“Who’s the lady cop?”
“Her name is Mitzi Reynolds. She’s midthirties, been on the squad for two years, and she’s from South Carolina -still has the accent.”
“She anything to do with the tobacco family?”
“Nah, her father’s a shrimper out of Charleston. She went to a nice school, though. I forget what it’s called.”
“Well, she can use her own name, and I’ll bet Sharpe will think she’s from cigarette money. Charleston is far enough away that he won’t be able to check her out easily. Use some budget to buy her some clothes.”
“Yeah, she’d love that, but don’t worry; she dresses good, has a real sense of style.”
“I might be able to fix her up with a Park Avenue address,” Stone said, “on a temporary basis. I’ll make a call tomorrow morning and see.” The building where he had dropped Rita Gammage was said to be the best address in the city; it would certainly impress Derek Sharpe.
“I’ll have Mitzi call you tomorrow morning. You should get together with her and tell her what you know. If you can get her into this apartment, that’ll keep down the budget, which ain’t going to be big for a small-timer like this Sharpe guy.”
Stone gave him a card. “Tomorrow morning’s good.”
Brian stood up. “Well, I’ve got to go out and work for a living tomorrow,” he said, “unlike you guys. You buying, Dino?”
“Nah, Stone is,” Dino said.
They all shook hands, and Brian left.
“I hope you’re not jerking Brian around,” Dino said.
“Certainly not. I think this is a bad guy; he’d fit right in at Attica.”
“Yeah, Attica is a real artist’s colony.”
“Don’t think artist; think con man, and you’ll be closer to the mark,” Stone said.
“What’s in this for you?” Dino asked.
“Eggers asked me to do what I can; the girl’s old man is a client of the firm.”
“Who is he?”
“Philip Parsons.”
“Gallery on Fifty-seventh?”
“One and the same. How the hell would you know?”
“I know a lot of stuff,” Dino said.
17
STONE WAS SITTING up in bed the following morning with a cup of coffee and the Times crossword when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“It’s Rita Gammage.”
“Good morning.”
“I just wanted to thank you for dinner last night.”
“You’re very welcome. Let’s do it again.”