"In all what?"

"The trial, your, ah, services to the second Mrs.Manning."

"We have not discussed a fee, Winston," Stone replied. He had no doubt of what Sir Winston meant by "services."

Sir Winston allowed himself a small smile. "But, I take it, you have accepted a retainer of sorts?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," said fine, putting on his best poker face.

"I'm reliably informed that the second Mrs.Manning has taken you into her…confidence."

"I am her attorney; she would be foolish not to take me into her confidence."

Sir Winston smiled again. While I do not wish to be indelicate, reports have reached me that you have been entering leaving Mrs.Manning's very beautiful yacht at, shall we say, odd hours."

Stone tried to appear confused. "I'm sorry, I don't know what this has to do with my representing Mrs.Manning."

"Then I will be blunt," Sir Winston said, clearly out Of patience, "I believe that you have been providing services to Mrs.Manning which are above and beyond those which might be construed as legal."

Stone, cornered, decided to tack. "Winston, where did you attend law school, if I might ask?"

Sir Winston pulled himself up to his considerable full height. "I read law at Oxford," he said.

"At Oxford University, in the town of the same name, in England?" Stone asked, sounding surprised.

"The very same."

"Then, with such an illustrious legal background, perhaps you could provide me with some precedent for a prosecutor-let alone a minister of justice-indulging in such conjecture with a defense attorney."

"Sir," Sir Winston said, leaning forward, "you are fucking the lady, aren't you?"

"Is that why I was brought here?" Stone demanded. "To indulge your prurient curiosity?" He stood up. "Sir," he said, "neither my sex life nor hers is your proper concern. Rather, you should be concerned with this extremely strange prosecution of an innocent and bereaved woman for a crime which she could never have committed." He threw down his napkin and left, in the highest dudgeon he could manage.

"You listen to me, Barrington!" Sir Winston called after him, following him through the large office and the reception room into the hallway. "When this trial is over-and maybe even before-you are going to come to a reckoning with me!" His voice echoed down the long hallway.

Stone kept his eyes straight ahead, down the hall and the stairs into the street, expecting to be arrested at any moment. He flagged a cab and dove into it. Not until he was a block away did he allow himself to look back to see if he was being pursued.

CHAPTER 34

Stone directed the taxi out to the coast road and Sir Leslie Hewitt's house, then asked the driver to wait for him, hoping that Hewitt might have some explanation for the meeting he had just attended. He knocked at the open door and called out, but no one answered. He walked through the little hoUSe to the rear garden and there found Leslie Hewitt at lunch with Allison Manning. He stopped and stared at both of them; this seemed even weirder than his own lunch with Sir Winston.

"Ah, Stone," Hewitt called out, waving him over. "Come and join us, have some lunch."

Stone sat down. "Thank you, Leslie, but I've already had lunch. What's going on?" he asked Allison as much as Hewitt.

"I thought I might discuss some of the finer points of the case with my…excuse me, our client."

"It's very kind of you to include me in the possessive pronoun, Leslie, but may I remind you…" He stopped himself. "Allison, do you think I could have a few minutes alone with Leslie?"

"Of course," she said, standing up. "I was just going to the little girls' room, anyway."

"How did you get here?" he asked.

"I took a taxi."

"I've got one waiting; we'll be leaving in just a minute."

"I'm not sure I'm ready to leave," she said.

"I said, we're leaving," he said, trying to hold his temper.

She turned and, without another word, walked into the house.

"Leslie," Stone said, "what is Allison doing here?"

"I invited her to lunch," Hewitt said. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Leslie, may I remind you that I am Allison's attorney, and you are a consultant on the case, hired to help me with the local judiciary at the trial. You are not the lead attorney, and I must ask you not to have meetings with my client from which I am excluded."

"Of course I'm the lead attorney," Hewitt said. "You vouched that to the court yourself."

"Only because local law requires a local attorney," Stone said. "I am still making the decisions in this case."

Hewitt shrugged. "As you wish," he said blandly.

"Thank you. By the way, I have just come from a command lunch with Sir Winston Sutherland."

"Oh, you must have lunched very well indeed," Hewitt said. "Winston always lays on a good spread with the taxpayers' money." He looked at Stone. "What did he 'want?"

"I was hoping you, with your knowledge of the locals, could tell me. We ended up shouting at each other."

"Stone, I must tell you that in St.Marks, we place the highest possible value on civility among members of the bar. You should not have shouted at Winston."

"I'm sorry, but he shouted first…sort of."

"Winston is not a man to be dallied with," Hewitt said.

"I didn't dally with him."

"He could be a very dangerous man to insult. I hope you did not insult him."

"I tried not to, but he really began to get up my nose."

"I sincerely hope he does not decide to retaliate," Hewitt said sadly. "It could be the end of Allison."

"Oh, Jesus, Leslie, don't tell me that," Stone moaned.

"Tell you what?" Hewitt said.

"Tell me…" He looked closely at the old man. His eyes had taken on that glazed look again. "Oh, never mind."

Allison came out the back door and came to the table.

"I'm afraid that was as long as I could take in the powder room," she said. "I did everything I could think of."

Stone stood up. "We have to be going," he said.

"Oh don't go," Hewitt cried. "Please introduce me to this beautiful young woman."

Allison turned and looked closely at Hewitt. "What?"

"Leslie," Stone said, "thank you for your hospitality, but we have to go now. We'll see you soon." He took the protesting Allison by the arm and steered her through the house. In the cab he leaned back and wiped his face with his handkerchief.

"What was that all about?" Allison demanded. "What did he mean,introduce me? Doesn't he know who I am anymore?"

"Allison, please be quiet until we get to the yacht," Stone said through clenched teeth, pointing at the driver. They made the rest of the trip in silence.

Back aboard Expansive, Allison practically stamped her foot. "Now tell me, what was that all about?"

"You first," Stone said, getting himself a beer from the fridge. "What were you doing at Leslie's house?"

"He invited me to lunch," she said, "and sent a taxi for me."

"Allison, I don't want you ever to meet alone with Leslie again."

"And why not? Isn't he representing me?"

"He is a consultant; I am representing you. Leslie is not…the man he once was."

"Is that why he didn't seem to recognize me?"

"Yes."

"You mean he's…gaga?"

"At times."

"I'm being represented by a lawyer who's gaga?"

"You're being represented by me. Leslie is simply advising me on the local judicial system."

"Well, he was talking to me as if he were my only lawyer in the world," she said. "He made me go through the whole story again, and in the greatest possible detail."

"I'm sorry that happened, but you should not have gone to see him without me."

"And speaking of you, where the hell were you?"

"Two policemen showed up this morning and dragged me to Sir Winston Sutherland's office." "Why?"