Contraband

60

The space under the door in the floor contained a box, about three by five feet, with a brass handle at each end. There was also a lock.

“All right,” Stone said, “use your feminine search skills to find the key.”

Max looked around, then she went to an end table next to the sofa, opened a drawer, and held up a large key. “There you are,” she said.

“How did you do that?” Stone asked.

“I just looked where I would have hidden it,” Max replied.

Stone took the key from her, inserted it into the lock, and, after some jiggling, turned it. “You want to do the honors?” he asked.

“Why not?” Max replied. She took hold of the handle and lifted, and the box opened.

“Holy shit,” Stone said again.

“That’s redundant,” Max replied

The box was filled with neatly bundled stacks of cash. There was also a Smith & Wesson snub-nosed .38 pistol there, resting on top of the cash.

“I want a ballistics check on that weapon,” Stone said.

Then they heard Robbie’s voice on the other side of the living room door.

Max closed the box. “Quick!” she said, kicking the corners of the carpet back into place. The two of them managed to shift the coffee table back into place.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Stevens,” Robbie was saying. “Final fitting a week from today?”

Max grabbed two of the fabric sample books and dropped them onto the table, opening one.

“Good. See you then,” Robbie said, then the door opened.

Max began turning pages in the book. “Sorry about the mess,” she said to Robbie. “I needed room to work.”

“Quite all right,” Robbie said.

Stone’s phone rang, and he checked the name of the caller. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said. “I have to take this.”

“Take your time,” Robbie said. “Max and I will get better acquainted.”

Stone stepped out of the room onto the small landing, from which stairs led down to the ground-floor entrance. “Dino?”

“Who else?”

“Where are you?”

“On the way up to Sixty-Third Street, with a warrant,” he said. “Judge O’Neal came through for us.”

“I’m at Robbie’s. We found the cash and a .38.”

“Well, what do you need me for, then? Shall I go back to my office?”

“You keep a-coming,” Stone said. “Max and I will try to keep Robbie occupied.”

“Gimme ten,” Dino said, then hung up.

Stone put away his phone and walked back into the living room. Max was fending off a very determined Robbie.

Robbie looked at Stone. “Oh, good, you’re back just in time! Join us!” She turned her attention to Max again, who slapped her sharply across the chops.

Stone stood, transfixed.

Robbie looked back at him. “Right here,” she said, hiking up her skirt and revealing a bare bottom. “Come on, whip it out!”

“Stone!” Max called out. “Get her off me!”

“Robbie,” Stone said, ineffectually.

Stone then took Robbie by the hair and removed her from Max’s person. “Robbie,” he said, “it’s over.”

“What do you mean?” Robbie asked. “I’m just getting started!”

There was a hammering on the door and someone shouted, “Police! Open up!” Then the door opened, and Dino walked in.

“Dino, you’re just in time,” Stone said.

Robbie calmly said, “Do you have a warrant?”

Dino handed her the paper. “You’ve been served, now get up and go sit in that chair.” He pointed at one across the room.

Robbie got up, brushed herself off, and smoothed her skirt, then she went and sat in the chair. She produced a compact, checked her makeup, and applied lipstick. “Go ahead,” she said to Dino. “You’re not going to find anything.”

Two detectives had followed Dino into the room. “All right, fellas,” Dino said, “get to work.”

Stone held up a hand. “Stop!” he said.

Everybody stopped and looked at him. “No need to search,” he said, “just move the coffee table.”

“What are you talking about?” Dino asked.

Stone pointed. “Coffee table,” he said. “Move it. It will take at least two men.”

“Move it where?” a detective asked.

“Away from the sofa.”

The two detectives each took an end and moved the table away from the sofa.

“Max?” Stone said, taking one end of the carpet.

“Right,” she replied, grabbing the other end.

They pulled it back to reveal the door. Max opened the door to reveal the box, then stepped back. “It’s unlocked,” she said.

Dino reached down, pulled the lid open, then stood back and stared. “Holy shit,” he said.

The detectives had handcuffed Robbie and stowed her in a waiting squad car outside. Stone and Max were sitting down in her living room, while Dino took stacks of cash and set them on the coffee table.

“How much do you reckon?” Stone asked.

“I don’t know: eight or nine hundred grand, I guess.”

Max was repairing her makeup. “Wow!” she said, half to herself, “that Robbie moves fast.”

“I told you so,” Stone said.

“You didn’t lie,” Max replied.

“Dino, how long to get a ballistics report on the latest .38 snub-nosed?”

“It’s being hand-carried downtown, along with Robbie, as we speak,” Dino said. “Shouldn’t take long.”

“Assuming it checks out, then...”

“Then, with a little encouragement by way of her sentence, Robbie will give us the Italian gentlemen. Then she’ll be doing her act in a women’s prison upstate for the murders of Randy Hedger and Estelle Parkinson.”

Max laughed. “I’m sure the girls will be happy to see her,” she said.