“She apparently works at the DA’s Office, too,” Stone said. “Deacon seems convinced that I knew Susan before the other night, that I’d seen a lot of her in here. I told him I had no memory of her.”
“She used to be fat,” Dino said.
“You knew her before, then?”
“I testified in trials that she was prosecuting – two or three times, I think. She lost a hell of a lot of weight and started doing things to herself, you know? Maybe that’s why you don’t remember her.”
“Remember Van Fleet?” Stone asked.
“I believe I shot him dead,” Dino said. “How could I forget?”
“Well, I defended Van Fleet on some minor charge, once, and Deacon said Susan was assisting the prosecutor, a guy named Haverty.”
“Could be,” Dino said. “I think she was in the DA’s Office since she got out of law school.”
“You think you could give Brougham a ring and tell him I didn’t murder Susan?”
“Well, I guess if I were completely convinced of that, I could.”
“Do it tomorrow, Dino; I don’t want those people to start leaking to the press that I’m a suspect.”
“Maybe I’ll do it right now,” Dino said, nodding toward the door.
Stone turned to see Martin and Dana Brougham coming through the front door.
18
STONE WATCHED AS ELAINE MADE HER way through the crowd to meet Martin and Dana Brougham. They were obviously asking for a table, but the place was jammed. Then Elaine was pointing at Stone’s table.
“Dino, I think Elaine is suggesting they join us,” Stone said.
“Be interesting to see their reaction,” Dino said.
Their reaction was to nod yes.
“What the hell,” Dino said. “Now is as good a time as any.”
“Why would they want to sit with us if Brougham thinks I murdered Susan?”
“I guess we’ll find out,” Dino said, as the couple made their way to the table.
Sarah turned to Stone. “Later, I hope you’ll take the time to explain to me what the fuck is going on.”
“I will,” Stone said, as he got to his feet.
“Hi, Dino,” Martin Brougham said. “Hi, Stone. You remember Dana?”
“Of course,” Stone said. “This is Sarah Buckminster; won’t you join us?”
The Broughams sat down and ordered a drink. “Have you eaten yet?” Brougham asked.
“Not yet,” Stone said.
“Then dinner’s on me; we’re celebrating.”
“I heard; congratulations. Any truth to the rumor that the old man is going to retire and anoint you?”
Brougham laughed aloud. “Not while there’s a breath left in his body.”
They looked at menus and ordered dinner. Stone could not understand Brougham’s behavior, so he decided to charge in headfirst. “Your man Deacon came to see me this morning.”
“He did? What about?”
“Don’t you keep track of the guy?” Dino asked.
“Usually,” Brougham replied. He looked back and forth between Dino and Stone. “Something going on here that I don’t know about?”
“Deacon seems to think he’s taking over the investigation into Susan Bean’s murder,” Dino said.
“Oh, nothing like that, I assure you, Dino. He asked me if he could look into it, and, of course, I told him he could. After all, she was one of us, and we want to see this cleared up.”
Stone said, “Deacon seems to think that I murdered Susan.”
Brougham nearly choked on his drink. He looked at Dino. “Do you have any evidence to support such a notion?”
“None whatever,” Dino said.
“Because, if you do, I shouldn’t be sitting at this table.”
“Relax, Martin,” Dino said. “We cleared Stone of any involvement within half an hour of her death. He had gone out for Chinese when it happened.”
“I’ve heard the timeline,” Brougham said. “It made sense to me. Besides, what possible motive could Stone have had?”
“Exactly,” Dino replied.
“You can talk directly to me, Martin,” Stone said. “If you have any questions, I’d be glad to answer them.”
“You mean, off the record?”
“I answered all of Deacon’s question
Brougham thought about this for a moment. “Did you know Susan before our party?”
“Deacon says I did. He says she assisted Haverty in prosecuting a client of mine. I met Haverty’s second chair, but I don’t remember anything about her. Deacon also says she was a regular here, at the bar, and that I took her home one night and slept with her. I don’t remember that, either, and I think I would, if it had happened.”
“You don’t remember meeting her at the bar? Not at all?”
“No,” Stone replied. “For what it’s worth, Elaine doesn’t remember her, either, and she’s in here a lot more than I am.”
“I suppose so.”
“Elaine remembers Jean Martinelli, remembers throwing her out of here one night, drunk. Apparently, Martinelli is the source of Deacon’s conjecture.”
“Martinelli hasn’t worked for me for nearly a year,” Brougham said, “but it doesn’t surprise me that she talked to Tom; they were something of an item for a while. I expect she called him.”
“What else would you like to know?” Stone asked.
Brougham shrugged.
“Come on, Martin,” he said. “I want to lay this to rest now.”
“Who do you think did it?” Brougham asked.
Dino butted in. “We think it’s somebody Stone and I busted a long time ago, but we don’t know who, yet. There’ve been two other murders, one of them Stone’s secretary, Alma, the same night as Susan Bean, and the other a woman who lives behind Stone’s house in Turtle Bay, the following night.”
“I know about those,” Brougham said. “You think they’re connected to Susan’s death?”
“Only by the murderer,” Dino said. “The night Susan was killed, we think somebody followed Stone from his house here that night, then to your house, then followed Stone and Susan to her place. When he saw Stone leave to get the Chinese, he went in. We think he was still in the building when Stone got back. He was gone when the patrol car arrived. I got there five minutes later. It was Stone who called nine-one-one.”
“That, I knew,” Brougham said.
“Any other questions for me, Martin?” Stone said, trying not to sound too confrontational.
“None that I can think of at the moment.”
“I’ll be happy to come down to your office with my lawyer and answer any others you may think of,” Stone said.
“I appreciate the offer.”
“But,” Stone said, “if I start reading in the papers that I’m a suspect, I’ll know it came from Deacon, and I’ll go straight to the old man. I’ve known him a long time.” This was true, up to a point.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Brougham said. “But, you understand, if Deacon starts poking holes in your story, we’ll be talking again.”
“There aren’t any holes in my story,” Stone said, “because it’s the truth.”
Dinner arrived, saving everyone the embarrassment of continuing the conversation. Dana Brougham changed the subject.
