"You were wonderful last night," she said. "This morning, too."
"Same here," he replied.
"Oh, she's there, huh?"
"I'll talk to you later." He hung up. "I want to take a bath," Arrington said. "Join me?"
"Thanks, I've just showered," he replied. "Oh, it's going to be like that, is it?"
"You're a grieving widow, and I'm an old family friend."
"We'll see." She went upstairs.
Stone found Vance's study and picked up the phone. It was time to call Marc Blumberg.
Chapter 17
Marc Blumberg came on the line. "Congratulations on getting her out of the Judson place," he said. "I passed the clinic on the way to work this morning; there were a lot of disappointed TV people out on the street."
"The cops leaked it to the media," Stone said. "I made the mistake of giving them advance notice."
"I saw a cop car there this morning, with Durkee in it."
"I saw them, too; do you think they were just there to watch the fun?"
"I think they were there to arrest Arrington," Blumberg said.
"Why do you think that?"
"I heard from a source at the LAPD that they have a witness who says Arrington expressed an interest in killing Vance."
"I don't believe it," Stone said.
"I don't believe she'd say that, either," Blumberg replied, "but I do believe that someone might say she did."
"Any idea who?"
"Not yet. I think it's time for me to call the D.A. and express our desire to cooperate, offer to let them question Arrington."
"They're not going to like what she has to say. She still has a memory gap from the day before the killing until she woke up in the clinic. They're probably going to want a polygraph, too."
"I'll have the usual reasons for not cooperating on that, plus there's the memory loss; she can't lie about what she can't remember."
"They'd want to ask her if she can remember," Stone said. "If she says she can't, and the needle jumps, they'll be all over her."
"I think we should consider doing a polygraph of our own," Blumberg said.
"And leak it to the press?"
"Right."
"Couldn't hurt."
"Where is she now?"
"At the Malibu house; I'm with her." Stone gave him the phone number.
"Have any funeral arrangements been made yet?"