Black Dog

Three

Stone regarded his secretary. “You noticed that you were not a witness to the signing of your aunt’s will?”

“Of course.”

“Do you know why?”

“I presume it was because I am an heir.”

“A good presumption. Now, your aunt Annetta seemed reluctant in the extreme to chat about her stepson.”

“I’m not surprised. He has caused her a great deal of pain.”

“Perhaps you will enlighten me on the nature of that pain. It would be helpful if I could know what to expect from him.”

“Your worst fears realized,” she replied.

“Specifics, please.”

“You will have noticed that, in her will, there are bequests for the rearing and education of three children.”

“I did. I had supposed that Eddie was her only stepchild.”

“He is. The three children are what might be called her step-grandchildren.”

“I take it that Eddie is heterosexual.”

“He is and, apparently, perpetually priapic.”

“Ah. What else?”

“I don’t think he’s, clinically speaking, an alcoholic or a drug addict, but I believe that he has sampled, at least once, whatever is available in the world of consciousness-altering pharmaceuticals. His drug of choice seems to be some very expensive product of Scottish agriculture and distilling — sometimes to excess, hence the step-grandchildren.”

“Would you describe him as heedless?”

“Of almost everything,” Joan replied.

“What of his judgment?”

“Little, or none.”

“Moral character?”

“Unknown to him.”

“It sounds as if I’m going to soon hear from him with a request for further funds.”

“Before the day is out is my best guess.”

“I’m not going to refuse his calls, exactly, but he should never be put through to me immediately, nor should he ever be in possession of my cell phone number.”

“Certainly not. Anything else, boss?”

“Yes, why did you recommend me to Aunt Annetta?”

“Because, in my judgment, the fees accruing to Woodman & Weld will far exceed whatever trouble Eddie turns out to be. I thought it preferable to make rain, rather than to stay high and dry.”

“Joan, am I ever going to want to hide from my new charge?”

“Frequently, I fear,” Joan replied.

The office line rang, and Stone indicated that Joan should use his desk phone to answer it. “Woodman & Weld, the Barrington Practice.” She listened for a moment, then covered the phone. “Eddie wants me to send a check for $2,200 to the phone company for the installation of four telephone lines and a superfast Internet connection to his suite at the Yale Club.”

“Tell him it’s time to open a bank account.”

Joan did so, then hung up before he could protest. “That was good,” she said. “I think we’ve established a baseline for saying no to Eddie.”

“Next time he tries something like that, tell him to try moving to a room rather than a suite at his club. If you receive any bills for anything from him, mark the envelopes ‘not at this address’ and forward them to him at the Yale Club. That includes any bills from the Yale Club.”

“Any further instructions?”

“Yes, if you receive calls or mail or a request for bail money that mentions Eddie as being my client, deny it. Say that Woodman & Weld has his trust fund for a client, not Eddie Jr.”

“Sounds as if you want to sever all ties.”

“I would if I could, but we can reduce the number of ties to as near zero as possible.”

The phone rang again.

“Dino,” Joan said.

“Hi, there.”

“Dinner, Clarke’s, seven o’clock?”

“Done.” They both hung up.

Stone arrived a little late at P. J. Clarke’s and found Dino at the bar, chatting with Eddie Jr.

“Ah, Stone,” Dino said. “I’ve just met your new client.”

“And who might that be?” Stone asked.

“This guy,” Dino said, pointing.

Stone turned to Eddie. “Who are you?”

Eddie’s jaw dropped. “It’s me, Eddie.”

“Eddie who?”

“Edwin Charles Jr.”

“I have no such client,” Stone replied. “Dino, I think this guy is running a scam. Isn’t that illegal in New York?”

“You want me to run him in?”

“I’ll leave that judgment to you.”

“Now wait a minute,” Eddie said, tugging at Stone’s sleeve.

Stone pointed at his sleeve. “I believe that action constitutes assault,” he said to Dino.

“You want me to bust him?”

“I’ll be content if he just dematerializes.”

Dino took a small radio from an inside pocket. “Charlie?”

“Yes, Commissioner?”

“There’s a guy in here at the bar harassing Mr. Barrington. I’d like for him to go away.”

Eddie witnessed this exchange wide-eyed. Then, before he could speak, a uniformed patrolman entered the bar and walked over. “Is this the guy?” he asked, pointing to Stone.

“No, that’s Barrington.”

“Sorry, Mr. Barrington,” the man said with a little salute.

“This is the guy,” Dino said, pointing at Eddie, who had started to walk backward.

“Sorry for the intrusion,” he said, then turned and fled.

“Thank you, Charlie,” Dino said. “Please see that he doesn’t make any U-turns.”