“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t see the difference between Herbie’s money and that of other clients. I mean, he didn’t print it himself, did he?”
“I’ve been assured it’s real,” Stone replied. “If it weren’t, the bank would have sent the Secret Service over here by now.”
The office doorbell rang, and Joan looked over her shoulder. “I hope to God that’s not Dolce,” she said.
“Can you see who it is?”
“Yes. It’s two men in business suits.”
“Is there a woman with them?”
“No.”
“Then please go and see who they are.” Stone rearranged the papers on his desk to appear busy. A moment later, Joan was back with the two men.
“Mr. Barrington, two gentlemen from the Secret Service to see you,” she said, and hastily closed the door behind them.
The two men flashed IDs, and Stone shook their hands and offered them seats. “What can I do for the Secret Service this morning, gentlemen?” Stone asked cheerfully, but his stomach didn’t feel just right.
“Mr. Barrington,” one of them said, “did you make a large cash deposit at your bank recently?”
“No,” Stone replied.
“You did not deposit a million dollars in your bank account?”
“Oh, that deposit. My secretary did that.”
The man removed a plastic envelope containing a banknote and placed it on Stone’s desk. “Do you recognize this?” he asked.
Stone leaned forward and examined the note. “I believe I do,” he replied. “It appears to be a fifty-dollar bill, United States currency.”
“That’s what it appears to be, certainly, but it is not.”
“Then what is it?” Stone asked innocently.
“It’s an extremely good counterfeit note,” the man replied.
“You could have fooled me,” Stone said.
“Have you ever seen it before?”
“I’ve seen many fifty-dollar bills,” Stone replied, “but I don’t recall ever having seen this one.”
“What was the source of the cash your secretary deposited in your bank account?” the other man asked.
“The funds came from a client.”
“And where did he obtain them?”
“From the New York State Lottery, I believe.”
“The New York State Lottery does not give people large sums of cash,” the man said.
“I thought that was why they were in business,” Stone said, “apart from also taking large sums of cash from other people.”
“Quite true,” the man said, “but their policy is, I believe, to issue a check on the state treasury’s funds or to wire transfer winnings to the account of a winner.”
“Well, I can’t argue that with you,” Stone said. “Now that you mention it, when I asked my client where he got the funds and he told me about winning the lottery, I pointed out that very same thing to him.”