Dirt (Stone Barrington 2)

She read from her notes. “Early to mid-thirties, tall, slender, but strong, sandy hair. Peebles says he’s quite beautiful.”

“Anything else? An address, a phone number?”

“Afraid not, but Peebles thinks he might be in New York; he pulled out of L.A.”

“I’ll see what I can come up with.”

“Bye.”

Stone’s immediate thought was that the description fit the man who had been following Tiffany Potts, who looked like the man in the magazine, who had turned out to be Jonathan Dryer. He tried to remember his visit to Dryer’s apartment, but there wasn’t much there. The man had been backlit, standing behind a partially open door, and he had never gotten a good look at him. All he had was the magazine photo. He turned his attention to Geoffrey Power, starting with his computer telephone directory. That contained a hundred million names, but not a single Geoffrey Power. He called Dino.

“Yeah?” Dino said.

“Will you run a name for me?”

“Sure.”

“Last name Power, first name Geoffrey.” Stone spelled it for him.

“Hang on.”

Stone could hear the computer keys clicking.

“He’s never been arrested,” Dino said.

“Try the alias database.”

More key clicking. “Zip,” Dino said.

“Thanks. How’s it going with the apartment?”

“We’re meeting the board this afternoon; I took your advice and bought a suit. When the meeting’s over I’ll give it to you.”

“You’re sweet. See you.” He hung up and tried New York telephone information, new listings. If Power had just moved to town, he might be there. Nothing. He called Amanda.

“Yes?”

“He doesn’t have a telephone in the United States, or one in New York; he’s never been arrested. That’s all I can do with a name, especially one that might be an alias. You’ll have to get me some more information.”

“I don’t think I can,” she replied.

“Then it’s a dead end.”

Stone had an idea. “Have you got a copy of the new Vanity Fair handy?”

“Of course.”

“Call Peebles and tell him to look at the ad for Spirit men’s cologne.” He gave her the page number. “See if the guy in the ad looks familiar. I’d like to hear his response.”

“I’ll get back to you.” She hung up.

Half an hour later, she called back.

“The resemblance is close, but it’s not Power, Peebles says. How did you come up with that picture?”

“It arose in connection with something else. The description seemed to fit.”

“Oh, good. Keep on this Power person, will you?”