Black Dog

Forty-One

Stone went down to work the following morning and was surprised to find Joan there, bustling around his office.

“I thought you were in East Hampton. What are you doing here?” Stone asked.

“Cleaning up after you,” she said. “It’s astonishing how big a mess you can make in such a short time.”

“Do you feel fully restored by your holiday in the Hamptons?”

“Whatever restoration I was feeling was blown away by the man I blew away,” she said, collapsing into a chair next to his desk.

“I can understand how that would upset you,” Stone said. “Would it do any good for me to tell you that you behaved correctly. And if you hadn’t shot him, he might have trashed your new house and shot you and Betty dead — after raping the two of you, of course.”

“Don’t bother, I’ve already told myself that a hundred times, and it didn’t work.”

“I recall another occasion where you used your .45 on a man in this office, to keep him from killing me. How’d you handle it then?”

“Pretty much the same way, with pretty much the same result.”

“I don’t remember you being unduly upset that time,” Stone said.

“Oh, you were just too busy to notice.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice. I expect I was spending all my time being glad that I wasn’t dead and being grateful to you.”

“You said that at the time. Again, you’re welcome.”

“Well, I have a few residences around this country and Europe. Would you and your friend like to spend some time at one of them?”

“Thanks, but now Betty is afraid that I’ll shoot her by accident. And the guy would still be dead, and it would still be me who made him that way.”

“In that case, get your ass back to work and clean up this place. It’s a mess!”

Joan let out a bitter laugh, then did as she was told.

Eddie Jr. let himself into the garage of the Charles mansion — now the Robertson House — with his remote control and parked the station wagon, which had been thoroughly washed and cleaned, in a distant corner. He partly unscrewed the light bulb illuminating that area, then he walked to the only staff bedroom at garage level and took twenty minutes to pick the lock. Quickly, he satisfied himself that the room was not occupied by a staff member. It was neat, clean, and spacious. He brought in his luggage and unpacked, then a moment later he stretched out on the sofa, switched on the TV, and was watching an early Hitchcock film, The 39 Steps, set on the Scottish moors. He was soon asleep, confident of not being disturbed.

On her lunch hour, Joan drove her Mercedes convertible back to what she was starting to think of as the Robertson House and parked in the garage. As she entered, her headlights came on automatically, and for a second illuminated a Mercedes station wagon. She parked her car in its usual space, next to the green Mercedes station wagon that had belonged to the Charleses, then walked over to the wagon she had just seen, which was a metallic beige. She tried the doors, but they were locked. The car was scrupulously clean, inside and out, which made her think that one of the staff had been driving it. She took the elevator to the main floor and found the butler.

“Geoffrey,” she said to him, “who drives the beige Mercedes station wagon parked in the garage?”

“Mostly, I and Cook drive it and mostly to the grocery and hardware stores, but it’s green, not beige.”

“Well, now there are two Mercedes wagons parked in the garage, and one of them is beige. Look into it, will you? Perhaps one of the neighbors is taking advantage of our garage space.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Joan went up to her study and stretched out on the chaise lounge, and Geoffrey found her there a few minutes later. “Ms. Robertson, neither I nor anyone else on staff knows anything about the beige station wagon, and none of our keys fit it.” He handed her a slip of paper. “Here is the license number. Perhaps one of your police sources can learn the name of the owner.”

“Thank you, Geoffrey.” She tucked the number into her bra and attempted to doze off, but couldn’t. Finally, she called Stone.

“Yes, Joan?”

“Something strange has happened.”

“Uh-oh. What is it this time?”

“There is a strange, late-model Mercedes station wagon, color beige metallic, parked in my garage, and no one here has a key to it or knows anything else about it.”

“Then one of your neighbors is usurping your garage space.”

“Geoffrey looked into that; not so.”

“Can you give me the license number?”

“I can,” she said, consulting the paper in her bra.

“I’ll get back to you.”

Stone called Dino.

“Bacchetti.”

“It’s Stone. Can you run a plate for me?”

“In seconds,” Dino said, and Stone read him the number.

“Got it,” he said. He tapped the number into his computer.

“Who owns it?”

“A Delaware corporation. Registered a week ago.”

“Well, shit,” Stone said, knowing how impossible it would be to trace that.

“A neighbor’s, maybe?”

“They’ve already excluded that possibility.”

“Well, whatever branch of the tooth-fairy organization that handles Mercedeses has just dropped one in Joan’s garage. Congratulate her for me, will you?” He hung up.

Stone hung up and called Bob Cantor.