Page 114 of Near Miss

She shrugged. “As you wish.”

Chapter 58

Stone got a call from Bill Eggers, his managing partner. “I need you in my office for lunch with a prospective client,” he said.

“Sure, who’s the client?”

“Name of Peter Greco. He’s the CEO of a conglomerate, made up of half a dozen companies. He reckons they’ll spend about three million a year on legal fees.”

“See you at lunch.” He didn’t mention that he knew Greco and that he had declined to represent his group, something that Greco had said he understood and would respect.

Stone was on time and accepted a glass of tonic water, as he sat at the table.

“Greco is late,” Eggers said.

“How did he come to you?” Stone asked.

“He knew a guy I was at Harvard with.”

“Not much of a recommendation.”

“He mentioned three million in fees. That was enough of a recommendation.”

“Right,” Stone said.

An hour later, Eggers left the conference room then came back. “I guess he isn’t going to show. His secretary said he had left his office in plenty of time to make our lunch.” Eggers absently speared a slice of quiche and started eating it. “When are you going to send Carly back to us?”

“Maybe never. She’s turned out to be very useful. I don’t have to use a dictionary anymore.”

“She has a big vocabulary?”

“Well, yes. When she was twelve, she says, she memorized theOxford English Dictionary.”

“How much of it?”

“All twenty volumes of it.”

Eggers stared at him. “You’re kidding.”

“I kid you not. Just ask and she’ll give you the spelling, definition, and etymology of any word in it, though I rarely need the etymology.”

“I don’t think you should let any of our clients know that,” Eggers said.

“Why not?”

“She’ll scare them to death.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

They finished eating, and Stone stood. “Thanks for the lunch. See you around. Let me know if you want to reschedule.”

Stone left the building and walked slowly back to his house,crossing the street now and then and watching the reflections in shop windows to be sure he wasn’t being followed. He seemed in the clear.

Back at his office he greeted Joan, who was hard at work, typing something on her computer. He was still hungry, so he walked back to the kitchen and found a pickle, which had just the right flavor. When he reached his office, the door was open, and a man was seated opposite his desk, his back to the door.

Stone returned to Joan’s office. “Who’s the guy in my office?”

“What guy?” she asked, mystified.

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