Incest, Stone thought. All these people are in bed together. It occurred to him that his thought was something more than a metaphor.
Then they were called in to dinner.
46
T HEY DINED AT A ROUND, BURLED-WALNUT table in a lovely room with a bay window overlooking the gardens, which were illuminated in the twilight. An unnecessary, but cheerful fire glowed in the fireplace. Stone suddenly had an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.
“Vance,” he said, “when I was at Centurion during your shooting of a film last year, wasn’t I in this room?”
“You’re very observant, Stone,” Vance replied. “Much of the design of the cottage set was based on photographs of this house. Then, when I saw how they had done the dining room, I bought the furnishings and sent them here. I suppose it’s a bit ‘through the looking glass,’ isn’t it?”
“Just a little disorienting.” Stone was seated on his hostess’s right, between her and the scrumptious Lola. It occurred to him that he had never been at a table with such gorgeous women. Dolce was opposite him, between Vance and Lou, charming them both. Nobody was playing footsie with Stone.
“Stone,” Vance said, “I saw the piece in the Times about the explosion at the art gallery. Tell us about that, will you?”
Stone was immediately uncomfortable; he didn’t want to get into this. “Fortunately, nobody was seriously hurt. The feds are working on the bomb and the van, and Dino is in charge of the local investigation.”
“I understand you saved some lives,” Arrington said.
“I was lucky enough to notice the van before the explosion, so everybody was well away from the windows.”
“Except Stone,” Dolce said. “You should see the cuts on his back.” She shot a glance at Arrington.
“It really was nothing,” Stone said quickly.
“But what’s behind it?” Lou asked.
“The police don’t know, yet.”
“Stone, you’re too modest,” Dolce said. “Someone Stone arrested for murder years ago is out of prison, and bad things are happening to the people who helped put him there—and to the people close to them.” She let that sink in.
Everybody stopped eating.
“Stone’s secretary was murdered, and there has been an attack on my sister, who is now holed up at my father’s house with her child.”
“Alma is dead?” Arrington asked, aghast.
“I’m afraid so,” Stone replied.
“Plus, one of Stone’s neighbors is dead, and the doorman in his friend’s building, and a policeman who was there.”
“Dolce,” Stone said, “this is an unpleasant subject.”
“What are you and Dino doing to catch this man?” Arrington asked.
“Everything we can; he’s been elusive, but his photograph will be in tomorrow’s Times, and we hope that will produce some leads.”
“This man killed a lawyer in New York yesterday,” Dolce said.
“How do you know about that connection?” Stone asked, astonished. “I only heard about it late yesterday afternoon, and the connection with the other murders is not public.”
“I have my sources,” Dolce said.
“Mary Ann again,” Stone said.
Dolce shrugged.
Lola spoke for the first time, in a surprisingly small voice. “Does this mean that we’re all in danger?”