Kisser (2010)

that other people had left behind and went upstairs in the elevator. He found the office and presented himself to a receptionist who reported his presence.
    “You may go in,” she said.
    Stone opened one of the double doors that led into a large corner office, furnished in the federal government’s best taste plus a few personal touches from Tiffany. She sat with her long legs propped on her huge desk, reading glasses poised on her nose, a thick document in her lap.
    “You’re ten minutes early,” she said.
    Stone looked at his wrist, but there was nothing there. “I seem to have forgotten to wear a watch.”
    She peered at him over her glasses.
    “What?”
    “The phrase ‘death warmed over’ comes to mind.”
    Tiffany got up and led him to a sofa at the other end of the room. “Let’s sit here for our meeting.” She sat down, crossed her legs, and leaned into him.
    The phone on the coffee table buzzed. Saved, Stone thought. He got up and moved to a chair beside the sofa.
    “Send them in,” Tiffany said into the phone.
    The door opened and Brian Doyle entered, accompanied by Mitzi and the loyal Tom.
    Tiffany got up and greeted them. “I suppose you all know Stone,” she said.
    “Yeah, sure,” Doyle replied, and Mitzi gave Stone a big smile. They sat down and looked at each other.
    “I think we should wait for the commissioner to arrive before we start,” she said.
    There was a knock at the door, and a secretary opened it and stepped back. “The commissioner,” she said.
    The commissioner, a fireplug of a man, marched into the office and took a seat at the end of the sofa nearest Stone. He looked at Stone’s feet.
    “Barrington,” he said, “do you always wear two different shoes?”

45
    STONE LOOKED AT THE COMMISSIONER. “Only when it rains.”
    The commissioner didn’t laugh, which was like him.
    “Let’s get this show on the road,” he said to Stone.
    Stone blinked. “It’s not my show.”
    “Commissioner,” Tiffany said smoothly, “we’re here to coordinate the investigations into Derek Sharpe and Sig Larsen.”
    “Who’s Larsen?” the commissioner asked, frowning.
    “Short for Sigmund, presumably. He’s the man who’s running some sort of Ponzi scheme.”
    “Be nice to catch one of these guys before he steals everybody’s money,” the commissioner said.
    A secretary came into the room with a tray of Danish pastries and set them on the coffee table in front of Stone, who became ravenous at the sight of them. Desperately in need of something to get his blood sugar up, he grabbed a cheese Danish and took a big bite of it.
    “Barrington,” the commissioner said, “as I understand it, you initiated these investigations, so give us a rundown.”
    Stone, whose mouth had been dry to begin with, chewed faster and tried to swallow some of the cream cheese. He looked desperately for coffee, but none had been brought. He made a shrugging motion to gain time.
    “Barrington, are you hearing me?”
    Stone nodded and chewed faster. “It’s like this,” he managed to say, then chewed and swallowed some more. The secretary returned with a coffee jug and cups, and Stone poured himself some. He scalded his tongue taking a big swallow, but most of the Danish went down with it. “It began as a private thing,” he said. “A client of the law firm to which I am of counsel asked me to investigate Derek Sharpe, fearing for his daughter’s trust fund, which she was about to come into.”
    Brian Doyle interrupted him. “That’s when we got involved,” Brian said.
    Stone fought back. “Yes, that’s when I called Lieutenant Doyle and suggested he might be interested in Sharpe. I don’t believe he had heard of him until then.”
    Doyle turned red. “Sharpe was already on my radar, but we hadn’t yet had cause to move.” He explained in some detail the involvement of Mitzi and Tom, leaving out Stone whenever possible.
    Stone used the opportunity to take a smaller bite of the Danish, which helped cool his tongue. “Then Sig Larsen entered the picture,” he said. “I can understand why Lieutenant Doyle wasn’t interested in him, and I wasn’t surprised to hear that the U.S. Attorney became involved.”
    “And that’s why we’re here,” the commissioner said. “To coordinate the two investigations.”
    “Actually,” Tiffany said, “I don’t want to assign investigative personnel to this matter at this point. Lieutenant Doyle seems to have the situation well in