Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 21

woman said.
    “How many people here have seen my film or read the screenplay?”
    “Just the three of us,” she replied. “We watched it together.”
    “My father is very concerned that if the film is widely seen that it might attract a lot of attention, and he doesn’t think I’m ready for that. I tend to agree with him, so may I ask that you not discuss the film with anyone else and that you return the screenplay and DVD?”
    The dean answered. “I think that’s a very reasonable request, and we will give you our promise to do so, until you’re ready to have it more widely seen.”
    “Thank you,” Peter replied.
    “Do you have any other questions, Peter?” the woman asked.
    “I don’t think so; I found answers to most of my questions before I got here.”
    That got another laugh.
    “Anyone else?” the woman asked her colleagues, but both men shook their heads. “I just want to mention one thing, Peter,” she said. “Do you know that we have places for only two hundred students in our program?”
    “Yes, I do, and I appreciate how difficult that must make your decisions. I hope I’m accepted, but I certainly understand why I might not be.”
    “Thank you for coming to see us, Peter,” she said. “We notify all our applicants at the same time, so you’ll get a letter in due course.”
    Peter shook their hands and thanked them, then left the room.
     
     
    When he had left, his inquisitors all chuckled.
    “He’s lying, of course,” said the man who had not spoken during the interview.
    “About what?” the woman asked, surprised.
    “About his age,” the man replied. “He’s not eighteen; he’s at least thirty-five.”
    They all had a good laugh.

    Stone saw Peter coming down the hall and looked at his watch. He had been gone for only twenty minutes. The three of them got up and walked out to the parking lot. “That was quick, wasn’t it?”
    Peter shrugged. “I don’t know.”
    “I was in there twice as long,” Ben said. “How did it go?”
    “They were all very nice,” Peter said.
    “Had they seen your film?” Stone asked.
    “Yes, all three of them. They promised not to discuss it with anyone.”
    “Did they like it?”
    “They didn’t say.”
    They found a restaurant and had lunch. Stone thought the boys were unusually quiet.

33
    W hen Stone got the boys home he went upstairs to the master suite and found Arrington in bed, reading a New Yorker. “How did it go for the boys?” she asked, putting down the magazine.
    “I’m not sure there’s any way to tell,” Stone replied. “They were both asked a lot of questions, but Peter was in there only half the time that Ben was. We weren’t sure what to make of that. Peter extracted a promise from them that they’d return his screenplay and DVD and not mention his film to anyone.”
    “That’s a relief,” she said.
    Stone picked up the magazine. “Why are you reading a fifteenyear-old New Yorker ?”
    “I’m reading the profile of Vance I wrote for them.”
    “Oh.”
    “Did you ever read it?”
    “No, I was jealous.”
    “I”m sorry.”
    “Why are you reading it now?”
    “There was another phone call from somebody at the Post, wanting information about Vance. I didn’t return it, but clearly there’s something afoot. I thought one way to stop it was to say that I’m writing a biography of Vance, to include a memoir of our marriage and his murder.”
    “I think that’s a terrific idea,” Stone said. “Once you’re in the new house you’ll have time on your hands, and working again would be good for you.”
    “My thoughts exactly,” Arrington said. “I talked with my old agent, Mort Janklow, and he thinks there would be a lot of interest in the book.”
    “If you do it, you’re going to have to explain when Peter was born and why his name has been changed, and I don’t think it would be a good idea to tell anything but the truth.”
    “I think you’re right, but by the time anyone saw the book, Peter would be older, when it might not matter. If I publish after he’s out of Yale and working at making movies, the publicity might even give his career a boost.”
    “The boy wonder stories would run after he wasn’t so much a boy anymore,” Stone said, “and if we can keep a tight lid on it until then, it would be a stunner.”
    “I’m glad we’re of one mind on this. Oh, and I had a call from the architect today. Completion date on the house is next week, and there are some