Fifty-one.

STONE MADE IT BACK TO THE CENTURION BUNGALOW, tired but happy, around ten A.M. Louise was at her desk, and she handed him a message from Brandy Garcia.

"He works from an answering machine," Stone said to the secretary. "Call and leave a message that he can reach me now."

"Dino Bacchetti called, too. He said you have the number."

"Right, I'll call him." Stone shaved and changed into fresh clothes, then went into the study. He was about to call Dino when Louise buzzed him.

"Brandy Garcia on line one."

Stone picked up the phone. "h.e.l.lo?"

Garcia wasted no time on pleasantries. "I thought you should know that our mutual acquaintance from Tijuana is back in town."

"What?"

"Apparently, his sister-the one he lived with when he was here-is sick, and he's taking care of her kids."

"I thought you told him to lose himself."

"I did, my friend, but I can't follow him all over Mexico to make sure he stays down there."

"Do you have a number for his sister's house?"

"Got a pencil?"

"Shoot." Stone jotted down the number. "Call him and tell him to keep his head down."

"Will do, Chief." Garcia hung up.

Stone sighed. It was bad enough that Beverly Walters was going to testify, but if Cordova appeared in court, he might lend credence to her story. He called Marc Blumberg.

"Morning, Stone. Where'd you sleep last night?"

"None of your business," Stone replied.

Blumberg laughed. "You seemed to be hanging back when everybody else was leaving."

"We had dinner, and that's all you need to know."

"Okay, okay, what's up?"

"Our friend Cordova has turned up in L.A. again."

"That's bad," Blumberg replied. "I filed a motion to dismiss this morning. I hope we can get a hearing scheduled before the police find him."

"The one thing we've got going for us is that the police aren't looking for Cordova, although he doesn't know that."

"Do you know where to find him?"

"Yes. I can get a message to him if the police suddenly get interested."

"You want to prep Arrington, or shall I?"

"You'd better do it; she's not speaking to me at the moment."

"Oh? What went wrong?"

"It's too complicated to go into. Let's just say that she got angry about something she didn't have a good reason to be angry about."

"Stone, you are the only man I know whose relations with women are more complicated than mine."

"That's not how I planned it, believe me. Will you call Arrington?"

"Okay, whatever you say."

"How are you planning to handle Beverly Walters?"

"I'm planning to shred her on the stand."

"She may have been sleeping with Vance; I'm still working on finding out."

"Even if she wasn't, I think I'll ask her anyway. Several times, maybe. Anything we can do to damage her credibility puts us one step closer to getting Arrington out of this."

"I think you're right. Let me make another call to see if I can find out more."

"Let me know when you do."

"See you later." Stone hung up and buzzed Louise. "What time is it in Hawaii?" he asked.

"Three or four hours earlier than here, I think."

"You've got Betty Southard's hotel number, haven't you?"

"She's moved to a rented cottage, and I have the number."

"Go ahead and get her on the phone, and let's hope she's an early riser."

"I'll buzz you."

Stone sat thinking about Beverly Walters and Felipe Cordova and what they could mean to the charges against Arrington. The phone buzzed, and Stone picked it up. "Betty?"

"Aloha, stranger," she said.

"Hope I didn't get you up."

"You know I'm an early riser," she said. "Wish you were here to get my heart started in the morning."

"A pleasant thought, but I'm still needed here. You enjoying yourself?"

"So much that I'm thinking of making a permanent move here. Will you come see me?"

"When you least expect it."

"Why'd you call? Surely not just to wake me up."

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"Beverly Walters. Did she and Vance ever have a thing?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because she's the key prosecution witness against Arrington, and I need to know as much as possible about her."

"Vance didn't keep much from me, but he never mentioned Beverly in those terms. Anyway, he was pretty tight with her husband, Gordon."

"If he was sleeping with her, where do you think it might have happened?"

"In his RV, more than likely, but just about any place that was convenient."

"Did he ever bring her to the bungalow?"

"Not when I was around, but he didn't do that with his women, except maybe after hours. A few mornings there were signs in the bungalow that someone had been there."

"When was the last time you can remember?"

"No more than a day or two before he was shot."

"Did you ever find anything in the bungalow belonging to a woman?"

"Once or twice-a lipstick or a scarf. When I did, I just left it on Vance's desk and said nothing about it."

"Anything that you could identify as belonging to Walters?"

"Come to think of it, the lipstick I found was one I've seen her wear, but I suppose that's a pretty tenuous connection, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. Nothing else?"

"Nothing I can think of. I'll call you if I think of anything else."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that. It could be important."

"How's Arrington bearing up?"

"I don't know, to tell you the truth. She's not communicating with me at the moment."

"Uh-oh; I don't want to know about that."

"Good, because I'm not going to tell you about it. What do you have planned for the day?"

"The beach, of course. Can't you hear the surf over the phone?"

"You know, I think I can."

"That's all you need to know about my day."

"You take care, then."

"Bye-bye."

Stone hung up. That had been a disappointment. He called Dino.

"Yes?"

"It's me. How's it going?"

"I'm having a lovely time sitting around the pool, while Mary Ann and Arrington talk and giggle."

"Any thaw there?"

"A little, maybe; I'll have to pump Mary Ann. My guess is, though, if you want her to talk to you, you're going to have to make the first move."

"What did I do?"

"Nothing, nothing, just got married. That seems to have disappointed her."

"But . . ."

"Listen, Stone, you don't have to convince me. She's behaved badly and won't admit it. I'm just saying that you're going to have to make the first move, whether it's logical or not. It's how women work."

"Tell me about it."

"I shouldn't have to. What's up with you? Anything happening?"

"Marc Blumberg has filed for a motion to dismiss the charges against Arrington, so he'll probably turn up over there pretty soon to prep her for her testimony."

"What are the chances of shutting this thing down early?"

"In my view? Two: slim and very slim."