The doctor gave Shep some water through a glass straw. “I usually go to the park, but I don’t remember doing that this morning.”
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Stone asked.
“I was in the park, but it was dark, so it must have been last night.”
“That makes sense. I should have warned you against walking in the park late at night.” Stone turned to the doctor. “May I see the contents of his pockets?”
The doctor pointed at the bedside table. “Top drawer,” he said.
Stone opened the drawer and took out a plastic bag. It contained a wallet, a key card from the Carlyle, a Mercedes car key, and a gold money clip with his name engraved on it, empty.
“Were you carrying any cash?” he asked Shep.
“Yes, maybe a thousand dollars.”
“How about a wristwatch?”
“Yes, a Rolex Submariner.”
“He won’t have any trouble pawning or selling that.”
“It wasn’t a standard Submariner,” Shep said. “It was the fiftieth anniversary limited edition.”
“How is that different from the standard Submariner?”
“It has a green bezel, and the numerals are a little larger.”
A voice came from behind Stone. “I’ll call it in.”
Stone jumped and turned around to find Dino standing behind him. “Don’t sneak up on me like that,” he said.
“Oh,” Shep said, “and it had my name engraved on the back. It was a gift from my father some years ago.”
“That’ll help,” Dino said, then made a call on his cell phone.
Stone turned back to the doctor. “What’s his prognosis?”
“Well, we’ll want to hang on to him for a couple of days. If he doesn’t die or have a grand mal seizure, then we can probably send him home.”
“That’s encouraging,” Shep said.
“Yes,” Stone said. “It’s always encouraging when the patient doesn’t die. I’ve had considerable experience with people who’ve been hit over the head. And none of them died, who didn’t have a fractured skull, at least. The hospital may just want to sell you this room for a couple more days.” He turned to the doctor. “You can have him one more night, then boot him out of here.”
“I confirm Stone’s diagnosis,” Dino said.
“Are either of you a physician?” the doctor asked.
“Of course not,” Dino said, with scorn. “We’re just cops. But together, we’ve seen more skull damage than you’ve had hot meals.”
“Possibly,” the doctor said, making a note on Shep’s chart.
Stone gave Shep another card. “Call me, and I’ll have Fred here with the car to take you home.”
A very attractive nurse came into the room with some medication.
Stone leaned over and whispered in Shep’s ear. “At these prices, it’s okay to hit on the nurses.”
“Gotcha,” Shep said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to get some more sleep.” He lay back and did just that.
Dino and Stone rode down on the elevator together. “Dino...”
“I know. You’re going to ask me if there were any more muggings last night. Of course, there were, but none of them resembled this one, not the way the other two resembled each other.”
“So, this doesn’t count as another coincidence?”
“Of course not. Shep was practically acting on your instructions.”
Stone knocked Dino’s fedora off. “You dropped your hat,” he said.
Five
Stone went downstairs to his office the following morning, and Joan greeted him. “Fred is back,” she said. “He picked up Mr. Troutman at the hospital and delivered him to the Carlyle at about ten o’clock.”
“Good,” Stone said. “The man needs some rest. Our city has not treated him kindly so far.”
“Well,” she said, “if he’s living at the Carlyle, he ain’t doing bad.” The phone rang, and Joan picked up the one on Stone’s coffee table. “The Barrington Practice. Hi, Dino.” She pressed the hold button. “Dino on one.”
Stone picked it up. “Good morning. Did you avoid a hangover this morning?”
“Yeah, a lot of good it did me. Now we’ve got a headache of a different sort. Shep Troutman called me a few minutes ago to tell me there’s a dead woman in his apartment.”
“Oh, swell. Any details?”
“I’m in the car. We’re just arriving at the hotel. Come on up here.” Dino hung up.
“Call Fred and tell him to bring the car up,” he said to Joan.
“What’s wrong?” Joan asked.
“Shepherd Troutman has a dead woman in his apartment.” He threw up his hands. “Don’t ask because I don’t know.” He left his office and waited outside for Fred, who appeared in the Bentley shortly. Stone got in. “The Carlyle,” he said.
“Right, sir. Everybody’s going to or from the Carlyle this morning.” They arrived.
Stone rode up in the elevator and walked into the vestibule to find a uniformed cop standing there, looking bored. “Morning, Stone.” He jerked a thumb. “Everybody who is anybody is in there,” he said.
“Thanks, Harry.” Stone walked into the apartment to find Shep, dressed in pajamas and a robe, sitting on a living room sofa, next to Dino. There were two detectives sitting on the opposite sofa.
“Hi, Stone,” Shep said, looking forlorn.
“Good morning, Shep.”
“Not really.”
“Okay, Shep,” Dino said. “You can start now. Sorry for the delay.”
“Just a minute, Dino.” Stone turned to the detectives. “Sorry, fellas, you don’t get to hear the first performance.”
The detectives got up and trudged across the room toward the study.
“Okay, Shep. From the top.”
“Okay,” Shep said. “After I got back from the hospital, I went to bed. I was very tired, and I fell asleep quickly.”
“What next?”
“I woke up maybe half an hour ago, maybe more, when I heard a woman screaming. At first, I thought she was out in the hall, but she was getting louder, and it was coming from the living room. I got out of bed and went in there to find the hotel maid, hysterical. I got her calmed down a bit, and she pointed down the hallway where the guest rooms are and said there was a dead woman in there. I went and checked, and she was right. In the first bedroom. You can see for yourself. She’s still in there.”
“In a minute,” Stone said. “Did you touch her?”
“I walked over to her and put my fingers to her throat. She was cold to the touch, and I couldn’t find a pulse.”
“That’s all? Did you disturb the room in any way?”
“No, I came back in here and asked the maid to make some coffee, just to calm her down, then I called Dino.”
“You got anything to add to that, Dino?” Stone asked.
“Not yet. That’s what he told me.”
“Is everybody on the way?”
“The detectives are in the study. This place will be full of people in ten minutes.”
“Then let’s go look at Shep’s guest before they get here.”
“She’s not my guest,” Shep protested. “I never saw her before.”
“I did,” Dino said. “Let’s go look.”
Stone walked to the study door. “All right, fellas, you can come out, now. We’re going to view the body, and you can watch, so you can see that we do it right.”
They looked at Dino and Dino nodded.
Stone led the way into the bedroom. It was in good order, except that there was a green dress and some underwear and shoes on or around a corner chair, and there was a corpse in the bed. Naked, as it turned out, when Stone lifted the covers.
“You know her?” he asked Dino.
“I met her at the same time you did,” Dino replied. “Two nights ago at P.J.’s. Well, we weren’t exactly introduced. She and another woman walked past our table, and you, Stone, gave us a lecture on avoiding sin, as I recall.”