“All right.”
“I want you to go through the list of companies we own or have invested in and do some weeding.”
“Everything is profitable,” Charley said.
“I’m not concerned about profits,” Stone replied, “I’m concerned about what each company does and whether that might associate me with something that Holly wouldn’t want to be associated with.”
“You mean, like tobacco companies?”
“Exactly. Also armament companies, oil companies, and any company that might depend heavily on government contracts for its profits.”
“I believe I get the picture,” Charley said.
“It’s well known in Washington and among the political press that Holly and I have a long-standing friendship. Since her parents are elderly retirees and since she doesn’t have siblings or a husband, or even an ex-husband, that puts me in the position of someone who will be looked at for conflicts of interest.”
“And you don’t want to have any,” Charley said. “What does she have in the way of personal assets?”
Stone thought about that. “I don’t know.”
“If she has any substantial holdings, she might want to think about a blind trust. I could handle that for her.”
“A blind trust is a good idea, and right away, but you’re not the guy — you’re too close to me. You could, however, recommend the guy to handle that — or maybe better, a woman.”
“Good idea. I know just the person, but perhaps I shouldn’t tell you who she is — it’s better if you don’t know.”
“I’ll ask Holly to have her assistant call you for a name and number.”
“Very good.”
“Stone,” Mike said, “have you given any thought to having some regular personal security?”
Stone looked at him askance. “Why?”
“Well, there has been talk that the New Year’s Eve shooter was after you, not Holly.”
“That can’t be the case, Mike, and even if it were, it would only cause more such talk if I started traveling around the city with armed guards.”
“It looks like Fred had that role all taken care of,” Charley pointed out.
“I can’t argue with that,” Mike said, “and nobody can blame you if your driver is an ex — Royal Marine commando.”
“I’m glad you approve,” Stone said.
As Fred pulled out of the garage and turned toward Third Avenue, Stone looked across the street and saw a figure in black, walking in the same direction and carrying a sledgehammer.
5
Stone told Fred to pull over, and he did. “Something wrong, Mr. Barrington?”
“A man with a sledgehammer,” Stone said. “Lend me your weapon, will you?”
“I’m sorry, sir, the police have not yet returned it since the shooting.”
Stone reached into the front seat and retrieved the golf umbrella that Fred kept stowed there.
“Follow me, Fred,” Stone said, “but stay a few yards back.” He opened the car door.
“Yes, sir. It’s begun to rain again, you might open the umbrella.”
“Open, it wouldn’t be as useful,” Stone said. He held the umbrella at the opposite end from the heavy briarwood handle and began walking rapidly down the street. The young man with the sledgehammer disappeared around the corner. Stone began to jog, and the rain began to increase in intensity. He turned the corner, the umbrella ready, but the young man in black had vanished.
Behind him, he heard the whooper of a police car, which turned the corner and continued down Second Avenue. Stone stood there in the rain, getting wet, shelter in his hand, unused. The guy must have gotten into a vehicle, he thought. As he did, another police car turned the corner, flashing its lights, whooping if anyone got in the way.
They got a report, Stone thought. Behind him a horn honked twice. He turned to find Fred waiting in the Bentley, and he got in.
“You’re soaking wet, sir,” Fred said. “Why didn’t you use the umbrella?”
“I wanted to, but I didn’t have the opportunity,” Stone replied, taking a linen handkerchief from his pocket and dabbing at his face and hair.
“You’ll catch your death,” Fred said. “Let’s get you home and dry.”
“Good idea.”
Stone hung up his suit to dry in his dressing room, then toweled his hair, got into fresh clothes, and went downstairs to his office.
“Dino called,” Joan said.
“Get him back for me, will you?”
She buzzed. “Line one.”
Stone picked up the phone. “Hey.”
“You sound annoyed about something,” Dino said. “Did the guys with sledgehammers attack your Bentley again?”
“No, but I saw one of them as we pulled out of The Club’s garage.”
“Our The Club?”
“One and the same. I went after the guy on foot, but he turned the corner at Second Avenue and dematerialized. I think that some sort of vehicle, maybe a van, was waiting for him.”
“Yeah, we had two patrol cars in pursuit, after an incident at Seventy-third and Lexington. They lost him, too.”
“A similar incident to before?”
“This time it was parked cars. The guy walked down Lex, looking for expensive cars. Four windshields broken — two Mercedes, a BMW, and a Bentley Mulsanne. They’re expanding their repertoire to include German cars.”
“Just one guy?”
“That’s what the reports say. We had a call from a windshield-replacement outfit. They said their business is too good.”
“And they’re complaining?”
“I think they were worried that some people might think the vandals are working for them.”
“Now, that would be a productive marketing technique,” Stone replied.
“Their problem is, the victims’ insurance companies refer them to this outfit, Windscreens Unlimited, and they don’t stock those windshields. They have to order them from dealers, and they end up pissing off the car owners because it takes several days to order the windshields from the manufacturer and install them. The dealers don’t like it, either, because the customers complain.”
“So everybody’s unhappy — the car owners, the insurance companies, the car dealers, and Windscreens Unlimited?”
“That’s about the size of it.”
“So who would want to make all those people unhappy?”
“Communists?” Dino offered.
“Dino, there aren’t any Communists anymore, except in China.”
“What about Cuba and Venezuela?”
“They’re in transition after the deaths of their leaders.”
“Transition to what? Capitalism?”
“Market-based economies, like the rest of the world.”
“I wonder how long it takes to get a Bentley windshield in Cuba or Venezuela?” Dino asked.
Stone laughed. “Forever and a day.”
“So who would want to make all those people mad?”
“My guess is some fringe political group, somebody who’s very, very angry about something like global warming. Maybe they’re attacking the cars they think are the biggest polluters.”
“Listen, those cars have catalytic converters just like all other cars, and probably better ones.”
“Such a fringe group would not overburden themselves with logic.”
“That’s a shame because we, the police, pride ourselves on logic. It’s our most effective tool.”
“I know,” Stone said.
Dino explained it to him, anyway. “I’ll give you an example. A woman — wife or girlfriend — is murdered. Who’s our favorite suspect?”
“The husband or boyfriend,” Stone said.
“The husband or boyfriend,” Dino said anyway. “It’s logical, right?”
“Dino, I used to be a cop, too, remember?”
“Logic is our best weapon,” Dino said.