“Yes.”
“My name is Aaron Beck. I am with the Israeli UN Mission.”
“Yes?”
“I wish to apologize for the presence of our people near your house this afternoon. I realize they must have caused you some anxiety.”
“I think my friends may have caused your men some anxiety.”
“I wonder if I might invite you to lunch tomorrow to discuss this situation.”
“How good a lunch are we talking about?” Stone asked.
“Would the Four Seasons Grill suffice?”
“It would suffice very nicely,” Stone replied. “What time?”
“One o’clock?”
“See you there, Mr. Beck.” Stone hung up.
“Now what?” Willa asked.
“Now the Mossad wants to have lunch at the Four Seasons,” Stone replied.
“One thinks of the Israelis as being very economical,” Willa observed.
“Don’t worry; I’m not picking up the check,” Stone said.
FIFTY-THREE
Stone sent Willa off to work the following morning, then went down to his office.
Joan buzzed him. “Herbert Fisher on line one.”
Stone sighed. “Tell him I’m busy, to call me late this afternoon.”
“Right,” Joan said.
Stone worked through the morning, then walked up to the Sea-gram Building and entered the Four Seasons. At the top of the stairway he stopped and looked around. A man at the bar to his right got up and came toward him.
“Mr. Barrington?”
“Mr. Beck?”
They shook hands, and the maître d’ seated them between the tables of Henry Kissinger and the literary agent and attorney Morton Janklow.
“Good table,” Stone observed. “Do you come here a lot?”
“Only when the expense account allows,” Beck replied. “The table is usually occupied by our ambassador, who is away.”
“I’m surprised that the expense accounts of the Mossad extend to the Four Seasons,” Stone said.
Beck froze for half a second, then managed a small smile. “I must relate your observation to the Mossad, the next time I encounter them.”
“Come on, Mr. Beck,” Stone said, “I know who you are. This conversation will probably go better if we don’t try to bullshit each other.”
A captain came with the menus, and Stone ordered the Dover sole, his favorite fish. Beck ordered a large salad. Stone thought the sole must have used up most of the expense account for the day. Stone ordered a glass of Chardonnay; Beck stuck with the mineral water already on the table.