Bel-Air Dead (Stone Barrington 20)

llo?”

“Good morning, Stone. It’s Rick Barron.”

“Good morning, Rick.”

“I’ve got some news on the share-buying front.”

“Shoot.”

“One of the share owners, an elderly producer named Walt Baird, is willing to sell to us, because he needs money now and doesn’t want to wait until Prince does his deal. He’ll sell for twenty-five hundred a share. The bad news is, he only owns five thousand shares.”

“That’s a start. Tell him we’ll pay him this week.”

“All right, and there’s better news, too. Baird tells me a producer named Jim Long is willing to sell his shares, because he needs cash for a lawyer; he’s being held in jail without bail in L.A. on an attempted murder charge. He’s a close friend of Ed Eagle’s ex-wife, Barbara, and he’s accused of helping her try to kill Ed. You may recall that he was attacked by a man with a knife outside his home a while back. Long apparently introduced Barbara to the man, who was a dogsbody and sometime pilot for Long.”

“I heard about that,” Stone said.

“Are you willing to go and see Long in jail and talk to him about buying his shares? He’s got fifteen thousand so he could put us over the top. His attorney’s name is Harvey Stein.” Rick gave him the number.

“Sure, I’ll go see him. Arrington is out looking at an airplane at Burbank. When she comes back, I’ll brief her about this.”

“Good. Let me know how it goes with Long, will you? You can tell him I sent you; we had a cordial relationship when he was on the lot.”

“I’ll do that.” Stone hung up. “Can you get me into the L.A. City Jail?” he asked Dino.

“Sure, just throw a brick through a window, and I’ll get Rivera to throw you in there.”

Stone called Harvey Stein’s number and, after working his way past a couple of secretaries, got him on the line.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Barrington?”

“I’m an attorney with Woodman amp; Weld in New York,” Stone said.

“Yeah, I know the firm; I’ve heard your name, too.”

“I have a client who is interested in buying James Long’s shares in Centurion Studios.”

“Who’s the client?”

“Arrington Calder.”

“Vance Calder’s widow?”

“That’s right.”

“I heard about Terry Prince’s pending deal.”

“Long’s friend Rick Barron asked me to talk to Mr. Long. Rick thinks Long might prefer to sell to us rather than to Prince.”

“As his attorney, I don’t give a shit who he sells to. Either way, I get paid what Long owes me.”

“Will you arrange for me to see him in jail?”

“Sure, I’ll leave your name there. He’s in Metro Jail, at Parker Center.” Stein gave him the address. “Visiting hours today are two to four.”

“Thanks very much.”

“Tell Jim to call me as soon as he can.”