“At the Taj Mahal Palace.”
“Have you got the number?”
“Joan will find it for you.”
“I’ll call her now.”
“Oh, I just remembered she’s leaving Mumbai today for Hong Kong.”
“What time is her flight?”
“Morning, I think.”
“Why don’t you know that?” Stone demanded.
“Why would I need to know that?”
“In case you had to call her.”
“I’ve never called my wife in Mumbai.”
“Is it morning there now?”
“How would I know?”
“You’re being unhelpful.”
“I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”
“Well, shit!”
“Why do you want to speak to my wife?”
“None of your business.”
“Then why are you bothering me?” Dino hung up.
Stone buzzed Joan.
“Yes, sir?”
“Can you figure out what time it is in Mumbai?”
“It’s seven-fifteen pm.”
“How do you know that?”
“I just know. Do you want me to place a call for you?”
“Yes, please.”
“And to whom do you wish to speak?”
“To Vivian Bacchetti. She’s at the Taj Mahal.”
“The Taj Mahal is in Agra, not Mumbai, and I don’t believe they rent rooms.”
“The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.”
“Why didn’t you say so?”
“I just did. Call me when she’s on the line.”
“Yes, sir.” Joan hung up and her light on the phone came on.
Stone twiddled his thumbs, until he got tired of that. Joan buzzed.
“Yes?”
“Mrs. Bacchetti is not available. She left Mumbai for Hong Kong.”
“How long ago?”
“Twelve hours. Do you want me to call her in Hong Kong? Twelve hours ought to be more than enough to get there.”
“Yes, please.”
“At what hotel?”
Stone gnashed his teeth. “Call Dino and ask him.”
“Yes, sir.” Joan’s light came on again.
A moment later, Stone’s phone rang. “Yes?”
“Stone?”
“Yes?”
“You called?”
“You were going to get me Mrs. Bacchetti, in Hong Kong.”
“This is Mrs. Bacchetti, and I am in Hong Kong.”
“I’m sorry, Viv, I thought you were Joan.”
“Was it Joan you wanted to speak to?”
“No, it was you.”
“Then speak.”
“Of course. Brooke Alley questioned me at some length over breakfast regarding the whereabouts of Shep Troutman.”
“Is that what you and Brooke do in the early morning? I’m disappointed to hear it. My imagination was more vivid.”
“No, we had already...”
“Ah, now you’re making sense. If you wanted to know where Shep is, why didn’t you ask Brooke, if you could get her to hold still for a moment.”
“No, the other way around.”
“That’s always fun, too.”
“No, Brooke wanted to know the whereabouts of Shep Troutman.”
“Then why didn’t you tell her? Why are you calling me in Hong Kong at bedtime?”
“Because I don’t want her to know where Shep is.”
“Then don’t tell her!”
“I didn’t. What I want to know is: Why would she want to know where Shep is?”
“Why didn’t you ask her?”
“I did, and she said she wanted to fix him up for a blind date with a friend of hers.”
“Who’s the friend?”
“She didn’t say.”
“That’s unlike Brooke. She always says. Tell me again why you’re calling me at bedtime?”
“I want to know why Brooke wants to know how to find Shep.”
“How should I know?”
“Well, you know Brooke better than I.”
Viv gave a low laugh. “I hardly think so. Now, come on, Stone. What’s this about? I’m getting sleepy.”
“Why does Brooke want to know where Shep is?”
“I have no fucking idea! Now can I go to bed?”
“All right. Just don’t tell Brooke where Shep is.”
“I would never tell her. Dino has sworn me to secrecy. Now good night!”
“Good morning,” Stone replied.
“What?”
“It’s morning here.”
“Where are you?”
“In New York.”
“Well, it would be, wouldn’t it! Good night!!!” She hung up.
Stone reflected on the morning’s conversations, at home and abroad. He concluded that they had been fruitless. The only good thing about them was that Brooke still didn’t know where Shep was. On the other hand, he still didn’t know why she wanted to know Shep’s whereabouts.
It was a wash, sort of. He’d have to think of something else.
Twenty-Five
While Stone was still trying to figure out what Brooke wanted, and why, his phone buzzed.
“An anonymous caller for you on line three,” Joan said.
“Who is it?” Stone asked.
“It’s anonymous. That means he doesn’t want you, or maybe me, to know who he is.”
“Do we know why he wants to talk to me?”
“He just said you would be interested to hear from him.”
“And why is he calling on line three? Isn’t that an unpublished number?”
“Yes, but somehow he found it.”
“What are my choices here?”
“You can answer it, or I can tell him to go away.”
“He could be an important client.”
“Yes.”
“Or it could be a spam caller.”
“Could be. The only way we can know for sure is for you to speak to him.”
“Oh, all right.” Stone pressed the button for line three. “Hello?”
“Is this Stone Barrington?”
“Who were you trying to call?”
“Stone Barrington. Stone, is that you?”
“That depends on who you are.”
“Let me put it this way: I’m calling from an undisclosed location, and I’m trying to be careful, lest I be overheard.”
“Do you have a view of the sea?”
“Yes.”
“Shep?”
“Yes! I thought you were going to hang up on me.”
“I nearly did. How did you get this phone number?”
“I didn’t want to call on a line where we might be overheard, and I figured that you had more than one line, and that the numbers were sequential. I called number three.”
“Ah! Something this morning finally makes sense.”
“Has it been a confusing morning?”
“Don’t get me started. How are you, Shep?”
“Very well, thanks. May we talk freely on this line?”
“Yes, we may. Is everything all right where you are?”
“Yes. Well, maybe. The phone here keeps ringing, and I’m afraid to answer it because nobody has the number.”
“I have the number.”
“Yes, but I was afraid to assume that it was you, so I didn’t answer.”
“That was a good move, since I didn’t call you.”
“Should I hang up, then?”
“No, I want to talk to you.”
“Is it safe?”
“Yes, the gentlemen from your security firm would have checked out everything.”
“Then what do you want to talk to me about?” Shep asked.
“Do you remember Brooke Alley?”
“Man, do I! I still have dreams about that cleavage.”
“Can you think of any reason why she should want to contact you?”
“No. Does she want to contact me? Maybe I made the wrong decision when I handed her off to you.”
“No, that was a good decision.”
“Oh, I’m glad. Things worked out, did they?”
“Sort of. She’s been asking where you are.”
“For what purpose?”
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t say. It’s possible, of course, that she didn’t want to contact you, just that she wanted to know where you were. I thought she might be asking your location at the behest of another party.”