Stone Barrington 06-11

near that courthouse.”
    “Oh, all right,” Thad said. “Sit down and have some breakfast.”
    Juanito appeared, and Stone ordered. “Now, Liz, tell me: How long have you been a Florida resident?”
    “Since I married Winston, I guess. Three years. He was a Florida resident well before that, for tax reasons.”
    “The judge will ask you that.”
    “What about Paul? He’s not a Florida resident. At least, I don’t think he is.”
    “His lawyer says he can show proof of residency. The judge will ask you things like how long you’ve been married, and he’s going to ask you why you want a divorce. What are you going to tell him?”
    “That my husband led me into a life of crime and that, when he murdered three people, I didn’t want to live with him anymore.”
    “No, no, no,” Stone said. “You want to be general, not specific.”
    “You mean like, we just grew apart over the years?”
    “That’s better. And if he asks Paul first, just go along with whatever he says. Don’t worry, he has a very good lawyer, and he will have been well briefed.”
    “Whatever you say,” she said.
    “That’s the right answer, too. Now, another thing. Your agreement with Paul requires you to wire-transfer the money into his lawyer’s trust account as soon as the divorce is final. What I’d like is for you to transfer the money to my trust account today, and I’ll take it from there.”
    “The two million dollars?” she asked.
    “That’s right.”
    “God, but I hate to give that son of a bitch any money.”
    “Liz, get a grip. You’ve already signed an agreement to that effect. Yesterday, you were delighted to get off so cheaply.”
    “Liz, honey,” Thad said, “two million dollars is small change to me. Let me take care of that.”
    “I couldn’t let you do that,” Liz replied.
    “No, really. I’d consider it a great favor if you’d let me do that.”
    “Oh, Thad,” she said, putting her hand on his cheek. “You’re so sweet.”
    Thad turned to Stone. “I’ll move the money this morning.”
    “You’re sure that’s the way you want to do this?”
    “Yes, I am.”
    Stone watched, amazed, as they kissed.

    Later, when they were driving to the golf course, Stone brought Dino up to date.
    Dino’s mouth fell open. “He’s giving her two million bucks?”
    “Like Thad says, it’s small change to him.”
    “Holy mother! She’s good, isn’t she? She meets this guy, what, three weeks ago, and now he’s paying her ex-husband two million bucks to go away?”
    “You’ve got it.”
    “Well, Thad is either the sweetest guy in the world or the dumbest, or both,” Dino said.
    “Don’t talk about my client that way,” Stone said.
    “Yeah, yeah, I know; he pays his legal bills.”
    “That’s very important,” Stone said.
    “And you don’t even know if he’s really going to go away.”
    “Oh, I know that,” Stone said. “When the FBI takes him away, he’ll be gone.”
    “How do you know they can get a conviction?” Dino asked. “After all, when he gets Thad’s two million, he’s going to be able to afford a very good lawyer.”
    “I thought you said they have his fingerprint on a note he handed a teller.”
    “Sure they do,” Dino said. “Gee, I hope the FBI hasn’t misplaced it during the years that have passed since the robbery. They would never do that, would they?”
    “They’ll have the tellers’ identification of Manning,” Stone said.
    “How do you know? Maybe he dressed up like Ronald McDonald. And it’s been four years since the last robbery. I’d be willing to bet you that at least one of the four tellers is dead, and a couple more are retired and living in Costa Rica or someplace, and that the remaining one has come down with Alzheimer’s. And even if one of them is still around and can identify Manning, Ginsky is going to turn him inside out on the witness stand. ‘But, sir, it’s been four years since you say you saw the robber, and you also say he was wearing a red wig, a big nose and floppy shoes. How could you possibly say that man is my client?’”
    “You’re starting to annoy me, Dino.”
    “Oh, yeah? Well, you’re not nearly as annoyed as you’re going to be when Manning gets off scot-free and hires somebody to put his ex-wife at the bottom of Lake Worth in a concrete bikini.”
    Stone ran a red light, thinking about that.

51
    S TONE GOT LIZ TO THE COURTHOUSE HALF AN HOUR early. He wanted to talk to Ed Ginsky before they went into