prosecute.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name,” Miles said.
“Stone Barrington.”
“Well, Mr. Barrington, bank robbery is a very serious crime.”
“Gee, the bank doesn’t think so. When you catch this guy, they won’t even send somebody down to court to testify against him.”
“No matter what the banks think, the FBI considers bank robbery to be a very serious crime,” Miles said. “It eats away at the roots of our economic system, if we let people get away with stealing even what you consider a small amount from a bank.”
“No kidding?” Stone said.
“What else did this guy do?” Dino asked.
“I’m sorry?”
“Come on, Agent Miles, you’re not here about a bank robbery. What did the guy do?”
“That’s confidential.”
“I’m a police officer. Mr. Barrington, here, used to be a police officer, and now he’s a distinguished member of the bar. You can tell us.”
“Those are not my instructions.”
“What
“I’m, ah, not at liberty to say.”
“Well, Agent Miles, if you want information from me, you’d better be at liberty to trade a little information.”
“Lieutenant, why are you being so difficult about this? All we want is to catch a bank robber.”
“No, that’s not all you want. You want to catch an entirely different animal, and I want to know the species.”
Miles took out a handkerchief and wiped his brow. “Lieutenant, you’re interfering with an FBI investigation.”
“Oh? Well, I’m terribly sorry. Did it ever occur to you that you might be interfering with
“I think a federal investigation takes precedence.”
“That’s what you guys always think,” Dino said. “You never think that something the NYPD is investigating might be as important as what the FBI is investigating.”
“That’s not true,” Miles insisted.
“They’re not going to tell us anything, are they?” Dino asked.
“Doesn’t look like it.”
“Then why should
“I can’t think of a good reason,” Stone said.
“This is obstruction,” Miles said indignantly. “You obviously know something about this perpetrator.”
“I didn’t say that,” Dino replied.
“Neither did I,” Stone said.
“Look, Lieutenant, I could take this to your superior,” Miles said.
“Oh, my captain would love that,” Dino said. “Assuming you could even get him on the phone, he’d love you wasting his time about some dime-a-dozen bank job. He’d really call me in on the carpet about that.”
“How about this, Agent Miles,” Stone said. “Why don’t you just tell us why the checking of this guy’s prints would raise a flag on the FBI’s computer system? It can’t be just this bank robbery.”
“If I told you that…” Miles stopped and thought better. “I can’t tell you that,” he said.
“Agent Miles,” Dino said, “I’m trying hard to see some reason why I should help out the FBI, which wouldn’t cross the street to help
Miles produced his card. “Here’s my number,” he said, handing the card to Dino. “I’ll owe you one. A big one. Anytime you need a favor from the Bureau, you can call me.”
Dino took the card. “How about you, Agent Nevins? Are you going to owe me one, too?”
Nevins produced a card and handed it over. “Yes, yes, I am.”
“Well, now we’re getting somewhere,” Dino said. “Stone, tell the agents what you know about this guy.”
“His name-or at least, one of his names-is William Charles Danforth, of a P Street address in Washington, D.C., a town with which you are no doubt familiar. Some years ago his name was Paul Manning, and he was a well-known author.”
“Have you ever seen this man?” Miles asked.
“Yes, a couple of days ago.”
“Can you give me a description?”
“Late forties, six-three or -four, two hundred pounds, dark hair going gray.”
“Facial characteristics?”
“I haven’t a clue.”
“But you say you saw him a couple of days ago.”
“That’s right, but he had a big bandage right in the middle of his face. I had the distinct impression that he didn’t want me to know what he looked like. Maybe he was afraid I might be talking to the FBI.”
“Do you know his present whereabouts?”
“A man answering his description has been seen in Palm Beach, but I’ve no idea if it’s the same man.”
“Anything else you can tell me?”
“Nope.”
Miles and Nevins stood up. “Thank you very much, Mr. Barrington, Lieutenant Bacchetti. We owe you one.”
“You already said that,” Dino pointed out.
“We’ll be going, then,” Miles said.
“Don’t let the doorknob hit you in the ass on your way out,” Dino said.
Miles looked at the gangplank. “There isn’t a doorknob,” he said.
Dino looked at Stone. “You can’t fool the FBI, can you?”
“Nope,” Stone agreed. The two agents left.
When they had gone, Stone turned to Dino. “I’m surprised you cooperated. Why did you want me to tell them about Manning?”
“The sonofabitch set my yacht adrift,” Dino said.
58
No sooner had the FBI men left than Liz came out of the house and walked to the yacht. She came aboard and gave both Stone and Dino a big kiss. She was carrying an envelope and two gift wrapped boxes.
“I just want to thank you both so much,” she said, sitting down,
“You’re welcome,” Stone said. “Glad to be of service.”
“Same here,” Dino echoed. “Only I haven’t been of all that much service.”
“Of course you have,” Liz said. “And I want to thank you. First of all,” she said, handing Stone the envelope, “here’s a check for your legal services.”
Stone slipped the envelope into a pocket without looking inside. “Thank you, Liz.”
“Second,” she said, handing Stone the larger of the two packages, “this is to express my personal thanks for your friendship and your concern for me. Even though your job as my lawyer is done, I think of you as my friend.”
“Thank you again,” Stone said, accepting the box.
“And, Dino,” she said, handing him the smaller of the two boxes, “this is for you, for taking the time and trouble to come down here and help out Stone. And for stopping that horrible man from hurting anyone else in that restaurant shoot-out.”
