“It usually does,” Dino agreed, sipping his own drink.
“Oh, a lady is joining us.”
“You found me a girl? Oh, Stone, that’s swell of you.”
“I found me a girl.”
“What about the lovely Celia?”
“She’s in lovely Washington, Connecticut, remember?”
“So who’s this one?”
Stone nodded toward the door. “You’ve met.” He struggled to his feet to greet Eliza Larkin. “Good evening.”
She shook his hand.
“You remember Lieutenant Bacchetti.”
“Of course.” She shook his hand and accepted a chair.
“I’m known as Dino, off duty,” Dino said.
“And I’m known as Eliza, off duty.”
“What would you like to drink?” Stone asked.
“I think a very dry martini with two olives,” she replied.
Stone waved at a waiter and ordered.
“So this is Elaine’s?” Eliza said.
“It is indeed. Unpretentious, isn’t it?”
“Cozy. I like it.”
“The food is a lot better than it gets credit for. Restaurant critics don’t like it because they can’t get a good table, not being regulars.”
Eliza noticed the cane hanging on the spare chair. “Are you using that?”
“Yes, the painkiller is wearing off, but I have another twenty-five minutes before I can take another pill.”
The martini was placed before her, and she sipped. “You can’t take another pill.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re drinking,” she said, pointing at the nearly empty glass of bourbon. “Those pills don’t mix with alcohol. You might run amok.”
“I never run amok.”
“Have you ever taken those pills with alcohol?”
“No.”
“If you do, it will be your first experience with running amok, and Lieutenant Bacchetti will have to arrest you.”
“But I’ll be in pain.”