gets to them, except through me.”
“I see, except I don’t see, really.”
“Our affair, such as it was—it was only sex, without much romance—was conducted mostly in my office. There are times when I have to pull all-nighters or work weekends, so there’s a Murphy bed and a bathroom in my office suite. That’s where most of the, ah, screwing went on.”
“And how did that give her access to your customer files?”
“I’m a heavy sleeper, and sex pretty much renders me unconscious. A number of times I would wake up in the night to go to the bathroom, and Crane would be gone. This would be three, four a.m. I don’t know how long she stayed after I fell asleep or what she did during that time.”
“And you think she may have used those opportunities to rifle your files?”
“Possibly. Obviously, I couldn’t tell the police about the affair. Knowledge of it within the company could get me fired, and, incidentally, I do have a wife, if not much of a marriage.”
“I understand.”
“Crane was the aggressor. She could be very seductive, wanton, even. It was the best sex I’d ever had in my life. I couldn’t believe my luck.”
Stone nodded; he knew exactly what Barnes meant.
“Stone, I know you have contacts in the police department. Could you speak to somebody there about this? I want them to have the information, I just don’t want it to get back to the company.”
“I can do that, of course, Jeb, but you must understand: if Crane had any involvement in the robbery, and she’s caught, she could be tried, and you may then have to testify. Not necessarily, but very possibly.”
“At that point, there would be nothing else I could do but testify. Would it have to be in open court?”
“If it came to that, yes.”
“Then I’ll have to let the chips fall where they may.”
“Jeb, there’s something you could do that might help the police and make them grateful to you.”
“Name it.”
“Put together a list of the names of your customers who might be candidates for a robbery. I can ask them that the names be kept in confidence.”
“So if others were robbed, they might establish a connection to Crane?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to get her in trouble, if she’s innocent in all this.”
“I can understand that, but if she’s innocent, they’re not going to make a fuss about it. They’ll just have a chat with her.”
“All right. If you like, I can write down a list of likely clients right now, from memory.”
Stone went to his desk, retrieved pen and paper, and set them on the coffee table before Barnes. He picked up the pen and began to write. Finally, he handed two sheets of paper to Stone. “You’ll keep these in confidence, won’t you? I mean, you won’t let anyone see this, except the police?”
“Of course, Jeb.” He took the sheets and put them into a file folder.
“I also wrote down the approximate sum each of them is insured for. There are some quite large numbers there.”
“Good. I’ll get right on this, Jeb, and I’ll let you know if the police have any further questions. I’ll ask them not to return to your office, unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Barnes stood up, looking relieved. “Thank you, Stone,” he said, offering his hand. “I’m very grateful for your help.”
“I’m happy to help, Jeb. Good night.” He opened his office door and saw him to the street door.
“Wasn’t that guy not your favorite client?” Joan asked as he passed her office.
“Maybe not, but now I’m his favorite attorney.”
35
Stone and Dino met for drinks and dinner at P.J. Clarke’s. The bar was jammed, as usual, so they took their drinks to a table.
“Okay,” Dino said, “who goes first?”
“I will. You already know about my lunch with Jack Coulter, but late in the afternoon Jeb Barnes, from Steele, turned up at my office, very worried.”
“That’s the one my guys talked to at Steele?”
“That’s the one. He was upset because he hadn’t told you everything you wanted to know.”
“What did we want to know?”
“You wanted a list of names of people in his office who could have had access to customers’ files, who might have used the information contained therein to choose robbery victims.”
“We got that, as I recall.”
“No, there was a name missing: Crane Hart.”
“And why didn’t he want to give us her name?”
“Because he was fucking her—or rather, vice versa. She was the aggressor, he says.”
“The lady gets around where beds are concerned.”
“Seems that way. Jeb says the