Dead In The Water

CHAPTER 24

Stone hung up the phone and returned to his lunch. He wasn't the cops, granted, but he was still bothered by what he was hearing about Paul Manning's affairs. He was about finished with lunch when Jim Forrester pulled up a chair.

"Mind if I join you?" the New Yorker reporter asked, settling his lanky frame and waving to Thomas for a drink.

"Not at all. I wondered what had happened to you; I was afraid my star witness had gotten shipped out with the other reporters."

Forrester shook his head. "Nope. I ducked into the men's room when I saw the cops,and they missed me. My luggage went, though; I've been shopping for the necessities."

"Good; can we talk about your testimony?"

"Sure."

"I don't see any need to rehearse, but I do want to be reassured that you're willing to testify that, on the occasion you met them, they were happy together, affectionate, and glad to be in each other's company."

"No problem with that."

"I think we'll skip the argument they had about their routing later in the evening; it doesn't seem germane."

"I think you're right; I've been married, so I know how those little spats can arise over nothing."

"Yeah," Stone replied, as if he knew what the reporter was talking about. It occurred to him that he and Arrington had never had that sort of spat in their time together. He hadn't heard from her since she had arrived in L.A., and he wondered how she was.

"Let's see," Stone said, "you first met Paul Manning in the bar at the yacht club in Las Palmas?"

"Well, no; I had met him earlier, much earlier."

"You didn't mention that," Stone said.

"Well, it was a long time ago. I went to Syracuse University, and Paul went to Cornell at the same time. The towns are not far apart, and we had an interfraternity basketball league. I played against Paul two or three times. I just knew him to speak to, though; at the time, I don't think we ever had a conversation that didn't involve who fouled who."

"I guess we can use that; it gives you some sort of history with Paul, however slim. What were your impressions of him in those days?"

"Pretty much the same as in Las Palmas: cheerful, outgoing, good company."

"Not the sort who might commit suicide?"

"No, absolutely not. In Las Palmas he was enthusi about getting back across the Atlantic; said he had I idea for a new novel based on their trip, and he was to get started on it."

"That we can use," Stone said. "He apparently kept notes in a leather-bound book; did he mention at all?"

"He said he had made a lot of notes; he didn't say about a leather-bound book."

"That will be helpful, nevertheless. Sir Winston is taking Paul's notes as complaints about Allison; it's the most damning evidence he has."

"Look, I don't want to get you into some sort of ethical quandary here, but if you want me to mention the leather bound book, I'll be glad to do it. It's not as though the other side is playing anything like what we would call fair."

"I think it's best to play this straight," Stone said. "The difference in the effect of your testimony would be small, and anytime you start deviating from the straight and narrow, you open yourself up to getting caught lying. I wouldn't want to end up with a perjury charge against you."

"Neither would I," Forrester said. "God knows what the penalty for perjury is on this island."

"Can you think of anything else during your evening with the Mannings that might help us at the trial?"

Forrester looked uncomfortable. "Can we talk off the record for a minute?"

"Sure."

"I certainly don't want to bring this up at the trial, but it's the kind of thing that I can't ignore when I come to write my piece."

"Shoot."

"You remember we talked about this dinghy that Paul had flown in from Barcelona?"

"Yes, the Parker Sportster."

"I didn't mention this before, but that dinghy can be sailed. I read something in a magazine about somebody sailing one from Norway to Iceland."

"I'm aware of the dinghy's sailing capability."

"Does that suggest anything to you?"

"What does it suggest to you?"

"That Paul Manning could have conceivably sailed the thing back to the Canaries and faked his own death, for whatever reason."

"That occurred to me, but it's not possible."

"Why not?"

"Because the Parker Sportster is still in a cockpit locker of Expansive. I found it there, unused."

Forrester took a deep breath and let it out. "Boy, am I glad to hear that. I didn't want to think that Allison could be mixed up in something like that, but…"

"I understand. While we certainly won't bring this up at the trial, I think it might be very helpful to Allison if you mentioned it in your piece. There will always be people who would think the worst, and it might help her."

"I'll certainly do that. It's the kind of detail that will make the piece more interesting. By the way, I talked with my editor, Charles McGrath, and in light of all the publicity Allison's story has gotten, they're more interested than ever in the piece."

"I'm glad for you."

"You should be glad for Allison, too; this kind of detailed piece will satisfy the curiosity of a lot of people. I know it's going to be tough for her when all this is over."

"I know it is, though I haven't talked about it with her yet. I think she's got enough on her mind at the moment."

"I'm sure she has."

"Have you talked with her at length yet?"

"Twice. She's remarkably open and forthcoming; sometimes I think she doesn't really have a grasp of what she's facing."

"I know what you mean," Stone said, "and I don't see how it would help to make her more aware. She's been told all the facts and the risks, and if she chooses to be in denial, then who's to say she shouldn't be? Certainly not I. If her attitude helps her get through this, that's fine with me."

"Let me ask you something for the record, Stone, and I'd appreciate the frankest answer you can give me. Your answer won't'appear until well after the trial, and I'll hold it in confidence until then."

"What would you like to know?"

"Right now, at this moment, what do you estimate her chances are of getting out of this?"

Stone sighed. "I don't really know how to answer that. There are so many variables here, most of which I have no control over, that the situation is entirely unpredictable."

"Do you think there's really a chance she could hang?"

"Yes, I do."

"No kidding, really?"

"Really."

"Jesus Christ."

"Yes."

"It just doesn't seem possible that this sort of thing could happen in this day and age. I mean, if she'd fetched up in the United States, she'd be walking around scot free, wouldn't she?"

"I believe she would. I don't think a prosecutor could get past a preliminary hearing in the United States. I'd blow him out of the water. With Paul's medical records, his note-taking habits, your testimony, and above all, with Allison's testimony, I don't think any judge would buy a murder charge for a minute. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if she'd fetched up in Antigua or Guadeloupe."

"I wonder, too."

The two men sat silently, each contemplating the worst for Allison Manning.