“Who knows? I don’t know three-quarters of the people in here.”
“I didn’t get a look at her face,” Dino said, “but I know the guy she knocked down, name of Billy Gaston, ex-cop, now a PI. Nasty piece of work.”
“Never heard of him,” Stone said.
“He was a street cop, made detective after you left. He was on the take from all sorts of people. The brass couldn’t prove it, but everybody knew it. He was told he might be happier in civilian life, and he took the hint.”
“She really slugged him, didn’t she?” Stone laughed.
“And I really enjoyed it,” Dino said.
Stone and Holly staggered into his house in Turtle Bay and took the elevator upstairs, necking all the way. Leaving a trail of clothing, they made their way into the bedroom to be greeted by a persistently ringing telephone. Stone looked at the instrument. His third line was ringing, the one that the answering machine didn’t pick up. Stone pressed the speaker button and fell into bed beside Holly.
“Yeah?”
“It’s Dino.”
“You son of a bitch,” Stone said, “you knew I’d have to pick up line three.”
“Of course,” Dino said. “I want you to listen to something. It’s important.”
“ Listen to something? What are you talking about?”
“Just shut up and listen.” There were noises, then Stone could clearly hear a female voice.
“Hey, Dino,” she said, “it’s Shelley. Well, not anymore, but you wouldn’t recognize my new name. I saw you at Elaine’s tonight. Sad, isn’t it? The first time I was ever in the place, and it was the last night. You and Stone and Holly seemed to be having a good time, but I could tell you were a little depressed. Who were all the other people at your table? Regulars, I guess. Well, it’s late, and I’d better let you get to bed. I may be in town for a little while, so I’ll call again. Maybe we can actually talk.” There was a click.
“That’s it,” Dino said.
Stone, Dino, and Holly had spent a lot of time in Washington, D.C., the previous summer while Dino and Stone investigated a year-old murder and a suicide, which turned into a string of five murders, all women. Turned out, the murderer had been in their midst all along.
“Holy shit!” Holly said. “Shelley is in New York?”
“What are you going to do about it, Dino?” Stone asked.
“What the hell can I do about it?” Dino asked.
“The woman is a serial killer,” Stone reminded him. “You can’t ignore this.”
“What do you suggest?”
“You might keep that recording for later,” Stone said.
“Okay, I’ll do that. What else?”
“You’re right, I’m stumped, too. If I were you, I’d give Kerry Smith at the FBI a call tomorrow morning and tell him about this.”
“Okay, I’ll do that, then I’ll forget about it.”
“Sleep tight,” Stone said, then pushed the speaker button again to disconnect.
“So she’s still out there?”
“Shhhhh,” Stone said, kissing her, then he moved on to other things.
2
Stone woke at his usual seven a.m., but worse than usual for the wear. “Groan,” he said.