"Bottom line is, Mrs.Manning's husband could not have kicked off at a better time for her. If Manning had lived and had continued to live as he did, I reckon he wouldn't have been able to afford the life insurance premiums much longer."
"How long had he had the insurance?"
"A little over two years, and if the company had known he was going to sail, two-handed, across the Atlantic twice, he never would have gotten it. Insurance companies frown on that sort of sporting activity."
"I guess not. This information certainly puts a whole new complexion on things, doesn't it?"
"I would say so. I mean, if you were still a cop, you'd now suspect Allison Manning of helping her husband overboard, wouldn't you?"
"That's one theory."
"The other theory which suggests itself has to do with the very special dinghy Paul Manning had air freighted to him in Las Palmas."
"Right. I got the brochure on the Parker Sportster today. It sails."
"Could it have sailed Manning back to the Canaries from where Allison says they were when he died?"
"Yes, but it wouldn't have had to; Manning could have left the yacht as soon as they were out of sight of land."
"Aha!"
"Except for one thing."
"What's that?"
"The Parker Sportster is still on the yacht."
"Could he have had another dinghy?"
"He did have, but it wasn't sail able and anyway, that one is still on the yacht, too."
"So it looks as though Manning, when he left the yacht, was either dead or swimming."
"Looks that way."
"Could he have swum back?"
"I think we can discount that possibility; he might have been spotted near shore in the daytime and there are sharks out there; I don't think he would have tried it at night."
"Another boat might have spotted him sailing a dingy, too."
"Not if he sailed at night. That's what I would have done in his shoes, but of course, the point is moot, because the dinghy is still on the yacht."
"Well, pal, good luck with sorting this one out."
"I don't have to sort it out, thank God. All I have to do is think about getting Allison Manning acquitted. I'm not the cops."
"Good point. I'll call you if I find out anything new."
"Thanks, Bob. Take care." He hung up.
"I'm not the cops," Stone repeated to himself. "I'm her lawyer, and if she's guilty, She won't be the first guilty client I've represented." Still, he wanted her to be innocent.
CHAPTER 24
Stone hung up the phone and returned to his lunch. He wasn't the cops, granted, but he was still bothered by what he was hearing about Paul Manning's affairs. He was about finished with lunch when Jim Forrester pulled up a chair.
"Mind if I join you?" the New Yorker reporter asked, settling his lanky frame and waving to Thomas for a drink.
"Not at all. I wondered what had happened to you; I was afraid my star witness had gotten shipped out with the other reporters."
Forrester shook his head. "Nope. I ducked into the men's room when I saw the cops,and they missed me. My luggage went, though; I've been shopping for the necessities."
"Good; can we talk about your testimony?"
"Sure."
"I don't see any need to rehearse, but I do want to be reassured that you're willing to testify that, on the occasion you met them, they were happy together, affectionate, and glad to be in each other's company."
"No problem with that."
"I think we'll skip the argument they had about their routing later in the evening; it doesn't seem germane."
"I think you're right; I've been married, so I know how those little spats can arise over nothing."
"Yeah," Stone replied, as if he knew what the reporter was talking about. It occurred to him that he and Arrington had never had that sort of spat in their time together. He hadn't heard from her since she had arrived in L.A., and he wondered how she was.
"Let's see," Stone said, "you first met Paul Manning in the bar at the yacht club in Las Palmas?"
"Well, no; I had met him earlier, much earlier."
"You didn't mention that," Stone said.
"Well, it was a long time ago. I went to Syracuse University, and Paul went to Cornell at the same time. The towns are not far apart, and we had an interfraternity basketball league. I played against Paul two or three times. I just knew him to speak to, though; at the time, I don't think we ever had a conversation that didn't involve who fouled who."
"I guess we can use that; it gives you some sort of history with Paul, however slim. What were your impressions of him in those days?"
"Pretty much the same as in Las Palmas: cheerful, outgoing, good company."
"Not the sort who might commit suicide?"
"No, absolutely not. In Las Palmas he was enthusi about getting back across the Atlantic; said he had I idea for a new novel based on their trip, and he was to get started on it."
"That we can use," Stone said. "He apparently kept notes in a leather-bound book; did he mention at all?"
"He said he had made a lot of notes; he didn't say about a leather-bound book."
"That will be helpful, nevertheless. Sir Winston is taking Paul's notes as complaints about Allison; it's the most damning evidence he has."
"Look, I don't want to get you into some sort of ethical quandary here, but if you want me to mention the leather bound book, I'll be glad to do it. It's not as though the other side is playing anything like what we would call fair."
"I think it's best to play this straight," Stone said. "The difference in the effect of your testimony would be small, and anytime you start deviating from the straight and narrow, you open yourself up to getting caught lying. I wouldn't want to end up with a perjury charge against you."
"Neither would I," Forrester said. "God knows what the penalty for perjury is on this island."
"Can you think of anything else during your evening with the Mannings that might help us at the trial?"
Forrester looked uncomfortable. "Can we talk off the record for a minute?"
"Sure."
"I certainly don't want to bring this up at the trial, but it's the kind of thing that I can't ignore when I come to write my piece."
"Shoot."
"You remember we talked about this dinghy that Paul had flown in from Barcelona?"
"Yes, the Parker Sportster."
"I didn't mention this before, but that dinghy can be sailed. I read something in a magazine about somebody sailing one from Norway to Iceland."
"I'm aware of the dinghy's sailing capability."
"Does that suggest anything to you?"
"What does it suggest to you?"
"That Paul Manning could have conceivably sailed the thing back to the Canaries and faked his own death, for whatever reason."
"That occurred to me, but it's not possible."
"Why not?"
"Because the Parker Sportster is still in a cockpit locker of Expansive. I found it there, unused."
Forrester took a deep breath and let it out. "Boy, am I glad to hear that. I didn't want to think that Allison could be mixed up in something like that, but…"
"I understand. While we certainly won't bring this up at the trial, I think it might be very helpful to Allison if you mentioned it in your piece. There will always be people who would think the worst, and it might help her."
"I'll certainly do that. It's the kind of detail that will make the piece more interesting. By the way, I talked with my editor, Charles McGrath, and in light of all the publicity Allison's story has gotten, they're more interested than ever in the piece."
"I'm glad for you."
"You should be glad for Allison, too; this kind of detailed piece will satisfy the curiosity of a lot of people. I know it's going to be tough for her when all this is over."
"I know it is, though I haven't talked about it with her yet. I think she's got enough on her mind at the moment."
"I'm sure she has."
"Have you talked with her at length yet?"
"Twice. She's remarkably open and forthcoming; sometimes I think she doesn't really have a grasp of what she's facing."