rearview mirror I could see the guy behind me on his car phone. I smiled. Pretty soon we'd know each other's name. I listened some more to Dino, and watched the birds foraging on the lawn some more until Belson called me back.
'Car's registered to the Templeton Group, one hundred Summer Street,' Belson said.
'Company car,' I said.
'Unless there's some guy walking around named Templeton Group.'
'You know what the company does?'
'I figured you'd ask so I used a special investigative tool known only to law enforcement.'
'You looked them up in the phone book.'
'I did. Detective agency.'
'Of course it's a detective agency,' I said.
'You owe me two martinis and a steak,' Belson said.
'Put it on my account,' I said.
'There's no room left on your account,' Belson said and hung up.
I called Rita Fiore.
'Cone, Oakes use a particular detective agency?' I said.
'That's it?' Rita said. 'No `hello you sexy thing, who does Cone, Oakes use?' '
'Who do they use?' I said.
'I use you.'
'I know, but who, for divorce work, say, or corporate crime?'
'I do criminal litigation, for crissake. I don't know who the white collar doo doos use.'
'You could ask.'
'And call you back?'
'Exactly,' I said. 'You sexy thing.'
Rita hung up. I put in my CD of Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert. We were halfway through Avalon when Rita called back.
'Lawton Associates,' she said. 'Big firm on Broad Street. I'm told they're very discreet.'
'Unlike yourself,' I said.
Rita laughed and hung up. She had a great laugh. I thought about things for a little while. Whoever had hired the Templeton Group probably hadn't done it through Cone, Oakes. Didn't mean it wasn't somebody at Kinergy. But it didn't mean it was. I always hated clues that didn't tell you anything. I thought about things some more. After a while, I got sick of that, and decided to do something instead of doing nothing, so I got out of my car and walked back to the maroon Chevy. It was a warm day. The driver had his window open.
'Find out who I am yet?' I said.
'They're calling me back,' the driver said.
I took a business card from my shirt pocket and handed it to him. He read it and nodded, and handed it back to me. 'You know who I am?' he said.
'I know you work for the Templeton Group,' I said.
'You got a quicker trace than I did.'
'Better contacts,' I said. 'You want to talk.'
'May as well,' he said and nodded toward the passenger door. I went around and got in.
'Name's Francis,' he said. 'Jerry Francis.
He was a square-faced, square-shouldered guy wearing Oakley wraparounds, and a straw fedora with a wide brim and a blue silk hatband.
'Who you tailing?' he said.
'You first,' I said.
He shook his head.
'It's against company policy,' he said, 'to discuss any aspect of a case with any unauthorized person.'
'And I'm about as unauthorized as it gets,' I said. 'On the other hand you showed up a few hundred yards behind Marlene Rowley. That might be a clue.'
Francis shrugged.
'I've been tailing Trent Rowley,' I said. Francis grinned.
'Ah, divorce work,' he said.
'Who can catch who first,' I said.
'And the winner gets most of the assets. You working for her?'
