was thinking about three thousand.”
“And what sort of size?”
“Maybe five carats?”
“Mario, I’m going to be honest with you, that’s an unrealistic size of stone for that kind of money. For something that size, something nice, it’s going to run you six to eight thousand, best price.”
Carnavale gulped. “Suppose I can come up with five thousand?”
Sutton thought about it. It would be good business to please this policeman. After all, you never knew when you might need the friendship of someone in law enforcement. “I’ll tell you what,” he said, “I’ve bought some rings from an estate. They should be here Friday, Monday at the latest. There just might be something suitable in that lot, and I don’t have to worry about paying wholesale market prices for a loose stone.”
“That sounds good,” Carnavale said.
“Come back and see me this time Monday, and I’ll have something nice for you, I promise.”
“Okay, Jake, I’ll do that. And thanks!” The cop left.
Sutton went back upstairs to his desk. He’d send the cop away happy.
Mario Carnavale was happier than Sutton knew. He got into his waiting car and called Jim Connor, who was the lead on this case. “I saw Jake Sutton,” he said, “and he told me he has some new stuff coming in from an estate purchase, and he’d have something for me on Monday.”
“Well, that dovetails nicely, doesn’t it?” Connor replied.
57
Don Dugan was in his office when a call came in from his contact at the Creighton Arms hotel, a desk clerk.
“Something’s going on,” the woman said.
“Tell me, Kristie,” Dugan said. This was the woman who had given him the first alert on the jewelry show, and he was intensely interested to hear what she had to say.
“I overheard a conversation between two assistant managers a couple of minutes ago. I went into the reservations file for the show, and all the overnight rooms have been rebooked for Tuesday night, instead of Wednesday.”
“What about checkouts?” Don asked.
“Most of the Thursday departures are now checking out on Wednesday afternoon.”
“Do me a favor, will you? Check catering to see if they’ve moved their lunch and bar setup.”
“I’ll call you right back.”
Don hung up. His mind was reeling; he was already making a mental checklist of what had to be done. A few minutes later Kristie returned his call.
“Yes,” she said, “catering has now scheduled for Wednesday, instead of Thursday.”
“Change my bookings to Tuesday night,” he said.
“Certainly,” she replied.
“I owe you, baby. You get a bonus.”
“I can live with that. You want me to drop off new cards?”
“Sure, and we’ll have a drink.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
Dugan hung up and started making calls.
—
The Bacchettis, Mike Freeman, and Stone sat down for dinner Monday evening at Patroon; Ann Keaton had called and said she’d be late.
“A toast,” Stone said. Everybody raised a glass. “To gangbusting,” he said.
Everybody laughed and drank.
“There isn’t as much gangbusting as there used to be,” Dino said. “La Cosa Nostra isn’t much of a problem today. Even the meaning of ‘gang’ has changed. This one is going to be satisfying.”
“Not to mention the publicity,” Stone said. “You’re going to be the department’s new hero, and when the time comes—”
Dino held up a hand. “Stop right there,” he said. “I don’t want to hear any more of that.”
“Superstitious?” Stone asked.
“Cautious,” Dino replied.
“You don’t mind if we talk among ourselves about this, do you?” Stone asked him, impishly.
“I certainly do,” Dino said. “Shut up about it, all of you!”
“I guess I’d better change the subject, then. Mike, you all ready for the jewelry show?”
“I’ve been all over the thing half a dozen times, using my finest-toothed comb, and I think we’re ready for anything.”
“Oh, yes,” Dino said. “Good news on the Jake Sutton front. We dangled a little bait, and he says he’s got a new shipment coming in the next few days, ready to sell.”
“Any nerves about this, Mike?”
“Just the usual ones.”
“Dino, are Bill Murphy and Anita Mays behaving themselves?”
“Yep. They’ve signed on for the job and are waiting for the call.”
“Will you know when the call comes?”
“We’d damned well better know,” Dino said. “I’m not going to be caught on the wrong foot when this goes down.”
Stone looked across the dining room and saw Ann coming. “Okay, now we can switch the conversation to politics,” he said.
Stone got up and greeted Ann with a kiss, and she joined the table. A waiter swiftly brought her a martini.
“Tell us the news from the political front,” Stone said.
“The good news is that we’re seeing