Worst Fears Realized

they ask me. Just call me in the morning, and if I’m not available, keep checking in. Don’t leave a number”
    “Okay.”
    Eggers shook both their hands and left.
    Stone tossed a credit card on the table and waved for a waiter.
    “So, where are you off to?” Dino asked.
    “You don’t want to know that. If you need me, try my car phone or my cell phone.”
    “I’ll let you know if I have any luck with Internal Affairs,” Dino said.
    Stone signed the check, said good night, and got into his car. He’d had another thought on how to learn more about the Dante trial.

50
    STONE TURNED INTO DOLCE’S BLOCK INthe East Sixties and punched her phone number into his car phone. As the number rang, he squeezed past an elderly Mercedes 600 limousine that was double-parked in the street.
    “Hello?”
    “It’s Stone; I’m in the block.”
    “I’ll open the garage door; park next to my car and take the elevator to the second floor. And leave your luggage in the car,” she said.
    It sounded as though he would not be staying the night. Stone ended the call and looked for her house number. It turned out to belong to a large, handsome redbrick town house. He drove down a short ramp and through the open garage door; it closed behind him. He parked next to the Ferrari and took the elevator to the second floor. The door opened into a hallway; Dolce was waiting for him.

    “This way,” she said, beckoning him into a large study. Stone walked into the room and found Eduardo Bianchi sitting in a chair beside the fireplace. He got up to greet Stone.
    “How good to see you again,” Bianchi said, offering his hand and indicating that Stone should sit opposite him.
    Stone sat down, and Dolce brought him a drink, then perched on an ottoman.
    “I understand you have bought a country house,” Bianchi said.
    “That’s right; in Connecticut.”
    “It’s a very good idea. One needs to get away from this city from time to time.”
    “Yes,” Stone replied. He wondered if the man knew that his daughter had spent the night with him in that country house.
    “I understand, too, that you are acquainted with my friends Lou Regenstein and Vance Calder.”
    He knew. “Yes, that’s right. I spent some time in Los Angeles last year, and Vance arranged for me to fly out there with Lou on his studio’s airplane.”
    Bianchi nodded. “I think that airplane is a dreadful extravagance, but Lou says he couldn’t hold up his head in Hollywood if he didn’t have it. I suppose such things mean something in that place.” He spread his hands. “What would I know about it?”
    Stone didn’t buy that.
    “Has the information Dolce obtained for you been of any help?”
    “I won’t know until tomorrow,” Stone said, “but I’m very grateful for any leads in finding Mitteldorfer.”

    “If there is anything else I can do to help, please let me know.”
    “Actually, there may be,” Stone said.
    “Tell me.”
    “You may recall that the district attorney recently got a conviction of a man named Dante.”
    “Salvatore Dante? I’ve heard the name, I believe.”
    Stone thought he caught a hint of irony in the statement. “A prosecutor, Susan Bean, who worked on the trial was murdered, and before her death she hinted to me that there may have been some irregularity in the way Dante was prosecuted, possibly some prosecutorial misconduct.”
    Bianchi’s eyebrows went up. “Oh?”
    Stone thought he lookedvery interested. “I’ve just had dinner with Bill Eggers, from Woodman and Weld, and Bill tells me that the lead prosecutor on the Dante case may be making me a target of the investigation of Susan Bean’s murder, even though the police have cleared me of any involvement. He’s not concerned that I could be convicted, but he is concerned that such a move on the DA’s part could be very damaging to my reputation.”
    “Which would not be good for Woodman and Weld,” Bianchi said, nodding.
    “Nor would it be good for my ability to function as a lawyer,” Stone said.
    “I see your problem. And you think that if you knew what was, shall we say, fishy, about the Dante prosecution, it might improve your bargaining position with the District Attorney’s Office?”
    “Yes. It occurs to me that if, for instance, evidencehad been fabricated, Dante would certainly know that, and so would his attorneys.”
    “A reasonable supposition,” Bianchi said. “Dolce, why don’t you take Stone into the kitchen and give him something to