L.A. Dead

On Arrington came, still walking backward, talking and laughing with someone who was still climbing the other side of the bridge, probably Vance Calder. Stone recovered quickly enough to place himself in her path, so that she would bump into him. She would be surprised, they would laugh, Vance would greet him warmly, and they would congratulate him, on hearing of his plans.

She ran into him harder than he had anticipated, jarring them both. Then she turned, and she wasn't Arrington. She was American, younger, not as beautiful; the man following her up the bridge was young, too, and beefy.

"I'm awfully sorry," Stone said to her.

Her young man arrived. "You did that on purpose."

"I apologize," Stone said. "I thought the lady was someone I knew."

"Yeah, sure," the young man said, advancing toward Stone.

"Don't," the girl said, grabbing at his arm. "He apologized; let it go."

The man hesitated, then turned and followed the woman down the bridge.

Stone was embarrassed, but more important, he found himself depressed that the woman had not been Arrington. He stood at the top of the bridge, leaning against the stone railing, looking down the canal, wondering if the universe had just sent him a message.

Chapter 5

Stone was having the unpleasant dream again, and in it, someone was knocking loudly on a door. Then someone was shaking him, and he woke up this time, remembering that Arrington had been in the dream.

A servant was bending over him. "Signore Bianchi asks that you come to the library at once," the man said. "Is not nessary to dress."

"All right," Stone replied sleepily. He looked at his bedside clock and saw that it was shortly before eight a.m. He found a large, terry robe in the wardrobe, put it on over his bedclothes, found his slippers, and, smoothing down his hair, hurried to the central hall, where the servant directed him to the library, a room he had not yet seen.

It was a large room, the walls of which were lined from top to bottom with leather-bound volumes, leaving room for only a few pictures. Stone thought he recognized a Turner oil of the Grand Canal. Eduardo, the cardinal, and Dino, all in dressing gowns or robes, stood before the fireplace.

"Good morning," Stone said. "Is something wrong?"

None of the men seemed to want to speak first. Finally, Eduardo spoke. "We have had some bad news from the States." He turned to his son-in-law. "Dino?"

Dino flinched as if he had been struck, then he began. "My office called a few minutes ago: Rick Grant from the LAPD called and left a message."

Stone knew Rick Grant; he was a detective assigned to the office of the chief of police of Los Angeles, who had been helpful to him on an earlier visit to California. "What is it?"

Dino took a deep breath. "Vance Calder is dead."

"I am very upset about this," Eduardo said. "Vance was my friend, too."

Stone knew that Eduardo was a stockholder, with Vance, in Centurion Studios and had been an investor in some of Vance's films. "How?" he asked Dino.

"He was shot. Last night, in his home."

"Murdered?"

"Yes; shot once in the head."

"Is Arrington all right?" He steeled himself for the answer.

"Yes; she's in a local hospital."

"Was she hurt?"

"No."

"Who shot Vance?"

"That's undetermined," Dino said. "But when I got back to Rick, he told me he thinks Arrington might be a suspect."

Stone found a sofa and sat down. "Jesus Christ," he said, then remembered in whose company he was. "Forgive me, Your Eminence."

The cardinal nodded soberly.

"I wouldn't put too much stock in that theory," Dino said. "You and I both know that, in cases like this, the spouse is always a suspect until cleared."

Stone nodded. He was trying to think what to do next but not getting anywhere.

The cardinal came and sat down beside him. "Stone," he said, putting a fatherly hand on his shoulder, "I am aware of your previous relationship with Arrington. Eduardo and I have discussed this at some length, and we agree that it would be extremely unwise to go forward with the wedding, until… this situation has been, in some way, resolved."

Stone looked at the man but said nothing.

Eduardo came and stood next to Stone. "This is very complicated," he said. "Both Dolce and I are friends of Vance's, and you, of course, were very close to Arrington. There will be many emotions at work for a while, so many and so confused that to proceed with the marriage at this time would be folly."

"Does Dolce know about this?"

Eduardo shook his head. "I am going to go and wake her now and tell her; this is my duty, not yours."

"I will come, too," the cardinal said. "She may need me."

Stone nodded. "All right. Tell her we'll talk the minute she's ready."

Eduardo and the cardinal left the room.

"What haven't you told me?" Stone asked Dino.

"Rick says Arrington hasn't made any kind of statement yet. She apparently can't remember what happened. They've put her under sedation in a private clinic, but…"

"But what?"

"Before she went under, she was asking for you; she said she wouldn't talk to anybody but you."

"I'll have to call her," Stone said.

"I told you, she's under sedation, and Rick didn't know the name of the place where they'd taken her."

"How about Peter? Where is he?"

"The servants are taking care of him; he has a na

"That's good."

"Did Rick say anything else at all?"

"No. He was going to make some calls, and he said he'd get back to me the minute he found out anything more."

Stone walked to the windows and looked out into the lovely garden. "Dino," he said, "did Arrington know that Dolce and I were being married this weekend?"

"I have no idea. Did you tell her?"

Stone shook his head. "I haven't talked with her since last summer; Dolce and I had di

"And how did that go?"

"Not well. Dolce was very catty, obviously jealous. The next morning, Arrington showed up at my cottage and, well, sort of threw herself at me."

"And how did you handle that?" Dino asked.

"I managed to keep her pretty much at arm's length-though, God knows, that wasn't what I wanted. I told her I wouldn't do anything to harm her marriage, and that was pretty much that. A couple of minutes after she left, Vance showed up-I think he must have been following her. He asked if he had anything to worry about from me, and I told him he didn't. He thanked me and left. That was the last time I saw either of them."

"Sounds as though you handled the situation about as well as it could be handled."

"God, I hope so; I hope none of this has anything to do with Arrington and me."

"I hope so, too," Dino said, "but I'm not going to count on it."

"Come on, Dino, you don't really think she…"

"I don't know what to think," Dino said.

Eduardo and the cardinal returned, and Dolce was with them, her face streaked with tears. She came and put her arms around Stone.

Stone had never seen her cry, and it hurt him. "I'm sorry about all this, Dolce," he said to her.

"It's not your fault," she said. "You didn't have any control over her."

"Now, let's not jump to conclusions," he said. "We don't know what happened yet."

"All right, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt."

"You'd better get ready to go, Stone," Eduardo said.,

"Go?"

"You're going to Los Angeles, of course," Eduardo said. "She asked for you, and she may not have anyone else."

"Her mother is on the way."