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“What did you think of Mr. Prince?” Stone asked her.
“Oh, he’s charming,” she said. “I knew he would be. I wouldn’t trust him any farther than I could throw him, though.”
“What good instincts you have,” Stone said, laughing. “I was in line with Rick and Glenna Barron, and he’s going to talk with some of the other shareholders about our buying their shares. I think we’ve got a shot at this, starting with those owned by Jennifer Harris’s estate.”
“If you say so,” Arrington said. “As long as I don’t have to sell other securities.”
“Something I think you should do,” Stone said, “is to take up the option on the four acres adjoining your property here. I think that addition would make your acreage much more valuable.”
“Vance got those options just before he died,” Arrington said. “There are two parcels of one point eight and two point two acres, both with very nice houses on them. The owners are elderly and would probably like to move into some sort of assisted facilities. The prices are very good, too, given the appreciation of real estate in this neighborhood. I’d have to pay, let’s see, about eighteen million for the two.”
“When do the options expire?” Stone asked.
“Quite soon, I think; I’m not certain of the date.”
“We’ll get Woodman amp; Weld on that tomorrow,” Stone said. “We don’t want to miss this opportunity.”
Dino came and sat down at their table. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you earlier,” he said, “but I talked to Sergeant Rivera this afternoon, and he’s going to arrest Prince’s driver tomorrow.”
“What for?” Arrington asked.
“For the murder of Jennifer Harris,” Dino replied.
“We think Prince had her killed to get hold of her shares,” Stone said.
“Prince plays that rough?” Arrington asked.
“We believe so.”
“Should I be worried?”
“No, harming you wouldn’t help him. Your shares would go into the trust for Peter, and I’ll be his trustee. The Woodman amp; Weld trust department is already working on the documents.”
Arrington took a deep breath and let it out. “That’s a relief,” she said.
“Also, having his driver in jail and maybe talking is going to make Prince more circumspect in his actions,” Stone said. “He won’t be able to pull that again. In fact, if the driver talks, that could solve all our problems. Prince wouldn’t be starting a big new development, if he were looking at a trial and possible conviction.”
“If that happens, can we go to the trial?” Arrington asked.
Stone laughed. “I’ll see if I can get tickets.”
22
Stone and Dino had breakfast with Arrington beside the pool the following morning. Then Mike Freeman collected Arrington and took her off to Burbank Airport to look at the available G-III.
Dino’s phone rang. “Bacchetti,” he said, then listened. “Have you got a line on him? Well, shit. Thanks for calling; keep me posted, if you will.” Dino hung up. “Prince’s driver ran; he’s nowhere to be found.”
“How would he have known he was going to be arrested?” Stone asked.
“Rivera thinks somebody in his office, maybe even his boss, tipped off Prince.”
“I heard you ask if he had a line on the driver.”
“Nothing. He apparently didn’t sleep at his apartment last night, and his car was still there.”
“This gets weirder and weirder,” Stone said.
Stone’s cell phone buzzed. “He
