Strategic Moves

THIRTY-THREE

Stone arrived at Elaine’s to find Woodman & Weld’s managing partner already seated with Dino and already drinking.

“Evening, Bill, Dino,” Stone said as he slid into a chair only slightly behind the Knob Creek that had been placed on the table.

“Evening, Stone,” Eggers said.

Stone looked at Bill for signs of pleasure or displeasure, but he wore his usual, very effective poker face.

“Anybody hungry?” Stone asked, picking up a menu.

“Sure,” Dino replied.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Eggers said.

“Well,” Stone said, “I hope your digestion improves quickly, because I’m starved.” He wasn’t about to ask if something was troubling Eggers.

Eggers fingered the menu, then set it down. “I have heard a rumor, Stone, that you may somehow be connected with a Mercedes automobile that somehow found its way into a Rye swimming pool.”

Stone looked at him askance. “You think I’ve been running around Westchester County, driving expensive automobiles into swimming pools? I assure you, my Mercedes is cozily tucked into my garage at home and has not been out for days.”

“I saw something about that on TV,” Dino said innocently.

“There’s all sorts of strange stuff on TV these days,” Stone replied. “Probably some reality show gone wrong.”

“I’ve heard it was a different kind of show gone wrong,” Eggers said. “And I’m concerned that my firm’s putative next partner might be associated with such a stunt. Dr. Holland, owner of the pool in question, is a client of the firm, and he is not as amused as everyone else in the country to find a large chunk of twisted steel in his pool. He is having to remove extensive plantings in his garden in order to get a crane in position to hoist the thing onto a flatbed truck, and there are questions as to whether his insurance covers falling German hardware.”

“Bill, please tell me exactly what you have heard about my alleged connection to this event and from whom you have heard it.”

“I have told you all I can.”

“Then I will have to decline to comment on apparently baseless charges and rumors promulgated by anonymous individuals.”

“It was Lance Cabot,” Eggers said.

“Ah, then you must know that, in the extremely unlikely event I had any connection whatever to this weird occurrence, my relationship with Lance’s employer would prevent me from either confirming or denying such an allegation, and Lance must know that, too.”

“All right, Stone,” Eggers said, “take a moment to muster all your lawyerly command of the language to craft a statement that will place you at a sufficient distance from my client’s perfectly understandable curiosity about the origins of this event, something I can repeat to him.”

Stone thought for a moment. “All right, you may quote me as saying that I have not now nor have I ever caused an automobile to fly through the air and into your client’s swimming pool, nor have I had any opportunity to prevent such a happening. And, when you have finished telling your client that, you may tell Lance Cabot, in the nicest possible way, to go fuck himself. If I should see Lance before you do, I’ll tell him myself.”

“I’ll have the spaghetti carbonara,” Eggers said to the hovering waiter.

“Make that two,” Dino said.

“I’ll have Barry’s secret strip steak, medium rare, with fries and haricots verts,” Stone said. “And bring us a bottle of the Mondavi Cabernet that you are always out of.”

“We’re out of that,” the waiter replied.

“Then make it the Phelps Cabernet.”

“We’ve got that,” the waiter replied, then departed.

“So, Stone,” Eggers said, “what beautiful woman are you seeing these days?”

“The last beautiful woman I was seeing was murdered in her own home not very long ago,” Stone said, “and my desire to see another has not yet overcome that circumstance.”

“Murdered by whom?” Eggers asked.

“Ask Dino; he’s the cop at the table.”

“Dino?”

“My money’s on her nephew or his girlfriend or both,” Dino said.

“You have any evidence to back that up?” Stone asked.

“They were the last two people to arrive for the dinner party, and the nephew had access to the building through his aunt and could have entered the back hall from inside the building, taped the door latch, and later let himself in to perform the killing, then out again.”

“That’s a reasonable conjecture,” Stone said, “but I take it you have no hard evidence.”

“You could put it that way,” Dino said.

Stone turned to Eggers. “How is it you are having ex parte communications with Lance Cabot?”

Eggers allowed himself to look uncomfortable for a tiny moment. “He called me; I didn’t call him.”

“He called you for the sole purpose of spreading rumors about my personal conduct?”

“That may not have been the only reason,” Eggers said. “I can’t say any more.”

“On what grounds? National security? Attorney-client confidentiality? As I recall, Lance is my sometime client, not yours or the firm’s.”

“Look,” Eggers said, “when a high official of the intelligence community calls and asks for some informal advice, I consider it my duty to my country to help if I can. Isn’t that why you and Dino are under contract to Lance?”

“It is, or was,” Stone said. “Not speaking for Dino, I find that Lance calls on me when he wants to make my life miserable or, at least, worse, and I’m getting tired of it. I’ve tried to resign my consultancy, but he says I can’t.”

“He seems to make my life more interesting when he calls,” Dino said. “I like that spook stuff.”

“You stay out of this,” Stone said petulantly.

“Were you on that airplane that the Mercedes departed from?” Eggers asked.

“Yes, I was, and at the invitation of the firm’s client, Mike Freeman, of Strategic Services, who was in the employ of Lance at the time. That doesn’t mean that I caused or failed to prevent the car from taking flight. And I would suggest to you that if our work for Strategic Services somehow infringes on the gardening rights of Dr. Holland, then the good doctor should be told to take a hike, since Mike Freeman is demonstrably the more important client.”

“I don’t question that,” Eggers said.

“Then deal with Dr. Holland however you like, and leave me out of it, okay?”

“Okay,” Eggers said, uncharacteristically chastened.