SIMON LEFT CAROLE and Barney in Baja and flew back to The Mansion to start preparing his case for the defence. He found Wanda rehearsing a new song in the music room, Hannah reading a script for a commercial offered by an agency that had seen her interviewed on television when they returned from Buenos Aires, and Chester unpacking a crate of new books on child psychology. Unnoticed, Simon went into his den alone. Moments later the telephone rang.
The voice was Jack Keith’s.
“I’ve been away on vacation,” he reported. “I thought you might have some work lined up for me.”
“Not a thing,” Simon said.
“All quiet? You’re getting too domesticated, Si. You should have been on vacation with me. Man, did I have myself a time scoring with a bevy of Latin chicks. Two weeks in South America. You should hop down there sometime.”
“I’ll make a note of that,” Simon said.