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“Steadman is a judge in L.A.? I didn’t know that.”
“Then you must not read the alumni journal.”
“I guess not.”
“The firm has had some dealings with him the past few years; he’s always ruled in our favor. And I had dinner with him and his wife when I was in L.A. a few weeks ago. Carling has started a foundation dedicated to the defense of indigents in L.A. County. He doesn’t know it, but I’m going to make a twenty-five-thousand-dollar donation at a fund-raising dinner they’re having next week.”
“The media are going to be a bigger problem in L.A. than they would in Virginia,” Stone pointed out.
“We’ll petition that the boy’s old birth certificate be permanently sealed. No reporter is going to be looking for one belonging to a Peter Barrington.”
“Good point.”
“Leave it with me. How do you want the name to appear on the certificate? You don’t want Calder there, do you?”
“No.” Stone thought for a minute. “Make it Malon Peter Barrington.”
“Your father’s name, as I recall. A happy coincidence.”
“Correct. Better make it Malon Peter Barrington the Second.”
Eggers wrote it down, along with Peter’s new birth date. “I’ll get on it,” he said. “Will Peter need any help with getting into the school? I’ll see if anybody here has a connection.”
“Thank you, yes. I can get Leo Goldman to write a recommendation, too, based on what he’s seen of a film Peter is working on.”
“At a film school, that couldn’t hurt.”
“And he wants to go to Yale Drama School after Knickerbocker.”
“I can get half a dozen letters to back him there. Just tell him to make outstandin
g grades, join some school organizations, and do some charity work.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem.”
“I’ll call you when I have a grip on this,” Eggers said. The two men shook hands and Stone headed for home, a ten-minute walk.
As Stone walked into his office Joan called out, “Bill Eggers on line one.”
Stone went to his desk and picked up the phone. “Did I forget something?”
“No. I spoke to Carling Steadman. His order will be issued tomorrow, and you’ll have a dozen certified copies of the new birth certificate by FedEx on Monday. Peter will need them for school applications, et cetera. A couple of other things: we’ve got a partner here, Willard Powers, who is an alumnus of Peter’s school in Virginia and who is a trustee. He’s going to speak with the headmaster about changing the name on Peter’s records. He knows of another case where this was done, so he doesn’t think it will be a problem.”
“That’s wonderful.”
“And do you know of a grand dame actress named Letitia Covington?”
“The new Helen Hayes? Of course.”
“She’s the mother of a client of ours, and she was a founding board member of the performing arts program at Knickerbocker Hall. Peter has an appointment to meet her on Monday afternoon at three o’clock. Tell Peter to bring some sort of example of his film work.” Eggers gave Stone the address.
“Wow, Bill,” Stone said, “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“All part of being a partner of the firm,” Eggers said. “This won’t be the last time the relationship will work for you.”
Stone hung up. Joan came in and handed him a FedEx package from Leo Goldman. “This just arrived,” she said.
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