“Stole? Why, I would never. How — how could you even think such a thing?”
“Allow me to introduce you to my friend Monica Reyes.” He smiled at the woman Simon had thought was Rudy’s girlfriend. “You’ve probably heard her name before. She was a fraud investigator at Vitale Insurance, working for your late friend Dalton Conroy. You remember him. He’s the one you had killed along with Tristan Williams.”
The blood drained from Simon’s face. “K-k-killed? That’s pr-pr-preposterous!”
“Don’t forget Joshua Paskota,” Monica said.
“That’s right,” Stone said. “And Joshua Paskota in Santa Fe.”
“Joshua died in an accident.”
“That was the preliminary determination. But at the urging of my good friend Dino Bacchetti, commissioner of police for New York City” — Stone indicated the man next to Monica — “the Santa Fe Police Department has taken a closer look. Dino, you want to tell Simon about the conversation you had with Detective Eldridge on our way over here?”
“Happy to,” Dino said.
Simon realized where he recognized the man from. He had never met him before, but he had seen him multiple times on the news.
“Turns out it wasn’t an accident at all, but sabotage. When the detectives realized that, they went back and looked at CCTV video and found video of a man tampering with Joshua’s car just prior to the accident. They even uncovered his name. Hold on a second...” Dino consulted a notepad. “Phillip. Phillip Pierce. That’s the same Phillip Pierce who works for you.”
“You’re also tied to the death of Randall Vernon,” Stone said.
“Who?” Simon asked. He didn’t know anyone by that name.
“He was the owner of the home your people hit the other night. He died in the fire. That’s four homicides on top of the thefts.”
“I don’t know where you’re getting your information, but I didn’t have anything to do with any of it!”
“Just like you have nothing to do with the stolen painting in your hands?”
“Or the ones leaning against the wall behind you,” Dino said.
“Or the one supposedly destroyed in a house fire on Martha’s Vineyard, or the one from a sunken boat in Lake Michigan,” Monica said. “If you’d like, I could go on.”
“How...?” Simon hadn’t meant to say that, but he couldn’t stop himself.
“You’re not quite as clever as you thought you were.”
“Rudy,” Stone said, “if you don’t mind, please take my painting from Simon.”
Simon barely registered Rudy relieving him of his burden.
This couldn’t be happening. A few more hours and he’d have been on a jet heading south. He was so close. There must be a way out of this. Maybe if he made a run for it, he could get by them.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Stone said, as if reading Simon’s mind. “Besides, we have some friends who are very interested in talking to you.”
Dino called up the stairs, “Come on down.”
Several police officers, some in uniforms and some in suits, descended the stairs.
Simon stared at them, mouth slack, as any hope that he could escape went up in smoke.
One of the uniformed officers cuffed Simon’s hands behind his back, while a detective read him his rights.
“I didn’t do anything. It was... it was my brother and his friends. They stole everything! They’re the thieves!”
“We look forward to hearing everything you have to say, Mr. Duchamp,” a detective said.
Four of the officers escorted him up the stairs.
“One down,” Dino said.
“Two, if you count our helpful forger,” Monica said.
Across the room, Rudy was in the process of being put into his own pair of handcuffs and receiving his recitation of rights.
“I think we should classify him as a bonus,” Stone said.
“I’m fine with that.”
The information Monica had wrung from Rudy on the forgeries he’d created for many more customers beyond just Simon was going to rock the art world.
Stone glanced at his watch. “Look at the time. I think we have a party to attend.”
“Will there be more prizes?” Monica teased.
“Now who’s trying to jinx us?”
Chapter 50
Billy Barnett smiled warmly as the first of his guests arrived. “Charlie! So glad you could make it. And, Janice, nice to see you again.”
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Charlie said. He’d been a film producer for more than forty years, and his wife, Janice, was an award-winning production designer.
Behind them came a group of veteran actors, each of whom Billy greeted by name. It wasn’t long before the trickle of guests became a steady stream.
As Billy was saying hello to Logan Chase, an actor in Peter’s last film, one of the agents from Strategic Services signaled that he wanted a word.
“Grab yourself a drink,” Billy told Logan. “I’ll catch up to you later.”
Billy made his way over to the agent.
“Our two friends are on the east slope and watching the party through binoculars.”
“No sign of anyone else?”
“Not yet.”
“Thank you.” Billy returned his attention to a group of new arrivals. “Gretchen, you look stunning as always.”
At the same time guests started arriving at Billy’s party, Petry and Nico were finishing up dinner at Crustacean in Beverly Hills.
Petry dabbed his mouth with his napkin. “Call him.”
Nico punched Sticks’s number.
“Yeah?” Sticks answered.
“Mr. Petry would like to know if everything is ready.”
“All set.”
“And Barrington?”
“Not here yet.”
“All right. As soon as you see him, let us know.”
Nico hung up and relayed the information to his boss.
“I suppose we have time for dessert then,” Petry said and signaled the waiter.
Stone, Monica, and Dino swung by the Arrington to change and pick up Viv. By the time they arrived at Billy’s, it was nearly nine.
Billy shook hands with the men and kissed the cheeks of the women.
“This place is breathtaking,” Monica said, taking in the exterior of Billy’s house.
“I quite like it.”
She looked toward the open-air tents where the party was in full swing. “Wait, is that...?”
Billy glanced over his shoulder. “Victoria Salazar? It is.”
“I have all of her music!”
“I’ll make sure to introduce you to her.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”
“You’ve already helped take down a notorious art thief tonight,” Stone said. “Anything else you do will be child’s play.”
“If you say so.”
“I take it everything went well with Simon,” Billy said.
Stone nodded. “Like clockwork. What’s the situation here?”
“Sticks and his buddy are on the slope to my left, probably looking at us right now. Their truck is parked on a nearby street.”
“And Petry?”
“Last I heard, he was dining at Crustacean. Viv has a team watching him, so we’ll know when he moves. Which, given that you’re here now, will probably be any minute. In the meantime, grab a drink and introduce Monica to a few movie stars.”
“Yes, please,” Monica said.
Nico snatched up his phone and read the text that had just arrived.
“Barrington’s at the party.”
“Pay the bill.”
After Nico took care of the check, they retrieved their sedan from the valet and headed toward the hills, neither man noticing the black Acura SUV that pulled onto the road several car lengths behind them.