“You’re up!” Mitzi said.
“Sort of. I’m pretty tired.”
Rita laughed. “You’d be even more tired if I’d known you were in the apartment.”
“Good morning,” Stone said to the attractive young woman at the counter.
“Oh, Stone,” Rita said. “This is my friend Emma Suess. She served you canapés the first time you were here, in the maid’s uniform?”
“How do you do,” Emma said, extending a hand. “I’m not really a maid; I’m an actress. I was playing the role of maid that night.”
“I’m pleased to meet you, Emma,” Stone said. He wondered what other roles she played around the house.
Mitzi handed him his freshly ironed shorts and shirt. “I’ll be done with your suit in a minute.”
Stone got into them, then his pants, when she had finished.
“Now don’t you feel all fresh and new?” Mitzi asked.
“Fresh, maybe, but not new.”
“Tom will be here around nine.”
Rita put eggs and bacon on the counter, and they all ate with gusto.
“So,” Rita said, “you’re going to put away Mr. Derek Sharpe this morning.”
“We hope,” Stone said.
“For sure,” Mitzi interjected.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Stone said.
“We’ve got the guy boxed, Stone. Why do you sound so discouraged?”
“I’m not discouraged. I just don’t know what you and Sharpe said to each other last night and if it’s going to translate into a successful prosecution. One thing drug d
ealers always have is plenty of cash for the best lawyers.”
“Once we nail him with the goods, he’ll cop a plea, and we’ll put him away for ten years.”
“The Rockefeller laws have been repealed,” Stone said, “or hadn’t you heard about that? A conviction doesn’t mean an automatic ten-year sentence anymore; the judge is going to have discretion.”
“Are you saying a judge can be bought?”
“That, too,” Stone replied.
“I talked to Brian this morning,” Mitzi said. “The minute we’ve got the cuffs on Sharpe they’ll be in his building with a search warrant, and we’ll find his stash. I’ll bet it’s a lot.”
“I’ll bet it’s not in the building,” Stone said. “Sharpe is not stupid. I think you’d do better to let this morning’s arrest slide, then set up another one in a few days and nail him then.”
“So why didn’t you mention this last night?”
“I was thinking about other things last night.”
“That’s sweet of you, but since you didn’t get your two cents in, we’ll have to go with it as it is.”
“You can call Brian and suggest a new plan.”