Swimming to Catalina

available seat. In the rear of the airplane a distinguished-looking man was sitting on a sofa, talking on a small cellular phone. Stone buckled in as the airplane started to roll. He wanted to go forward and watch the takeoff, but the cockpit door was closed. Instead, he sat and watched the rain stream along his window.
    The airplane never stopped rolling, but turned onto the runway and accelerated. Shortly they were airborne and climbing steeply. The attendant came forward again and hovered over his seat. She was pretty in a characterless sort of way, and she displayed some very expensive dental work. “Would you like something to drink?” she cooed.
    Stone’s heart was still pumping hard from his dash to the airport. “Yes, a brandy, please.”
    “We have some vintage cognac, a Hine ’55, and some very old Armagnac.”
    “I’ll try the Armagnac,” he said. A moment later he was warming a tissue-thin crystal snifter between both hands.
    “Mr. Regenstein would be pleased if you would join him aft when the seatbelt sign goes off” the woman said.
    “Thank you,” Stone replied. Regenstein: the name had a familiar ring, but he couldn’t place it. He sipped his Armagnac, and presently the airplane leveled off and the seatbelt sign went out. He unbuckled and walked down the aisle toward where the other man sat.

    As he approached, the man stood and offered his hand. “I’m Lou Regenstein,” he said.
    Stone shook his hand. “I’m Stone Barrington.” The man was much older than he had looked from a distance; Stone reckoned he was in his mid-to late sixties.
    “Oh, yes, Vance’s friend. Please sit down, and thank you for joining me. It’s nice to have some company on one of these flights.”
    Stone took a comfortable armchair facing the sofa. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting; my cab driver got lost.”
    “Of course,” Regenstein replied. “They always do. The trick is to order a car from Atlantic Aviation; that way you’ll have a Jersey driver.”
    “I’ll remember that,” Stone said.
    Regenstein wrinkled his nose. “You’re drinking the Armagnac?” He extended his hand. “May I?”
    Stone handed him the snifter, and Regenstein stuck his nose into it and inhaled deeply.
    “Ahhhhhh,” he sighed, handing back the glass. “I haven’t had a drink in more than thirty years, but I still love the bouquet of something like that. It’s just wonderful.”
    “It certainly is,” Stone agreed.
    “I believe I’ve come across your name recently,” Regenstein said. “Something in the Caribbean?”
    “St. Marks.”
    “Ah, yes; you defended that young woman accused of murdering her husband.” He became conspiratorial. “Tell me, did she do it? Or would answering breach a confidence? I wouldn’t want to do that.”
    “I can tell you with the greatest possible confidence that she didn’t do it,” Stone replied. “And no, answering doesn’t breach a confidence.”

    “Keeping a confidence is a most important thing in life,” Regenstein said gravely. “Especially in our business. The entertainment business.”
    “In any business, I should think.”
    “But especially in ours. There are so many gossips and liars, you see, that keeping a confidence and telling the truth are magnified in their importance. Although I have a very large contracts department whose task it is to set down every nuance of an agreement, I have always prided myself on keeping a deal sealed with a handshake.”
    “I suppose if everyone kept agreements sealed with handshakes, I and my colleagues would starve,” Stone said.
    “Yes, lawyers are necessary in our world. Tell me, are you proud to be a lawyer?”
    Stone thought about that for a moment. “I was proud when I graduated from law school and proud when I passed the bar examination, because those milestones marked the acquisition of a lot of knowledge, but I can’t say I’m proud of my profession as a whole; still, there are enough attorneys of sufficient integrity to keep me from being ashamed to describe myself as a lawyer.”
    “A lawyerly reply,” Regenstein said, looking amused.
    “I’ll be more direct,” Stone said. “I’m proud to be a good lawyer, the best I know how to be.”
    “I prefer the direct answer,” Regenstein said. “I always have, and I so rarely hear it in our business.”
    Then the penny dropped. Louis Regenstein was the chairman of the board of Centurion Studios. Stone had seen articles about him in the entertainment