“Whatever you say,” Dino replied.
After dinner they went back to Stone’s house. He opened the Excelsior and removed a document, made some copies, and returned it to the safe.
Back in the Bentley, he said to Fred, “The Carlyle, please.”
At the hotel, Stone went to the manager’s office, but he had left for the day. He found an assistant manager.
“Good evening, Mr. Barrington. We were all very sorry to hear of Mr. Troutman’s death.”
“Thank you,” Stone said, handing the man a copy of the document. “I’d like a key to the apartment.”
“We sealed it on hearing of Mr. Troutman’s death, but I’m happy to open it for his executor.” He had a key card made and handed it to Stone. “This is a permanent card; it won’t expire until you order it changed.”
“Thank you,” Stone said.
“Can we sit down and talk about this for a minute?” Dino asked. They found chairs in the lobby. “What are we about to do?” Dino asked.
“I told you, burglary. We did it once before, remember?”
“I remember, but I have a strong feeling that we’d better be able to successfully explain this to somebody at some point.”
“Dino, I’m Shep’s executor. I’m also his heir. I’m entitled to enter his property and do whatever I wish with the contents.”
“What contents are we looking for?” Dino asked.
Stone explained what he wanted, though he wasn’t entirely sure what it was.
“Okay, then. You’re sure you don’t want to take a tech with us?”
“Not unless we can’t get into his safe. I saw Shep open it once, and I think I can remember the code. If I can’t we’ll need somebody with tools, who knows what do with them.”
“Okay, I’m satisfied.”
“Are you armed?”
“Does a gorilla have nuts?”
“Okay, just bear in mind that I’m not, and if we have any problems, try not to shoot me.”
“Sometimes I want to shoot you,” Dino said, “but you’re in luck, not tonight.”
They went in search of an elevator and found one without an operator. Stone inserted the key card, tapped in the floor number, and they started up.
They reached the floor, got off the elevator, and made their way to the front entrance of the apartment.
“Uh-oh,” Dino said, pointing at the door.
Stone followed his finger. The door was just slightly ajar.
Fifty-Four
Stone waved Dino away from the front door and down the hall a few feet. “I want to go in first,” he whispered.
“So what’s your plan? You’re unarmed. You going to point your finger at him and say bang?”
“That’s what I want.”
“You want suicide by burglar?”
“We don’t know he’s armed.”
“We don’t know he’s not, either. And in my book, armed is a safer bet.”
“So what’s your plan? You’re going to shoot him on sight?”
“That’s an option, if I can see him. On the other hand, I could blind him.”
“Blind him how?”
Dino held up a tiny flashlight. “I once hit a guy with this beam, and he vomited.”
“So you want to make him vomit?”
“Only as a distraction, until I can shoot him.”
“He may have information we need.”
“Like what?”
“Like the combination to the safe.”
“You said you knew that.”
“I said I think I know it.”
“All right, why don’t I wait for him to open it, then shoot him.”
“That’s an awful lot of paperwork.”
“That’s the first sensible thing you’ve said since we got here. All right, I’ll just wing him.”
“Wing him where?”
“In the wing? In the ass? Anywhere you like.”
“It’s going to be pitch dark in there,” Stone said.
“We’ve got city lights in every window.”
“Not if the blinds are closed.”
“Okay, say it’s pitch dark. What’s your first move?”
“To let my eyes become accustomed to the darkness.”
“You can do that right here, without getting shot.”
“How?”
“Close your eyes for a minute, then ease in there, then open them.”
“That could work,” Stone said, closing his eyes.
“One more point before we go blundering in there,” Dino said.
“What point?”
“The second we open the door he’s going to see us, because of the light in the hallway.”
“So you want to break all the light bulbs out here? That would be noisy.”
“No, I want to turn off all the light switches. Look for some.”
They found two light switches and turned them off. It got dark, but then the city lights at each end of the hallway came into play.
“I’ll get the blind on this one,” Stone said, pointing. “You get the other one.”
They pulled the blinds, and it got very dark in the hall. “Okay,” Stone said, “let’s go.”
“Okay.”
“Me first.”
“Not a chance; the guy with the pistol and the blindingly bright flashlight goes first, so shut up about it and stay behind me.”
“Oh, all right,” Stone said. “But one thing.”
“Now what?”
“When you turn on the flashlight, don’t blind us.”
“I’ll put my hand over it like this,” Dino said, pressing a palm to the flashlight. “When we spot him, close your eyes.”
“Okay, I can’t think of anything else.”
“Thank God for that. Let’s go.”
Dino felt along the wall with Stone’s hand on his shoulder until he found the door. “Down,” he said, crouching.
Stone crouched and kept a hand on Dino’s back.
Dino eased the door open to reveal more blackness.
“Can you see him?” Stone whispered.
“I can’t see a thing,” Dino whispered back.
“What do we do now?”
Dino stood up, crept along the entrance hall until he found a group of four switches and turned them all on at once. The hall and living room lights came on, blinding them.
“Can you see anything?” Stone asked.
“Give it a minute.”
“I can see a little.” Dino held up his left arm, the flashlight in his fist and rested his shooting hand on his left wrist. He turned on the flashlight. “Do you see anybody?”
“No,” Stone said. “Bedroom, straight ahead. That’s where the safe is.”
Dino walked across the living room and kicked open the bedroom door, playing his little flashlight around the room. “Nobody. Nothing.”
“Let’s have a look at the safe. It’s in the closet, there.”
Dino turned the doorknob and opened the closet door. As soon as it was open an inch, something heavy struck it, knocking both of them down.
“Man in black,” Stone said, pointing toward the fleeing shadow across the living room.
“Come on!” Dino said, getting to his feet. There was no one in the living room, but the door to the hall was open. They heard a door slam and the sound of feet hitting steel stairs, getting farther away quickly.
“He’s on the fire stairs.” Stone tried to brush past Dino, but his arm was grabbed.
“Hold it,” Dino said, “he’s gone, and I’m not going to break my ass running down all those stairs.”
“Elevator,” Stone said. “Maybe we can beat him there.”
They got back into the private elevator. Stone inserted the key card and pressed L. They began to descend quickly. “We’ve got a fighting chance,” Stone said.
“Okay, you can go first,” Dino said. “You tackle him and I’ll cover you.” He stood back to let Stone pass.