"Damned if I know."
"Tell me about Dr. Drake."
"He's the doctor of choice in Beverly Hills and Bel-Air," Charlene said.
"Why?"
"He's pretty easygoing; if somebody wants a Valium prescription, he's not going to give them a hard time about it. He knows how to keep his mouth shut, too. I'll bet he's cured more cases of the clap and gotten more people secretly into rehab than any doctor in town."
"Is he a decent doctor?"
"There are jokes about that, but I've never heard anybody say he really screwed up on something. I mean, he hasn't killed anybody that I know of. I think his principal talent is that he knows when to refer somebody to a specialist. That's his motto: When in doubt, refer. He can't get into too much trouble that way."
"I gather he's pretty social."
"Oh, he doesn't miss too many parties. He's not on everybody's A list, but he probably makes most B-plus lists. I think that's where he gets most of his business. People sidle up to him at a party and ask him about a rash, or something, and the next thing you know they're his patients. He's very charming."
"Did Vance go to him?"
"Oh, Vance thought he was Albert fucking Schweitzer. I've heard him talk about Lansing in the most glowing terms."
"So Vance trusted him."
"Implicitly."
"Is he your doctor?"
"For anything up to and including a skint knee. I've got a gynecologist who gets most of my business. I'm a healthy girl; I've never really been sick with anything worse than the flu."
"I'm glad to hear it."
"As a matter of fact, I'm feeling particularly healthy tonight. You don't have to be anywhere, do you?"
"I'm happy where I am," he replied.
She stood up, took him by the hand, and led him into the house and toward her bedroom. Once there, she unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor.
"Promise you won't ruin my health," he said.
"Sugar," she replied, working on his buttons, "I'm not making any such promise."
"Be gentle," he said.
"Maybe," she replied, leading him toward the bed, and not by the hand.
Chapter 51
Stone made it back to the Centurion bungalow, tired but happy, around ten A.M. Louise was at her desk, and she handed him a message from Brandy Garcia.
"He works from an answering machine," Stone said to the secretary. "Call and leave a message that he can reach me now."
"Dino Bacchetti called, too. He said you have the number."
"Right, I'll call him." Stone shaved and changed into fresh clothes, then went into the study. He was about to call Dino when Louise buzzed him.
"Brandy Garcia on line one."
Stone picked up the phone. "Hello?"