“Can he document what he’s going to tell us?”
“Pablo, as he likes to be called, points out quite correctly that such transactions do not take place on paper. However, he purports to have an astonishing memory for detail.”
“Okay, I’ll hear what he has to say, and then we’ll talk.”
Stone shook his head. “Nope.”
“You want something up front?”
“Yes. I want his deal in writing, and when he’s finished talking I want a letter from you confirming that he has kept his word and that you have no further interest in interrogating him. I also want a letter from the attorney general stating that the United States has no interest in prosecuting him for any of his actions over the past twelve years.”
“When can he surrender himself?”
“He’s not going to surrender himself,” Stone replied. “He’s going to meet with you for three eight-hour days at a place in New York of his choosing. You may record video and audio of the meetings.”
“Twenty-four hours of interrogation?”
“Three days of conversation. You won’t need more than that; he talks fast.”
“Five days.”
“Four, and not a minute longer.”
Lance picked up a menu. “What’s that big chunk of veal with the polenta called?”
“Osso buco.”
Lance snared a passing waiter and ordered, then sat very still, apparently thinking hard, while waiting for Stone and Dino to order.
“Where do you want to meet?” Lance asked when the waiter had gone.
“I’ll give you a choice: a conference room at Woodman & Weld, or the dining room at my house.”
“Well, let’s see,” Lance said. “The Woodman & Weld venue has the advantage of the Four Seasons right downstairs.”
“Are you really going to put four days of lunches at the Four Seasons on your expense account, Lance?”
“You have a point,” Lance said. “The boys in accounting tend to get itchy about that sort of largesse.”
“Tell you what: my housekeeper is an excellent cook; I’ll spring for lunch every day, if you do it at my house.”
?
?I’ll have to send people in to sweep the place,” Lance said.
“I’m okay with a free sweep of my house,” Stone said, “but I want two simultaneous recordings of the proceedings, and you leave one with my client, just so we won’t have to worry about who said what at some later date. Also, the recordings will never be seen on television or outside the intelligence apparatus of the government while my client is still alive.”
“You mean that if I want to put all this on 60 Minutes, I’ll have to shoot Pablo first?”
“You will never lay a hand on Pablo, neither figuratively nor literally.”
“If I get the feeling that I’m being had, I’m going to be very, very angry,” Lance said.
“Pablo’s wish is not to have you, but to tell you everything he can. And, if you and your people behave yourselves and treat him like the gentleman he is, you may get a bonus or two when we’re done.”
“What sort of bonus?” Lance asked.
“That remains to be seen, doesn’t it?”