Worst Fears Realized (Stone Barrington 5)

“Hi, Dino,” Martin Brougham said. “Hi, Stone. You remember Dana?”

“Of course,” Stone said. “This is Sarah Buckminster; won’t you join us?”

The Broughams sat down and ordered a drink. “Have you eaten yet?” Brougham asked.

“Not yet,” Stone said.

“Then dinner’s on me; we’re celebrating.”

“I heard; congratulations. Any truth to the rumor that the old man is going to retire and anoint you?”

Brougham laughed aloud. “Not while there’s a breath left in his body.”

They looked at menus and ordered dinner. Stone could not understand Brougham’s behavior, so he decided to charge in headfirst. “Your man Deacon came to see me this morning.”

“He did? What about?”

“Don’t you keep track of the guy?” Dino asked.

“Usually,” Brougham replied. He looked back and forth between Dino and Stone. “Something going on here that I don’t know about?”

“Deacon seems to think he’s taking over the investigation into Susan Bean’s murder,” Dino said.

“Oh, nothing like that, I assure you, Dino. He asked me if he could look into it, and, of course, I told him he could. After all, she was one of us, and we want to see this cleared up.”

Stone said, “Deacon seems to think that I murdered Susan.”

Brougham nearly choked on his drink. He looked at Dino. “Do you have any evidence to support such a notion?”

“None whatever,” Dino said.

“Because, if you do, I shouldn’t be sitting at this table.”

“Relax, Martin,” Dino said. “We cleared Stone of any involvement within half an hour of her death. He had gone out for Chinese when it happened.”

“I’ve heard the timeline,” Brougham said. “It made sense to me. Besides, what possible motive could Stone have had?”

“Exactly,” Dino replied.

“You can talk directly to me, Martin,” Stone said. “If you have any questions, I’d be glad to answer them.”

“You mean, off the record?”

“I answered all of Deacon’s question on the record, right up to the point he accused me of murder, then I told him to call my attorney, and I threw him out. But as a courtesy, I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have, right here, right now, in front of witnesses.”

Brougham thought about this for a moment. “Did you know Susan before our party?”

“Deacon says I did. He says she assisted Haverty in prosecuting a client of mine. I met Haverty’s second chair, but I don’t remember anything about her. Deacon also says she was a regular here, at the bar, and that I took her home one night and slept with her. I don’t remember that, either, and I think I would, if it had happened.”

“You don’t remember meeting her at the bar? Not at all?”

“No,” Stone replied. “For what it’s worth, Elaine doesn’t remember her, either, and she’s in here a lot more than I am.”

“I suppose so.”

“Elaine remembers Jean Martinelli, remembers throwing her out of here one night, drunk. Apparently, Martinelli is the source of Deacon’s conjecture.”

“Martinelli hasn’t worked for me for nearly a year,” Brougham said, “but it doesn’t surprise me that she talked to Tom; they were something of an item for a while. I expect she called him.”