“Could be; the feds don’t have a monopoly on vans.” He turned downtown on Second Avenue.
“Stone, after tonight, I don’t want any more cops around. Anderson is all right, but that guy Kelly gives me a serious case of the willies. I’m sick of him.”
“Don’t worry about cops; after tonight, Dino has to pull his people off, anyway. He can’t justify it to the department any longer.”
“I’m beginning to think these murders and attacks are just a string of coincidences.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Stone replied, “but in my experience, when you get too many coincidences, it’s called fate.”
“Now
“I’m sorry, but this is a serious business, and I don’t want you to start letting your guard down. Not until we’ve located this guy Mitteldorfer and done something about him.”
“But he’s been in prison for all these years; how could it have been him?”
“I don’t know, but both Dino and I have the very strong feeling that it is him. I didn’t tell you this, but a friend of Mitteldorfer, a woman who corresponded with him in prison, was murdered a couple of days ago.”
“So, he would get out of prison and, right away, murder a woman who would write to him? Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know, but it’s one more coincidence, isn’t it?”
She was quiet for a minute. “Stone, is there any reason in the world why the two of us couldn’t go to England tomorrow? I mean, after the opening tonight, my obligations to the Bergman Gallery are finished; there’s nothing to keep me here. How about you?”
“I don’t like to run off and leave Dino with this thing hanging over him.”
“What thing? Nothing has happened for a while, now. Take some time off.”
Stone thought about it. “Open the glove compartment; there’s an address book inside.”
She did as he asked.
“Look up the number for the American Express Platinum Travel Service. Call them on the car phone; book us two first-class seats to London tomorrow morning.”
She grabbed the phone. “You bet I will!”
Stone felt as if a burden had been lifted from him. She was right; he needed to get away. He found a garage on Broadway, and they walked around the corner to the ABC Furniture store. During the next two hours, they bought a bed, sheets and towels, a sofa, two chairs, some rugs, lamps, a dining table, and occasional furniture. Stone had everything shipped to Connecticut for delivery after the closing on the house, with a note for the driver to call at the Klemm Real Estate office for the key. Then they found a housewares store and bought pots and pans, silverware, a coffeepot, dishes, glasses, and everything else they could think of.
When they went back to the garage for the car, Stone noticed a black van parked across the street. It was not the same one that had been outside his house.
“You’re getting black-van fever, aren’t you?” Sarah asked, as they drove away.
“I’m not making them up, am I?”
“Just don’t make too much of them. The world is full of black vans.”
“You’re right,” Stone said, taking a deep breath and letting it out. “Tomorrow we’re out of this city, and when we come back we’ll have a house and a lot of furnishings waiting for us in Connecticut. I’d better call Bob Eggers and arrange to have the closing papers for the house sent to England. Where will we be?”
“Probably at my parents’ country house, in Hampshire, but they have a town house, too. I’ll call them when we get home and find out where to send the papers.”
Stone drove home, happily thinking of his first trip abroad, but his eyes constantly flicked to the rearview mirror.
32
STONE AND SARAH WERE DRESSING FOR her opening. “I spoke to Mother this afternoon,” Sarah said, “and she suggested we come straight to the country house. I think that’s best, don’t you? We can just relax and do some sailing.”
“Sounds good to me,” Stone replied, pulling his black bow tie snug. He slipped into his dinner jacket. “What sort of sailing?”
“The house is on the Solent, the strip of water that separates the Isle of Wight from the rest of England. Daddy keeps a cruising boat nearby, in the Beaulieu River. Do you sail?”
“I did some sailing as a kid, at a summer house on Martha’s Vineyard, belonging to the parents of a friend. I’ve chartered in the Caribbean, too, but the last time, I didn’t get much sailing done.”
“This is going to be wonderful, Stone,” she said, turning so he could zip up her dress. “I haven’t been home for three years, and I do so love it in Hampshire. I’m happiest on the water, I think.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“How do I look?” she asked, turning for inspection.
“You look absolutely beautiful,” he replied. “The dress is spectacular, too.”
“And you, sir, look like a prince,” she said, straightening his tie. “I’ve never seen you in a dinner jacket, you know.”
“I didn’t even own a dinner jacket before you went to Italy.”
“You should wear it all the time; it makes you even more handsome.”
Stone took her arm and guided her downstairs. “We’re being driven this evening,” he said.
“You’ve hired a chauffeur?”
“Sort of a chauffeur; he’s an ex-cop named Bob Berman, who does various investigative jobs for me now and then.”
“I suppose he’ll be armed,” she said with a trace of disgust.
“I think that’s best.”
“What other measures have you taken?”
“Anderson and Kelly will be in a car in the street; Bob will watch the back door, where we’ll enter the gallery, and Dino will be inside with us.”
“I really think all this is unnecessary, Stone.”
“You won’t have to think about it anymore after tonight.”
“Good.”
They arrived in the garage, and Stone introduced Sarah to Bob Berman, a short, well-built man in his late forties. They got into the backseat, and Bob took the wheel and backed out of the garage.
“Bob, I’ve built in some extra time; take a circuitous route, so the cops behind us can be sure we’re not being tailed.”
“Right, Stone,” Berman said. “Are you packing?”
“Ah, no,” Stone replied.
“Whatever you say.”
They drove back and forth across town, working their way slowly uptown. Half an hour passed before they arrived at the rear door of the gallery, precisely on time. Berman got out of the car, walked a few steps away, and checked up and down the block. He came back to the car and opened the door.
“Looks okay,” he said to Stone.
Stone hustled Sarah across the sidewalk and through the door, which Edgar Bergman was holding open. Berman removed a traffic cone from a reserved space, parked the car, and took up his position at the rear door of the gallery.
“Anything unusual happen today?” Stone asked Bergman.
Bergman shook his head. “No, except we got a lot of acceptances after the
“Did you know them all?”
“Most of them were people to whom invitations had been sent; a few were other dealers. I suppose half a
