed,” Herbie said, looking around.
“This way we have more space,” she replied, and Herbie followed suit.
“What should I wear to dinner?” she asked.
“I’ve been instructed to wear a necktie, and presumably, a suit. An LBD should do.”
“An LBD it is,” Harp replied, inspecting the minibar and retrieving two tiny bottles of Chivas Regal.
“Are those both for you, or may I have one?” Herbie asked.
Harp poured them into separate glasses and handed him one. They toasted, then she reached behind and unzipped her dress. “Now,” she said, “I believe you promised me a cavity search.”
Herbie and Harp arrived at Stone’s cottage at ten past seven, and were met at the door by their host. “Come and meet everybody,” he said. He led them into the living room. “You know Dino and Viv, of course, but you haven’t met my son, Peter, his girl, Hattie, and Dino’s son, Ben, and his girl, Emma.” Then he turned toward a tall, blonde beauty in a knockout dress. “And this is Hattie’s guest, Immi Gotham.”
Herbie went weak in the knees but managed to shake her hand. Harp was more composed. “Like everybody else, I’m a great admirer of your work,” she said.
“Immi is giving a concert tomorrow night,” Stone explained, “and Hattie, on piano, is going to open for her, and later, accompany Immi for her encore.”
“I can’t wait,” Herbie said, accepting a scotch from a waiter.
“I understand you’re an attorney with Stone’s firm in New York,” Immi said.
“That is correct,” Herbie replied. “Stone was my mentor and role model.”
“I’m going to be buying a place in New York soon,” Immi said, “and Stone is going to help me with the legal work.”
“I’m sure the whole firm will be standing in line to help you,” Herbie replied.
“And, Harp,” Immi said, “I understand you’re a private eye?”
“For lack of a better term,” Harp replied.
“I’ll let you know if I need any private eyeing,” the actress said.
The doorbell rang. “Excuse me, we’re quite a crowd tonight. It’s going to be a buffet.” Stone went to answer the door and came back with Felicity Devonshire, Holly Barker, and the president and first lady.
Herbie and Harp, having been surprised to meet Ms. Gotham, were now stunned and nearly speechless.
“I hope your talks went well,” Stone said to Will Lee.
“Indeed they did. We’re signing our agreement tomorrow morning, and then I’m on vacation for a couple of days.”
“You deserve it,” Stone said.
The president and first lady fell into conversation with Immi Gotham, and Holly managed to cut Stone from the herd and get him in a corner.
“I heard about the gloves,” she said.
“Yes, that was disturbing.”
“Fortunately, the bomb specialist’s lab was unable to detect any trace of radiation.”
“Let’s hope they were being used as oven mitts,” Stone said.
“How did this come about?”
“The NSA managed to locate the site, an apartment in Palo Alto, and Mike Freeman’s people searched it and found the gloves. This fellow Shazaz had apparently been living there and made some bombs, one of which, as you’ve probably heard, was found in the wine storage room today.”
“Yes, but what was that name again?”
“Shazaz? I think that’s it.”
Holly blanched. “First name?”
“Mo, for Mohammad.” Stone looked at her closely. “Is something wrong?
“Excuse me,” Holly said, “I need to talk to the first lady.”
45
Holly stood at the edge of the group around Immi Gotham, waiting for a moment to get Kate Lee away from them. Finally, as a waiter invaded the crowd with a tray of canapes, she was able to touch Kate’s elbow. The two retreated to a corner.
“Don’t look so concerned,” Kate said, smiling, “you’ll scare everybody.”
Holly forced the frown away from her face. “Something disturbing has just arisen,” she said, then she told Kate about the name. “Does Hamish have any siblings?” she asked.
Kate’s smile had disappeared. “As I recall, after his parents were divorced his father remarried and had a son and a daughter, so they would be some years younger than Hamish. Why don’t you call Langley and have them run their names?”
“Apparently, the brother’s first name was Mo, short for Mohammad, but I don’t know the girl’s name.”
“Well, see what you can come up with.”
Holly excused herself, went into the study, and called Langley. Twenty minutes later, she returned, and the first lady rejoined her.
“There’s nothing on them,” she said. “There were hits on the father’s name, but that’s it.”
“Did the search produce anyone else at all named Shazaz?”
“No.”
“Try to get in touch with Hamish,” Kate said. “Ask him for the whereabouts of his brother for the last month. If he can give us that, we’ll have something to go on.”
“Right,” Holly replied. She went back to the study and called the number she had for Hamish. There was a long pause before she was connected.
“Hello?”
“Hamish?”
“Yes.”
“Encode.”
There was some electronic noise, then Hamish came back. “Is that you, Holly?”
“Yes. Something has come up.”
“How can I help?”
“I understand you have a half brother.”
“Mo? Yes.”
“Do you know where he has been for the past thirty days?”
“Yes, he was at my family’s home on the Scottish isle of Murk, south of the Hebrides.”
“For the entire period?”
“Until recently.”
“Do you know where he is now?”
“Yes, he’s at Annabel’s, a London nightclub, sitting right across the table from me. Would you like to speak with him?”
“Ah, no. Was there any break between his time in Scotland and tonight?”
“Only travel time. He arrived by train yesterday.”
“I see.”
