Family Jewels

20

The following day Stone borrowed a Range Rover from Ed and drove into Tesuque. He found the house easily, just along from the village post office, and the gate was open so he drove in and parked in front of the house.

Gala met him at the door. “Come in,” she said, leading him through a large living room with a fireplace at each end, then outside to where some comfortable furniture was arranged before a fireplace under a portico. “Bloody Marys are a specialty of the house,” she said. “May we get you one?”

“Certainly. This will be my third Bloody Mary in a week,” Stone said.

Gala gave the order to a motherly-looking Hispanic woman, who returned shortly with two tall glasses. “This is Maria, who has taken care of me for as long as I can remember.”

“How do you do, Maria?”

“Very well, thank you.” She returned to the kitchen.

“You know,” Stone said, “I’ve known Susannah for quite a while now, but she has certainly kept your existence a secret.”

“We didn’t see each other for several years. My ex-husband managed to alienate Susannah and Ed early in our marriage, something he was very good at, and he was persona non grata at their house. Out of misplaced loyalty, I stayed away, too.”

“It’s difficult for me to imagine someone who couldn’t get along with Susannah and Ed — they’re such pleasant people.”

“Boris could evoke hostility in even the nicest people,” Gala said.

“What was your married name?”

“Tirov — he was Russian. He made a name for himself there as an actor, and later a director, then came to this country in his early thirties.”

“Did he do a series of some sort of superhero pictures?”

“Yes, he did, and in so doing simultaneously made a large fortune and gained a reputation as a hack, and an unpleasant one at that.”

“How long were you married?”

“Nearly eight years. I suppose I was a glutton for punishment. He was subject to violent rages and brutish behavior, but only when we were alone. Among others he mustered some charm.”

“I don’t want you to relive all that on my account.”

“Thank you, I’m doing a pretty good job of forgetting it.”

“Then we won’t need to talk of it again.”

“What about you? Have you ever been married?”

“Yes, but more briefly than I would have liked. We’d been married for less than a year when she was murdered by a former lover.”

“That’s awful!”

“Yes, it was.”

“I don’t suppose there were children.”

“One, a boy, conceived twenty-odd years ago. He’s a film director in L.A.”

“Oh, wait — Peter Barrington?”

“That’s my boy.”

“I love his work. I’d love to write something for him.”

“He’s pretty much an auteur,” Stone said. “He and his partner, Ben Bacchetti, produce together.”

“Ah, yes, the new CEO at Centurion Pictures.”

“Ben’s father is my closest friend. We were police detectives together in our youth. Dino is now the police commissioner of New York City.”

“You seem very unlike a policeman.”

“That’s what the policemen I worked with thought. Dino was the only one I really got along with. First chance they got, they got rid of me, using an injury as an excuse. Best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Then you went to law school?”

“I did that first, before the police academy. Afterward an old law school classmate urged me to take the bar exam, then join his firm. That worked out rather well.”

“I seem to remember that your son is the stepson of the actor Vance Calder.”

“That’s correct. His mother left me for him before she knew she was pregnant.”

“Did Calder know?”

“A good question. I think he may have suspected, but who knows? Neither he nor my former wife is around to answer that question.”

“But Peter took your name?”

“That was his decision. I was very pleased when he told me.”

“Do you see a lot of him?”

“Not enough. We spent some quality time together at my home in England this spring, while he was working on a film there. Both he and Ben married their girlfriends there, too, and it was nice to be around for that.”

They had just finished lunch when a distant telephone rang, and Maria appeared, a cordless instrument in her hand. “The phone is for Mr. Barrington,” she said.

“That’s odd. How would anybody know to reach me here?”

“Only one way to find out,” Gala said.

Stone took the phone from her. “Hello?”

“Stone, it’s Nicky Chalmers.”

“Hello, Nicky.”

“Vanessa and I are in town, having lunch with some friends, and I saw Carrie Fiske’s ex-husband, Harvey Biggers, across the plaza, browsing the jewelry from the Indians who sell under the portico at the old governor’s mansion. I mention this because Carrie said he’s been stalking her, and you’ve been helping her deal with that.”

“Did you speak to him?”

“No, it was just a fleeting glimpse.”

“Nicky, if he turns up again you should avoid him. I’ll explain why later.”

“Avoiding Harvey will be a pleasure.” Nicky hung up.