“It looked to me like they were looking to roll him,” Stone said. “Maybe they’re riding around town, pretending to still be cops, looking for likely victims on the street.”

“I guess that makes some kind of sense,” Dino said. “Was there anything else that connected them to Perado?”

“No, not according to him.”

“This is very weird,” Dino said.

“You just said it makes some kind of sense.”

“I take that back—it doesn’t make any sense at all.”

“Okay, I’ll grant you that.”

“What are you doing for lunch?”

“Eating your chateaubriand from last night.”

“Then I won’t come between you and your beef. Let me know if some other connection comes up between Ryan/Parisi and Perado.”

“Okay.” They hung up.

Stone met Pepe Perado in the lobby at Kelly & Kelly, where they rode up together in the elevator.

“Stone,” Pepe said, “something happened on the way over here.”

“Tell me.”

“I saw those two cops again. I was coming out of the Waldorf—the Park Avenue entrance—and they were double-parked outside the hotel. I know they saw me, and they drove away. I tried to get their tag number, but a taxi pulled between us and blocked my view.”

They arrived at their floor, Stone gave their names to the receptionist, and they were asked to wait for a moment. “Pepe, something’s wrong here. How would they know you were staying at the Waldorf? They didn’t follow us when we left Patroon that evening, Fred was careful about that.”

“I can’t figure it out,” Pepe replied.

“Who have you seen since you arrived in New York?”

Pepe thought about it. “Just our current distributors,” he said. “They’re called Bowsprit Beverages.”

“Tell me about them.”

“Well, I told you they weren’t doing a very good job for us, and I told them that, too. They didn’t take it too well.”

“Who did you talk to?”

“Jerry Brubeck, and his partner, Gino Parisi.”

“Ah, now this is making sense. My friend at the NYPD told me that the man with Ryan is probably an ex-cop named Parisi. You said they didn’t take your criticism well. What did you say to them?”

“I told them I was unhappy with the job they were doing, and I was going to end our relationship. I gave them a letter giving them the notice that our contract required.”

“And how did they respond?”

“They didn’t seem too upset. After all, I’m a pretty small client to them. But Gino said he would see to it that I’d never find another distributor in New York.”

“And how did you respond to that?”

“I told them that if that were so, I’d start my own distribution business. Then they got mad, and Gino said I’d never get a license, that he would see to that, too. At that point I told them good day and got out of there.”

A secretary came out and led them to the partners’ office.

“We’ll talk more about Brubeck and Parisi later,” Stone said.

The Kelly brothers worked in a roomy office at a large, old-fashioned partners desk. Introductions were made, then two other people came in and were introduced as Sam Diehl and Caroline Woodhouse, a writer–art director creative team. Stone found Ms. Woodhouse very interesting, and he noted the absence of a ring on her left hand.

The conversation was immediately relaxed and casual: Pepe thanked them for their introduction to Marty Winkle, and the brothers gave him information about the birth and growth of their agency, then showed him some print ads and a dozen of their recent television commercials for various clients.

“I’ve seen some of this work before,” Pepe said, “in magazines and on TV. You fellows are very good at what you do.”

They talked more about marketing and media buying and about the possibility of opening a small office in San Antonio to handle their regional work, as well as Pepe’s account.

“We know you’ll want to talk to some other agencies,” Stan Kelly said, “but I want you to know that we’re very interested in working for you. After you’ve had some time to make a decision, please call us.”

“I don’t need to talk with anyone else,” Pepe said, “and I’ve never had any trouble making decisions. If I can put together this company in New York, I’d like you to represent us. I looked at Marty Winkle’s operation, and it looks like we’re going to make a deal, after we’ve done due diligence, and Stone has written us a contract. The minute we get that done, I’ll want you to go to work on an introductory campaign.”

The brothers were delighted. They talked about the sort of budget they thought would be needed, and Pepe was agreeable to that. “By the way, Brad,” he said, “I understand your brother-in-law was responsible for the introduction to Marty Winkle. When the deal goes through, I’ll see that he gets a finder’s fee.”

“That would thrill him, Pepe,” Brad replied. “He’s getting married soon, and he could use it.”

They broke up the meeting and said their goodbyes. Stone made a point of shaking Caroline Woodhouse’s hand. “I hope I’ll see you again,” he said.

She looked him in the eye. “I hope so, too,” she replied, handing both Stone and Pepe her card.

Stone and Pepe took the elevator downstairs and chatted for a moment in the lobby.

“Tell me about Marty Winkle’s operation,” Stone said.

“I was very impressed,” Pepe said. “I also liked it that his building is quite large. If we can make an initial success of distributing here, then there’s room on the property for a brewing operation. But I’m worried about Gino Parisi’s threat of preventing me from getting a business license.”

“Then I think what we should do is, instead of just buying Marty’s assets, buy the corporation, after satisfying ourselves that there are no liabilities attached. If you own the corporation, you own the license, though you may have to get the sanction of the licensing board. Later on, you’d need another license for brewing, but I think the State of New York would be very happy to have a new brewery in the state. We’ll see, too, what tax incentives they’ll give us for establishing here.”

Pepe shook his hand. “Thanks so much for all your help, Stone. My CFO and accountant will be here tomorrow, and after they’ve looked things over, I’ll give you a call and let you know where we go from here.”

The two men parted, and Stone went home to call Dino. He wanted to find out more about Bowsprit Beverages and its owners, Brubeck and Parisi.

Stone called Dino. “There’s a problem you maybe should have a look at.”

“The city is full of those,” Dino replied.

“This one might be more fun. It’s something called Bowsprit Beverages. It’s a liquor and beer distributor, and it appears they play hardball. They tried to get tough with my client Pepe Perado—even said that if he started his own distributorship, they’d torpedo his license application.”