“Well, as a boy he liked abusing small animals, like cats, but not limited to them. And he loved setting things on fire.”
The phone rang and Joan answered it. “Woodman & Weld. Hold, please.” She covered the phone. “Bill Eggers for you.”
Stone picked up his phone. “Yes, Bill?”
“Stone, thank you for your suggestion. I have examined Mr. Grady’s file, including his employment application, and have found it to include a fulsome letter of recommendation of Mr. Grady’s skills and character from Edwin Charles Sr., dated a week before he died. The original envelope was attached, and it was postmarked two weeks after Mr. Charles expired.”
“Aha,” Stone replied. “I had assumed something of the sort.”
“Mr. Grady is, as we speak, cleaning out his desk, under the watchful eyes of two of our security guards, who are examining everything he takes with him. He will be leaving our employ in exactly, let’s see... seven minutes. My secretary is typing up a letter to Mr. Charles Jr., care of the Yale Club, denying him employment, any earlier acceptance notwithstanding, and with our best wishes. Ads will appear ASAP in appropriate publications, advertising for a new personnel manager.”
“Then, in my view,” Stone said, “all is right with the world. Thank you again for your congratulatory call.” He hung up. “Joan, please keep on the lookout for other Eddie Jr. transgressions, which we will head off at the pass whenever possible. And if not, then at Boot Hill.”
“Yes, sir,” Joan said, smiling broadly.
Seven
As Stone was preparing to leave his office for the day, Joan came in looking flustered. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I’ve just had Eddie Jr. on the phone for half an hour, berating me for having him fired. Apparently, he got back to the Yale Club and found your letter, which I had hand delivered, waiting for him.”
“Were you rude to him?”
“No.”
“Why not? You had every right to be, after he began blaming you for him getting canned for bribing a department head to get favorable treatment.”
“I just couldn’t bring myself to yell at him.”
“Who do you expect to do the yelling?” Stone asked.
“You.”
“Me? I’ve already told you that I don’t want to speak to him.”
“You just don’t understand how hard it is to deal with him.”
“All right, the next time he shows up here, I’ll see him.”
“Oh, thank you. He’s in my office. I’ll send him right in.”
Before Stone could react, he found Eddie Charles Jr. in his office, berating him.
“Stop!” Stone shouted, holding up both hands.
Eddie continued unabated.
“Stop, or I’ll call the police and have you arrested!”
“I can’t believe you had me fired. I demand you give me access to my money. It’s MINE and I have a lawful right to it. I can’t believe my own lawyer is withholding funds. That’s illegal!” he whined.
“Sit down,” Stone said, hoping a change of position might interrupt the flow of invective.
Eddie sat down.
“Now,” Stone said, “I’m going to explain some things to you, and if you interrupt me, you’ll spend the night in jail. Is that what you want?”
“No.”
“All right. First, I am not now, nor have I ever been, your lawyer. I am your stepmother’s lawyer and that of the trust that pays you each month. Do you understand that?”
“I guess.”
“Then stop telling people — and me — that I am your lawyer.”
“Oh, all right. Who’s my lawyer?”
“Google ‘lawyers’ and pick one. And confine your complaints about your life to him or her.”
“You told me to get a job, I don’t understand why you would get me fired on my first day.”
“How much did you pay Ellis Grady to hire you?”
Eddie stared at the floor. “Ten—”
“Eddie...!”
“Twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“Well, now he’s been fired, too.”
“Will I get my money back?”
“You’d better speak to Ellis Grady about that. My guess is, he’s already lost it at the track.”
“How did you know he was...”
“How did you know? I guessed that he had to be in deep debt before he would take money from a job applicant. He may very well lose his law license.”
“He’s not a lawyer,” Eddie pointed out.
“Well, the bar association can breathe easier now. Who did you pay to say that you’d passed the bar?”
“I didn’t do that! I took that cram course weeks before you suggested it, and I knew the answer to almost every question they asked.”
“Who gave you the questions before the exam?”
“Listen, you don’t know how smart I am! I have a photographic memory, and I can remember anything I see or read!”
“Oh, yeah? Then how is it you can’t remember that I’m not your attorney?”
“Well, my memory is, sometimes, ah, a little dicey.”
“A lot of the time it appears to fail completely.”
“That, too.”
“Do you have a police record, Eddie?”
“No! They’ve never been able to prove a thing!”
Stone laughed in spite of himself. “You can’t go on working on that premise, Eddie. One of these days, they’ll have the proof handy, and you’ll find yourself sharing a cell with a big guy who likes to beat up on rich pretty boys like you.”
“I’ve met that guy once,” Eddie said disconsolately.
“Well, if you meet him again in prison, you’re a sitting duck.”
“Why are you saying these terrible things to me?”
“I’m just trying to get you to confront reality for once in your life.”
“I confront it every day, and I don’t like it!”
“Trust me, Eddie, that’s not going to change. The only thing that can change is your ability to deal with it. You should work on that.”
Eddie nodded. “I know.”
“Well, then. Take your newfound knowledge of yourself and get thee to the Yale Club. I’m surprised they haven’t kicked you out yet.”
“Well, I did have one conversation with the house committee, but I talked my way out of it.”
“They’re onto you, then. Have they checked your Yale credentials yet?”
“Yes, and they found that I had a 3.9 GPA.”
“I’m sure that impressed them, and they’ll be further impressed if your conduct doesn’t bring you to their attention again.”
“I understand.”
“If that’s true, then God has not put me on Earth for nothing.”
“God put you on Earth?”
“So to speak,” Stone said. “Now, go and do good works. Everybody will notice, and you’ll get along better in the world.”
“Good work doesn’t go as far as good money does. You’re naïve, Stone, if you don’t see that!”
“Maybe,” Stone said.
Joan appeared in the door. “Time to go, Eddie,” she said. He followed her like a puppy, then she came back to Stone’s office. “I’m sorry about that. I’ll try to see it doesn’t happen again.”
“Double-lock the door,” Stone said.
Eight
Stone called Mike Freeman, CEO of Strategic Services, one of the nation’s largest security firms, on whose board Stone sat.
“Hey, Stone.”
“Afternoon, Mike. I’d like you to run a deep check on somebody.”
“Who might that be?”
“One Edwin Charles Jr.”
“Son of the late Edwin Charles Sr.?”
“One and the same.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything there is to know. I keep getting surprised.”
“I can do that. Give me a day.”