“I’ve used that excuse myself,” Rick said, “more than a few times, when I didn’t want to talk to someone.”
“Why wouldn’t he want to talk to you?” Arrington asked Stone.
“I think Terry Prince has gotten to him, and he’s embarrassed,” Stone replied. “Maybe I should call Charlene Joiner and ask her to fuck him again.”
“What?” Arrington and Rick said simultaneously.
“It was Charlene who talked him around to voting with us,” Stone said, “after an afternoon in bed.”
“I didn’t know people did that sort of thing anymore,” Arrington said.
“At least as much as ever,” Stone replied, “maybe more.”
Stone’s cell rang, and he picked it up. “Hello?”
“Stone, it’s Harvey Stein.” He didn’t sound happy.
“Yes, Harvey?”
“I don’t quite know how to tell you this, but there’s a problem with the transfer of Jim Long’s shares in Centurion.”
Stone felt sick. “What kind of a problem, Harvey?”
“It appears that the stock may not have been entirely Jim’s to sell.”
Stone put the phone on speaker and set it on the table. “Rick Barron and Arrington Calder are here. Tell us.”
“It appears that a friend of Jim’s holds a lien on his shares. A Mrs. Charles Grosvenor lent him some money a while back, and he signed a note using the shares as collateral. She neglected to ask for the stock certificate.”
“Who the hell is Mrs. Charles Grosvenor?” Rick asked.
“I’ll explain that later,” Stone said. “Harvey, do you know if Mrs. Grosvenor may have bought some shares from the estate of Jennifer Harris?”
“I’m not sure,” Stein replied.
“Have you spoken with Mrs. Grosvenor?”
“Briefly. I’m afraid I’ll have to refund Mrs. Calder’s money and ask for the share certificate back,” Stein said. “Mrs. Grosvenor wants it before tomorrow’s shareholders’ meeting.”
“Harvey,” Stone said, “have you read the actual note Jim signed?”
“Yes, and I consider it airtight. Jim is very apologetic; he thought he would have Mrs. Grosvenor’s support in selling the shares. I don’t know why he didn’t tell me about the note.”
“I’m sure you understand, Harvey, that I’m going to need to see the note before I can surrender the stock certificate.”
“Of course.”
“I don’t think this is your fault, Harvey,” Stone said.
“I have already taken the liberty of wiring the funds back to Woodman amp; Weld,” Stein said. “May I send someone to pick up the share certificate now? I’ll send along a copy of the note.”
“Yes,” Stone said. He punched the phone off.
“Who is Mrs. Charles Grosvenor?” Arrington asked again.
“From all reliable accounts,” Stone said, “a crazy person.”
“How crazy?”
“A homicidal maniac,” Stone said. He began to explain the woman’s history.
When he had finished Rick said, “I’ve lived a long life and met all sorts of people, but that is the wildest story I have ever heard.”
“Rick,” Arrington said, “is Glenna at home?”
“No, she’s in Santa Barbara; she’ll be back tomorrow morning.”
“Then you’re having dinner here with us,” she said.
“Thank you, Arrington, that’s very kind.”
Stone’s cell phone rang; the caller ID said Woodman amp; Weld.
“Hello?”
“Stone, it’s Bill Eggers.”
“Hey, Bill.”
“Our bank just called; we’ve received a wire transfer of the funds we sent Harvey Stein a few days ago. What’s going on?”
“Turns out Jim Long didn’t have the right to sell his shares; they were entailed.”
“Oh. How is that going to affect your gaining control of Centurion?”
“I don’t know; nobody knows anything at the moment. The shareholders’ meeting is tomorrow; any suggestions?”
“Yeah, use these funds to buy more shares.”
“None are for sale.”
“Then, unless you’ve got more than fifty percent without Long’s shares, to put it in legal terms, you’re fucked.”
“Well said, Bill.”
“Good luck to you.”
“Thanks so much.” Stone hung up. “Woodman amp; Weld got the funds paid for Long’s shares back, so if the note is in order, we’ll have to surrender the share certificate.”
“Swell,” Rick said.
49
Dino returned in time for dinner, and they all sat down. “How did your day go, Dino?” Stone asked.
“Nothing I can talk about,” Dino replied. He didn’t look any happier than anyone else.
Manolo came to the table to say that a messenger had arrived from Harvey Stein. Stone got up, retrieved Jim Long’s stock certificate from his briefcase, and went into the house to find Carolyn Blaine, clutching an envelope, waiting for him.
“Since when are you Harvey Stein’s messenger?” Stone asked her.
She handed him the envelope. “I can’t talk about that,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “The note is inside. Did you receive the funds Harvey wired back?”
“Yes,” Stone replied, opening the envelope and removing the photocopy of the note. He read it and found it in perfect order. “I suppose I could insist on seeing the original note before giving you the certificate,” he said.
“It wouldn’t matter,” Carolyn replied. “Jim’s attorney would just object to your voting his shares at the meeting, and you’d be back to square one.”
Stone knew that was true. He handed her the stock certificate and wondered if now would be a good time to tell “Carolyn Blaine” that he knew she was Dolly Parks-a large-scale thief and embezzler and possible murderer. He decided not, that a better time might come, though he couldn’t imagine when that would be, unless it was as the cuffs were being clapped on her beautiful wrists. “Good night,” he said, then turned and went back to the dinner table.
“I hope you found some flaw in the note Jim signed,” Rick said.
“I’m afraid not,” Stone replied. “I couldn’t have written it better myself.”
As the dinner dishes were being taken away Stone’s phone buzzed. “Hello?”
“Stone, it’s Ed Eagle; would you like to come over to the Bel-Air and have a drink with me?”
Stone looked at his watch; only a little past nine. “Sure, Ed, be there in five minutes.” He hung up. “Arrington, Rick, will you excuse me? A friend has asked me to come over to the Bel-Air for a drink, and I’d like to talk to him.”
“Of course,” Arrington said.
“I’ve got to be getting home anyway,” Rick replied. “I’ll walk you out.”
“Dino, you want to join us for a drink?”
“Sure, why not.”
Stone and Dino walked out to the car, accompanied by Rick. Stone opened the car door for him, relieved that a driver waited. “Good night, Rick.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow at two, stage four,” Rick said, then was driven away.
Stone and Dino drove the mile to the Bel-Air, abandoned the car to the valet, and walked up to the bar. Ed Eagle sat at a table with Mike Freeman.
“Well, this is a surprise,” Stone said. “I didn’t know you two knew each other.”
“We met only once, a while back, on business,” Ed replied, “but I found him at the bar tonight, so we had dinner together.”
Stone and Dino ordered brandy. “Well, Ed, it seems certain now that your ex-wife has inserted herself into the Centurion deal.” He explained what had happened with the Jennifer Harris and Jim Long shares.
“How the hell did that happen?” Ed asked.
“I can only guess: you told me that she and the woman who now calls herself Carolyn Blaine had known each other in Santa Fe. I think Carolyn must have introduced her to Terry Prince. Maybe his Latin friends are getting cold feet, and he needed a new source of money.”
“I guess that makes a kind of weird sense,” Ed replied.
“Tell me,” Stone said, “in Barbara’s tangled felonious history, is there something she could still be nailed for?”
“Well, let’s see,” Ed said. “She got off for trying to kill me; she got pardoned in Mexico; and she didn’t get charged with trying to kill me the second time, because somebody got to the hit man before the cops could. Besides his murder, there are two others that I’m sure she arranged, but again, nobody is alive to testify against her, so she is, for all practical purposes, beyond the reach of the law. I wish my clients were as lucky.”