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"Okay," she said "When do we leave?"

"The sooner the better"

"Not today," she said "We’re both too damned tired We need sleep Besides, I want to drop your paintings off with Wyant Stevens I’ve got to ee atservice to straighten up the wreckage while I’ to talk to the people at Warner Brothers about The Hour of the Wolf this week, then I’ve at least got to make excuses--or tell Wally Topelis what excuses he should ot to fill out a final report on the shooting," Tony said "I was supposed to do that thisAnd they’ll want me for the inquest, of course There’s always an inquest when a policeman is killed--or when he kills someone else But they shouldn’t have scheduled the inquest any sooner than next week If they did, I can probably get them to postpone it"

"So when do we leave for St Helena?"

"Tomorrow," he said "Frank’s funeral is at nine o’clock I want to go to that So let’s see if there’s a flight leaving around noon"

"Sounds good to "

"One other thing," Hilary said "I don’t think we should stay at your place tonight"

He reached across the table and took her hand "I’et to you there If he tries

you’ve got ot my service revolver He ood equalizer"

She shook her head "No Maybe it would be all right But I wouldn’t be able to sleep there, Tony

I’d be awake all night, listening for sounds at the door and s"

"Where do you want to stay?"

"After we’ve run our errands this afternoon, let’s pack for the trip, leave your apartment, make sure we’re not followed, and check in to a room at a hotel near the airport"

He squeezed her hand "Okay If that’ll uess it’s better to be safe than sorry"

In St Helena, at 4:10 Tuesday afternoon, Joshua Rhinehart put down his office phone and leaned back in his chair, pleased with himself He had accomplished quite a lot in the past two days Now he swiveled around to look out theat the far mountains and the nearer vineyards

He had spent nearly all of Monday on the telephone, dealing with Bruno Frye’s bankers, stockbrokers, and financial advisers There had been ht to be ed until the estate was finally liquidated, and there had been more than a little debate about the most profitable ways to dispose of those assets when the ti, dull patch of work, for there had been a large nus accounts of various kinds, in several banks, plus bond invests, andand the better part of the afternoon arranging, by telephone, for sohly-respected art appraisers in California to journey to St Helena for the purpose of cataloging and evaluating the varied and extensive collections that the Frye family had accumulated over six or seven decades Leo, the patriarch, Katherine’s father, now dead for forty years, had begun simply, with a fascination for elaborately hand-carved wooden spigots of the sort often used on beer and wine barrels in some European countries Most of the or weeping or howling or snarling heads of denomes, and other creatures At the time of his death, Leo owned ots Katherine had shared her father’s interest in collecting while he was alive, and after his death she hadthe central focus of her life Her interest in acquiring beautiful things became a passion, and the passion eventually becaleamed and how she had chattered breathlessly each time that she had shown hi unhealthy about her desperate rush to fill every roos, but then the rich always had been per as they caused no harht enas, Lalique crystal, stained glass lamps and s, antique cameo lockets, and many other items, not so much because they were excellent investments (which they were) but because she wanted them, needed them as a junkie always needed another fix She stuffed her enormous house with these displays, spent countless hours just cleaning, polishing, and caring for everything

Bruno contained that tradition of almost frantic acquisition, and now both houses--the one Leo built in 1918, and the one Bruno had built five years ago--were craalleries and prestige auction houses in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and all of theer to send their appraisers, for there were many fat commissions to be earned from the disposition of the Frye collections TwoSaturday ; and, certain that they would require several days to catalogue the Frye holdings, Joshua made reservations for theinning to feel that he was on top of the situation; and for the first ti a fix on how long it would take hiations as executor Initially, he had worried that the estate would be so coled up in it for years, or at least for several months But now that he had reviewed the will (which he had drawn up five years ago), and now that he had discovered where Bruno’s capable financial advisers had led the man, he was confident that the entire matter could be resolved in a feeeks His job was made easier by three factors that were seldom present in multi relatives to contest the will or make other problele charity clearly named in the will; third, for a man of such wealth, Bruno Frye had kept his invest his executor with a reasonably neat balance sheet of easily understood debits and credits Three weeks would see the end of it Four at o, Joshua was acutely conscious of the brevity of life, and he jealously guarded this time He didn’t want to waste one precious day, and he felt that every ed down in the Frye estate was definitely a minute wasted Of course, he would receive an enoral services, but he already had all the money he would ever need He owned substantial real estate in the valley, including several hundred acres of pried for hi wineries that could never get enough of the the court to relieve him of his duties; one of Frye’s banks would have taken on the job with great pleasure He also considered turning the work over to Ken Gavins and Roy Genelli, the two sharp young attorneys who he had taken on as partners seven years ago But his strong sense of loyalty had kept hiiven hio, he felt he owed her the time it would take to personally preside over the orderly and dignified dissolution of the Frye family empire

Three weeks

Then he could spend ood books, swi to cook new dishes, and indulging in an occasional weekend in Reno Ken and Roy handled most of the law firood job of it Joshua hadn’t plunged into full retires in a big pool of leisure time that he wished he had found and used when Cora was still alive

At 4:20, content with his progress on the Frye estate and soothed by the ot up from his chair and went out to the reception area

Karen Farr was pounding the hell out of an IBM Selectric II, which would have responded equally well to a feather touch She was a slip of a girl, pale and blue-eyed and soft-voiced, but she attacked every chore with treth

"I am about to treat myself to an early whiskey," Joshua told her "When people call and ask for raceful drunken condition and cannot coain?’"

Joshua laughed "You’re a lovely and charhtfully quick ue for such a mere wisp of a lass"

"And such a lot of ot for a man who isn’t even Irish Go and have your whiskey

I’ll keep the bothersoain, he opened the corner bar, put ice in a glass, added a generous measure of Jack Daniel’s Black Label He had taken only two sips of the brehen someone knocked on his office door

"Come in"

Karen opened the door "There’s a call--"

"I thought I was perrouch," she said

"It’s part of e"

"I told him you weren’t in But then when I heard what he wanted, I thought maybe you should talk to him It’s weird"

"Who is it?"

"A Mr Preston from the First Pacific United Bank in San Francisco It’s about the Frye estate"

"What’s so weird?"

"You better hear it frohed "Very well"

"He’s on line two"

Joshua went to his desk, sat down, picked up the phone, and said, "Good afternoon, Mr Preston"