“You’ve got a deal.”
The couple moved into the room, and Stone followed Rita toward them.
“Hello, Hildy,” Rita said, and the two women exchanged air kisses.”
“Hi, Rita. You know Derek, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Hildy said without acknowledging the man. “And this is Stone Barrington.”
Stone shook Hildy’s hand and looked into her eyes. She seemed smarter than her choice of companion would indicate. “How do you do?” he said.
“This is Derek Sharpe, the painter,” Hildy said.
Stone shook his hand and found it soft and damp. “How do you do?”
“I do very well,” Sharpe replied.
“I’ll bet you do,” Stone said tonelessly. He turned back to Hildy. “You’re Philip’s daughter?”
“Sometimes,” she said.
“He speaks fondly of you.”
She looked at him in surprise. “When?”
“As recently as this morning.”
“Well!” she breathed.
Rita jumped into the conversation. “Stone is a prospective client,” she said. “Philip especially wanted him to see Squire’s work.”
“Oh, you must come downtown and see Derek’s paintings,” Hildy said.
“I’d like that.”
She took a card from her purse and handed it to Stone. “Be sure and call first; he doesn’t like to show people around when he’s working.”
“I’ll certainly do that. Will you excuse me, please? I want to see the rest of Squire’s pictures.”
“Of course,” Hildy said.
Stone nodded at Sharpe and peeled off toward another wall of paintings, glad to be increasing his distance from Sharpe. Rita went to greet some new arrivals.
Ten minutes later he heard a hubbub from the other end of the room and turned to see a knot of people gathered around a picture. He wandered over to see what was happening and saw that the picture had been slashed from one corner to another. Apparently, straight razors were coming back into vogue, he thought.
He looked around and saw Hildy Parsons and Derek Sharpe on the other side of the room, studiously looking away from the damaged painting.
15
THEY SAT AT Stone’s favorite corner table at La Goulue, on Madison Avenue, sipping their drinks and looking at the menu. The waiter, a young Frenchwoman with a charming accent, came over, told them about the specials, and stood ready to take their order.
Rita ordered sweetbreads and Dover sole, while Stone went for the haricots verts salad and the strip steak. He picked a bottle of Côtes du Rhône, the house red.
“I know you want to know more about Derek Sharpe,” Rita said.
“I’d like to hear anything you can tell me,” Stone replied. “I confess I don’t understand why women are attracted to him.”
Rita sipped her wine while she thought about that. “I think it’s a combination of the bad-boy thing and the art, and I should place quotes around that.”