Herbie brightened. “Good point, Stone. I’ll need some clothes.”
“Then sneak into your place and pack a bag, and get out of town. The D.A. is going to want you to testify to back up what’s on the tape.”
“In court?”
“That’s where testifying gets done, Herbie. You’ve been to court; you know about that. And you’re a lawyer, remember?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“The courtroom experience will be good for you.”
“What’s this going to do to our civil suit, Stone?”
“If Dattila is convicted it will improve our chances of getting a judgment against him a lot.”
Herbie managed a smile.
“But I’ve got to be able to get in touch with you on a moment’s notice, so you keep that phone on you at all times, and don’t use up all the minutes.”
“Okay, Stone.”
“Well, get going!”
Herbie shook hands and left the office.
Stone asked Joan to come in. When she had taken a chair he said, “I want you to take a vacation, sort of.”
“What’s a vacation sort of?” she asked.
“That’s where we close the office, and you go somewhere nice, and you have all the office calls forwarded to your cell phone. You can reach me on my cell.”
“Where should I go?”
“Jesus, I don’t know. Isn’t there somewhere in the country you’d like to be, besides behind that desk?”
“What’s going on, Stone?”
Stone took a deep breath. “Devlin Daltry, or somebody who works for him, murdered Celia last night.”
Joan turned white.
“Now don’t faint on me.”
She took a couple of deep breaths. “I’m okay. What happened?”
“He somehow tracked her down in New Jersey and, well, it wasn’t pretty.”
Joan put a hand to her mouth. “Her head. That’s what he did, didn’t he? Like the sculpture.”
Stone nodded. “You don’t want more details, believe me.”
“So, I’m running from Devlin Daltry?”
“I think anybody connected with me might have problems.”
“When can I go?”
“Why aren’t you already gone?”