These men have amassed thousands of such slides, covering unusual gunshot wounds, the typical pattern of powder tattooing, wounds of exit and wounds of entrance, cases where murder was perpetrated under such circumstances that it appeared to be suicide, cases where suicides would almost certainly have been branded the victims of murder by less well-trained investigators. Let em have it and well trump it, Mason announced optimistically. Meaning money? Prestige? What, dont you want to climb five hundred steps? Yes. Thats right. An old three-story building which has been abandoned for some little time. This company Lutts was with was making a real estate development out of it. Lutts evidently went out there to look it over just before I arrived, and somebody shot him. All right, the man said. He stepped into the restaurant and shouted some words at the painters, who stared at him blankly, until he shouted them again. Then there was a bustle of activity as they went to work. The waitress brought beer and Fritos, paused for their orders. Mason persuaded Della to try the Spanish rice and tortillas. No other clues? Mason asked. Then whatdid you mean? she shot back. For me to read him fucking poetry? As soon as I got back he grabbed the phone and was going to make a call. I had to think fast and that was the only thing I could think of. She inherited his considerable wealth, and she died a few months after we were married, leaving her estate to our sons trust and to me. Im a partner in an investment company that manages everything for me, and my net worth has grown substantially since then. Dorley Alders face lit up. You mean there is a dis-interested witness who can vouch for the accuracy of this copy? She opened her bag. Youre certain that he made only the one call? Now then, within the next two or three days did you make any further investigation? Shes not here either, Audrey said. Well, first of all, Stone said, we want to watch you make a Caesar salad, then Id like the Dover sole. He had burned through all his inheritance by then, and he had some personal scandals he was dealing with. Over twenty years ago, when Id only been an investigative journalist for a few years, I traced a meeting that Cowl had with some shady people in the Seychelles, but then the trail went cold. Then he dropped off the radar for about a year or so. He might have been in Asia or eastern Europe, at least those were my best guesses. Next, the man waltzes back into New York, buys and rehabs that skyscraper, starts his investment group, hires all sorts of pricey talent, suddenly has a clientlist that the biggest players on Wall Street would covet, and boom, hes the talk of the town. He wasnt even twenty-five years old..