Desperate Measures

51

Dino came into the room, walked up to the bed and peered closely at him. “Can’t you even go to dinner at a nice restaurant without getting into trouble?”

“What happened to me?” Stone asked, feeling his head. “The last thing I remember, I was peeing in the men’s room.”

“Yeah? That’s it?”

“Is this something to do with Donald Trask?” Stone asked. “He was in the restaurant, too.”

Dino shook his head. “The maître d’ says Trask left the restaurant with a woman ten minutes before somebody found you in the men’s room. Who else hates you?”

“Beats me.”

Dino looked around. “Did you bring your own decorator?”

“I’m told this is a suite of some sort.”

“Listen, a bed in a shared room in this hospital is something like five hundred clams a day. I can only imagine what this is costing.” He waved an arm for emphasis.

“I didn’t book it, believe me.”

“What I don’t understand,” Dino said, “is how somebody could fire a gun at you in a small men’s room and miss. Can you shed any light on that?”

“Jesus, I told you I don’t remember. Maybe the guy’s just a lousy shot.”

“He must have had the shakes, too. I mean, it was what, four feet?”

“I remember a voice,” Stone said. “Not so much what was said, just the voice.”

“What kind of voice?”

“Male. Unpleasant.”

“Hey, that’s a big help; I’ll put out an APB for males with unpleasant voices.”

“I remember getting up from the table, and Trask’s table was empty. I guess I didn’t see him leave.”

“Well, you were having dinner with two beautiful women: Who can blame you? It’s nice of you to confirm Trask’s alibi, though.” Dino touched Stone’s forehead. “You’ve got a bump there, and it’s going to turn into a bruise. How’d that happen?”

“Are you trying to trick me into remembering?” Stone asked.

There was a knock at the door and a waiter entered, pushing a room service cart.

“What’s this?” Dino asked.

“Food,” Stone replied, handing him the menu. “You want something?”

“Thanks, I ate.”

The waiter whipped off the silver cover and presented the burger. “Would you like it on your table, sir?”

Stone nodded.

The man pushed the table to Stone’s bed and positioned it, then served the burger and a glass of water.

“What, no wine?” Dino asked. “And didn’t you already eat at the restaurant?”

“The doctor told me I threw up in the ambulance. They’ve sent my suit to Madame Paulette’s.” Stone took a bite of the burger. “Perfect,” he said, “and so are the onion rings. Listen, I don’t know where my cell phone is. Will you call Joan and ask her to bring me a complete change of clothes?”

“Yeah, okay,” Dino said.

“Who are you assigning to my case?”

“Muldoon and Calabrese, who else?”

“Who else?” Stone echoed.

“They’re probably still at the restaurant.”

“Having a good meal, no doubt.”

“They’ll get around to you, don’t worry.”

“Have you posted a guard on my door?”

“For what?”

“To protect me. Somebody just tried to shoot me in the head, you know.”

“He’d never get to you in this joint. I had to flash my badge three times to make it to the room. Sorry, suite.”

The nurse ushered in Muldoon and Calabrese. They pulled up chairs and watched Stone eat his cheeseburger.

“Something I can do for you?” Stone asked between swallows.

“Yeah,” Muldoon said, “give us your account of how you got shot.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember being shot.”

“He’s also had a blow to his forehead,” the nurse said, helpfully. “It’s no surprise that he can’t remember.”

“He remembers a voice,” Dino said, “male and unpleasant.”

Muldoon made a note. “What...”

“He doesn’t remember what the voice said.”

“Sorry about that, fellas,” Stone said. “Does that make me the chief suspect in my shooting?”

“Very amusing,” Muldoon said with a straight face. “We checked your weapon, it hadn’t been fired. Did you know that Donald Trask was also in the restaurant?”

“Yes, but his table was empty when I got up to go to the men’s room.”

“That’s what the headwaiter said, too.”

Another knock at the door, and the Whitehorn sisters entered the room. “Are we disturbing you?” Caroline asked.

“No, ma’am,” Muldoon said. “We were just leaving.” They left.

“You’ve met Dino Bacchetti, haven’t you, Charlotte?”

“I haven’t,” Charlotte said, and Stone introduced them.

Stone pushed his tray table away. “Thank you for coming to see me.”

“It’s the least we could do,” Caroline said. “I mean, if you hadn’t been having dinner with us, this wouldn’t have happened. Did they catch him?”

“Catch who?” Dino asked.

“Donald Trask. He did this, didn’t he?”

“If he did, nobody saw him doing it. Everybody says he left the restaurant ten minutes before this happened.”

“Oh.” Caroline looked at her watch. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’d better get back to Gracie Mansion and find out if I still have a job.”

“Blame everything on Stone,” Dino said. “The mayor will believe you.”

The women left.

“You seem to know a lot of Whitehorns,” Dino said.

“Only three.”

“Four. You’re forgetting the grandson.”

“Oh, yeah. What’s his name?”

“Adams.”

“Right.”

“They’ve started ripping out the interior of that hotel already,” Dino said.

“It must have been scheduled for a while.”

“How’s Faith?”

“Recovering very quickly, considering what she’s been through.”

The nurse came back with the waiter and had him take Stone’s dishes away.

“When are they kicking you out of here?”

“I can’t leave without a suit,” Stone replied.

“We’re keeping you overnight,” the nurse said. “That’s standard with head injuries, and you’ve had two.”

“Now he’ll have an excuse to stay,” Dino said.