“Where did you hear that?” Stone demanded, annoyed.
“I got my sources.”
“Well, Mr. Dattila was duly served an hour ago.”
“You think he’ll respond?”
“I’m not clairvoyant, Herbie; we’ll just have to wait and see.”
“If he doesn’t, we’ll take everything he’s got.”
“Herbie, it was tough enough serving Dattila; think how hard it would be to take property from him, under any circumstances.”
“But we’d have the power of the court on our side.”
“So far in Mr. Dattila’s life experience, the courts haven’t laid a glove on him. Now go away, Herbie; I’ve got work to do.”
“I’ll check with you tomorrow.”
“Don’t bother; I’ll call you when Dattila sends us a check.” He hung up and buzzed Joan.
“Yes?”
“I’m sort of sore and tired; I’m going to go upstairs and take a nap.”
“But you never take naps.”
“Today is the exception.” He hung up and walked to the elevator. He didn’t feel like climbing stairs.
Stone woke up in his darkened bedroom and looked at the bedside clock: nearly eight. He rolled out of bed and into a shower.
At eight-thirty he walked into Elaine’s, feeling somewhat more human. The Knob Creek was on the table as soon as he sat down.
“You’re looking a little rough,” Frank, one of the two headwaiters, said. “What happened to your face?”
“I bumped into something.”
“It’s turning a funny color.”
“It is?” Stone got up, went into the men’s room and checked the mirror. It was, indeed, turning a funny color. He went back to his table, where Dino had arrived and was taking a sip of Stone’s drink.
“I don’t know how you drink that bourbon stuff,” he said, making a face.
“It’s the patriotic thing to do,” Stone explained, “instead of drinking that foreign gunk you’re so partial to. Bourbon is our only national whiskey these days. Do you know why it’s called Knob Creek?”
“I give up.”
“Knob Creek is the birthplace and boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln. You see how patriotic that is?”
“How do you know this stuff?”
“I am a student of American history. Also, it’s on a little tag that comes with the bottle.”
“Your face is turning blue,” Dino said.
“Don’t change the subject.”
“Maybe you ought to get it X-rayed.”