Joan came back into the office. “What’s in your ear?” she asked.
“A bug.”
“Put your head on your desk; I’ll pour some water into your ear, and it’ll float out.”
“Not that kind of bug,” Stone said.
“Oh, you’re wired?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“What’s the badge?” She picked up the commissioner’s letter and read it, then giggled. “You’re a cop again? How can you afford to pay me?”
“It isn’t funny,” Stone said. “Brian Doyle is trying to get me killed.”
“What did you do to Brian Doyle?”
“Nothing much. I just handed him a very nic
e bust on a platter, and now he’s pissed off because I made more work for him, so he did this to me.”
“This is so much more fun than working in an actual law firm,” Joan said.
“This is an actual law firm,” Stone replied.
“If you say so,” Joan said, flouncing back to her office.
“Don’t flounce,” Stone called down the hall after her.
“I’ll flounce if I want to,” she called back. “It’s not like this is an actual law firm.”
Stone tidied his desk, took off the vest, and put his shirt on. The phone rang. He didn’t wait for Joan to answer it; he just picked the phone up. “Hello?”
“It’s Dino. Dinner?”
“Sure. See you there.”
Another voice spoke on the line. “You boys have a nice evening, now.”
“What was that?” Dino asked.
“I’ll explain later. Good-bye-and go fuck yourself.”
“What?” Dino said.
“That last part was for the other guy on the line.”
“Oh.”
Stone hung up and started looking for the little wire with the hook.
33
STONE ARRIVED AT ELAINE’S shortly after Dino, and they both ordered drinks.
“What was all that about on the phone earlier today?” Dino asked.
“It’s too embarrassing to tell you about.”