“It’s Dino. I just got a call-some woman claims Herbie raped her, but my detective on the scene says her story looks hinky. Herbie’s unconscious in his apartment, and she can’t wake him. She’s called an ambulance to take him to Lenox Hill. I’m going to the apartment now.”
“I’ll meet you there shortly,” Stone said, then hung up.
Dino reached for his pants.
Stone walked into the apartment and found Dino there with his detective. There was a technician dusting surfaces for prints, but no sign of Herbie.
“Stone Barrington, Viv DeCarlo,” Dino said. “Stone and I were partners in the squad about two hundred years ago.”
The two shook hands.
“Where’s Herbie?” Stone asked.
“On his way to Lenox Hill,” she replied. “You know him?”
“We’re with the same law firm. Give me the tour.”
“We couldn’t raise anybody, so the doorman took us up. We found Fisher unconscious on the sofa with his fly undone and his penis out. I couldn’t wake him, so we called an ambulance.”
“Did you talk to the girl?”
“Yes, that’s how I got into this. She was in the ER at Lenox Hill, complaining of being raped, but the doctor thought she might be lying.”
“What’s her name?”
“Carson Cullers. Lives a few blocks up Park.”
Stone nodded. “Getting any prints?” he asked the tech.
“Two sets on the glass,” he said.
Stone turned back to DeCarlo. “Fisher has an arrest record, so you can pull his prints. Might be a good idea to see if the girl’s prints are on file. It would save you a trip to her place.”
The tech opened a laptop and went to work feeding the prints through a scanner. “Okay, I’ve got hits on both,” he said. “They match the ones on the snifter, and they’re both on the martini glass, too.”
“Herbie makes her a martini and pours himself a brandy,” Dino said. “He hands her the martini glass, so both their prints are on it. But why are both their prints on Herbie’s snifter?”
“What was the girl arrested for?”
“Possession of a controlled substance-cocaine,” he replied. “She got a suspended sentence and rehab.”
“We got cocaine here,” Dino said, pointing at the coffee table, “but it looks undisturbed.”
“Well,” Stone said, “we know Ms. Cullers knows how to buy the stuff.”
“That’s quite a lot to leave behind,” Viv said. “I wonder why she didn’t take it with her.”
“Because she wanted us to find it,” Dino said.
Viv showed them the panties in an evidence bag and explained her theory about them.
“I want to know what’s in that brandy glass,” Dino said.
The tech opened another briefcase and went to work on a computer analysis of the liquid in the glass.
“How the hell did Herbie get mixed up in this?” Stone asked.
“Who knows?”