“My secretary will give you her address.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The president looked thoughtful. “That puts a whole new complexion on this affair, doesn’t it?”
“Well, it’s something we didn’t know,” Stone said.
“Or just found out,” Dino said.
“I handled a few murder cases when I was a young lawyer,” Lee said. “Well, one murder case. Anyway, if this information is true, then it might make Brix’s suicide more understandable. He could have feared his past coming out.”
“I’m afraid this information, if it’s true, might go against your contention that Kendrick didn’t kill his wife,” Stone said.
The president nodded. “I must admit, it took the wind out of my sails. I hope I haven’t gotten you two down here for nothing.”
Stone didn’t know what to say to that.
“Well, since the word is out that you are in town, we’re going to have to be very careful here,” Lee said.
“We haven’t been paid anything,” Stone said, g,” Ssailawyer,and it’s not necessary that we are paid. I think it might be better if we can honestly say that we aren’t on the government payroll.”
The president sighed. “Dick Nixon would have had a pile of cash in somebody’s safe to handle a situation like this.”
“Mr. President, I think we would prefer not to be paid.”
“Then I will respect your wishes in that regard,” Lee said.
“There’s something else to consider here,” Stone said.
“What’s that?”
“So far, everyone we’ve interviewed has been a White House staffer,” Stone said. “But if we interview Elizabeth Trask, then we lend credence to her gossip.”
“I take your point, Stone,” Lee said, “but if you’ve interviewed anybody, then it’s out there. I don’t think talking to Betty will make things worse. Oh, you might tell her that I said to shut up or I’ll tell her husband she’s spreading this stuff.”
“Mr. President, it was her husband to whom she was telling it.”
“Oh, yes,” Lee said. “I forgot about that. Well, Biddle Trask is not the kind to spread gossip, though I’m sure he was very interested in hearing it.”
“Mr. President, as long as we’re talking about Brixton Kendrick’s sex life, was there anyone here in the White House that he seemed to have an unusual interest in? Any woman, I mean.”
“Well, Brix wasn’t gay,” Lee said, “I’d bet on that. Of course, I would have bet he never had an affair with anybody.”
“That’s what everyone we’ve talked to has told us,” Dino said.
“Brix ran the White House, in the nonpolitical sense,” the president said. “He would have had both reason and opportunity to talk to anyone on the premises, but I can’t think of anybody he seemed attracted to. Brix was a very charming guy, with both men and women.”
“I understand, Mr. President,” Stone said, putting down his fork and placing his napkin on the table. “I think it’s time to let you get back to running the country.”
They all stood and shook hands. Stone stopped at the president’s se
cretary’s desk and got the Trasks’ address, then he and Dino left.
Dino waited until they were in the car. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this conversation at the restaurant,” he said.
Stone sighed and fastened his seat belt. “It’s a Georgetown address,” he said.
19