New York Dead

too.”

“Hers and my mother’s. I could feed an army, if I had a working dining room.”

“We’ve got to find a way for you to keep this house, Stone. You deserve to live in it, really you do. I hate to think of your turning it over to some stranger, just for the money.”

“I hate the idea, too, but that’s the way it has to be. What would you like to drink?”

“Scotch.”

They sat at the kitchen table.

“So how’s the Sasha investigation going?”

“Stranger and stranger. Did you know she was going to be your next-door neighbor?”

Cary ’s jaw dropped. “In 10-J? You’re kidding!”

“Barron didn’t tell you?”

“Jesus, no.” She looked thoughtful. “I wonder why not. I know most of what goes on with him, and if he got her into the building, why wouldn’t he tell me that?”

“Did he get you into the building?”

“Yeah. Daddy paid, of course. Dammit, I’ll bet Sasha paid less. The co-op market is soft right now, and I’ve been there two years; I bought in at the top.”

“Did you know the people who lived there before?”

“The Warrens? Sure. I mean, they had me in for a drink when I moved in, and I had them in for a drink in return, and after that I just saw them in the elevator. The place was just a pied-a-terre for them; they live in Westport. He was in a Wall Street law firm, and he just retired.”

“Did you have a key to 10-J?”

“No.”

Stone told her about the day’s events.

“Spooky!” she said. “And you wondered if I went through her stuff?”

“Had to ask.”

“Did you talk to the Warrens?”

“I tried. The maid said they’re in London. That lets them out, I guess.”

“The painters have been in and out of there, but I guess they finished up before Sasha’s stuff arrived. Anyway, the doorman would have let them in and locked up after them.”

“Well, enough shoptalk. How was your day?”

It was nine before they reached the Tribeca Grill, riding in the inevitable black Lincoln. The headwaiter knew Cary and gave them a good table.

“Neat place,” Stone said. “I’ve read about it. Is De Niro in here much?”

“From time to time. Sometimes I think a third of the people in here came just to catch a glimpse of him.”

“Like those two couples,” Stone said, nodding at a table in a less desirable part of the restaurant. They watched as one of the men, dressed in a silk suit and a pearl gray tie, offered the headwaiter money and had it refused.

“Tourists,” Cary said.

“Not your ordinary tourists,” Stone replied. “They’re wise guys.”

“Mafia? You know them?”

“I know the look. The suits, the women’s clothes. Just about everybody else in here is casual, but they’re dressed to kill. Here’s how it goes: the wise guys like places they’re known, where they’re known to be connected; they’re treated like princes – the best tables, the best wines on the house. Tonight, though, the ladies wanted to break out, wanted to come to De Niro’s restaurant and see him up close. The guys went for it, because De Niro is Italian, he’s their hero, and they’re already regretting it. They got the worst table in the house, and the headwaiter won’t be bought. They’ll sulk all through dinner, and it’ll be the last time for a while the ladies will get to go to a new restaurant.”

Cary laughed. A wonderful sound, Stone thought. “Do you deal much with Mafia guys?”

“Not unless there’s a homicide. My partner, Dino, grew up with them, though. Dino says that everybody he was in school with is either dead, in prison, or has his phones tapped by the FBI.”

“I’d like to meet Dino.”

“He’ll charm you right out of your pants,” Stone said.

She leaned close. “Only you can do that.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

They dined well, and Cary pointed out the regulars to him, told him who the producers and directors were. When coffee came, she was quiet for a while.

“That’s really strange, Barron not telling me that Sasha and I were going to be next-door neighbors,” she said finally.

“It really seems to bother you,” Stone said.

“It does. During the time I’ve been with Barron, he’s come to trust me on just about everything, I think, and then, when there’s something you’d think he would just naturally tell me about, he clams up. If Sasha’s stuff hadn’t got moved in there, I’d never have known about her buying the place.”

“Is Barron married?”

“Sure. He and Charlotte celebrated their twentieth anniversary last year. Now, that could have something to do with it. Maybe he didn’t want Dolly to know – but hell, that doesn’t make any sense either. How could he move her into the building and expect to keep it from Dolly? And why would he think I would tell her, anyway? I’ve never told her about anything else he’s done. I hardly know her.”

“What’s Charlotte like?”

“Straight arrow; utterly conventional. They were college sweethearts, and she worships the ground he slithers on.”

“Now, that is the first hard word I’ve heard you say about him. He slithers, does he?”

“Oh, I guess I’m just mad because he didn’t tell me about Sasha’s moving into the building.”

“Was Barron fucking Sasha?”

She turned and looked at him. “Are you on the job, Stone, or is this a personal conversation?”

He didn’t blink. “Every cop is always on the job. There are times when I can’t separate my work from my personal life. This is one of them.”

She didn’t blink either. “If you want to interrogate me about my boss, see me at my office. And I might lie to you.”

“You should never lie to a policeman,” he said.

“I will if I feel like it,” she replied evenly.

The evening suddenly turned cool.

Later, when her black car stopped in front of the Turtle Bay house, she declined to come in with him.

Before he got out, he turned to face her. “I’m sorry. I apologize. I stepped over the line, and I’ll try not to do it again.”

She nodded, but didn’t say anything.

He kissed her on the cheek, got out of the car, and closed the door.

She rolled down the window. “Stone,” she called after him.

He turned and walked back to the car, leaned down close to her.

“Barron was fucking Sasha,” she said. “Secretly, regularly, and for a long time. And I think I’m falling in love with you.” She rapped on the back of the front seat and the car drove away, leaving Stone standing in the street.

Chapter 15

When Stone arrived at the precinct, a well-dressed, obviously irritated man was sitting next to Dino’s desk.