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Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 12

Page 16

by Dark Harbor


  “Why don’t you see if you can find out what was in Dick’s old will?” Harley asked.

  “I suppose I can ask Caleb for it, but he’s under no obligation to give it to me.”

  “Maybe you could ask him what caused Dick to change his will,” Rawls said. “Obviously, there was some sort of incident, some family breach for Dick to do such a precipitous thing. We’ve done some asking around on our own, but we haven’t been able to find out a thing. We suppose that it was something private, personal between the two brothers.”

  “Again, I can ask, but I have no reason to believe Caleb would tell me.”

  “It’s worth a try,” Rawls said.

  “What about Janey?” Stone asked. “Why do you think her killer is a different person?”

  “The crimes are very different,” Rawls said. “There was no sexual crime in the deaths of Barbara and Esme, and they were all simply executed, two of them in their bed. We think Janey’s murder was one of opportunity, and the murderer was your garden-variety rapist-killer. You can find those anywhere, and our guess is that, eventually, Sergeant Young is going to figure out who this one is.”

  Harley spoke up. “We think Janey knew her killer and that she wrote something about him in her diary; that’s why it was stolen.”

  “What about Don Brown? Who do you think killed him?”

  Rawls looked uncomfortable. “We think it could be either the Stones’ killer or Janey’s. I’ll admit, we’re on shakier ground here, but we think the Stones’ killer is the more likely suspect, and that’s Caleb.”

  “Frankly, Ed, I think your original idea of Don’s being killed because Janey had told him something is the better theory, and the theft of her diary supports that.”

  “Yeah, that’s good,” Rawls replied, “but we have the similarities of the Stones and Don being killed under similar circumstances: I’m talking about being shot with their own guns and the vacuum cleaner being left by the door. There’s nothing to connect Janey’s killer with Don’s.”

  “Something else has come up,” Stone said. He told them about the entry into Dick’s house the night before and the theft of the safe. “So another girl’s diary has been stolen, and the vacuum cleaner was left by the door, as when the family was murdered. That’s a connection.”

  “But how did your burglar know the diary was in the safe?” Rawls asked. “For that matter, how did he know that Esme even kept a diary?”

  “As to the diary, I think the killer could have supposed that most or all teenaged girls keep diaries, and he had to find both of them, if they existed, in order to protect himself.”

  “But how did he know it was in the safe?” Harley asked.

  Stone shrugged. “Because he’d looked everywhere else in the house, and the safe was the only place left?”

  “Maybe,” Rawls said. “But I think we should concentrate on Caleb for the time being.”

  Holly spoke up. “The state police have verified that Caleb was in Boston when the Stone family was murdered. How do we get around a solid alibi?”

  “Maybe it isn’t as solid as they think,” Rawls said.

  “These killings are like a crossword puzzle,” Stone said. “You think you know the answer to both the across clue and the down clue. They both seem solid, but when you write them both down, they don’t match in the middle. When that happens, it means that one of the words is wrong. Maybe both of them.”

  “Are you still thinking about Kirov and the Agency connection?” Rawls asked.

  “Well, it’s still on the table, though I think it’s not as strong a possibility as it once was. It looked pretty good when it was all we had.”

  “Look,” Rawls said, “let’s pull out all the stops with Caleb: Look again at his alibi, check his finances, look at the old will, the works. If he doesn’t pan out, then we can turn our attentions elsewhere.”

  “All right,” Stone said. “You work your end, and I’ll work mine, and Holly can work whichever end appeals to her.”

  “Okay,” Rawls said. The Old Farts got up and shuffled out.

  Stone went to the phone and called Caleb Stone.

  “Good afternoon, Stone,” Caleb said amiably.

  “Caleb, can I buy you lunch at the yacht club tomorrow?”

  “Sure, but we should be there by twelve o’clock; it gets crowded.”

  “Fine, twelve o’clock. And Caleb, if you have a copy of Dick’s previous will handy, will you bring it?”

  “I don’t have one here, but I’ll call my office and have them FedEx it to me. It should be here by lunchtime.”

  “Thanks, Caleb. See you at noon tomorrow.”

  38

  STONE ARRIVED AT the yacht club promptly at noon to find Caleb already there. A FedEx envelope was on the table. Caleb shook his hand.

  “I’ve already placed an order for two burgers and fries. I hope that’s okay,” Caleb said. “The kids gang up on the kitchen around this time, and we could wait half an hour if we don’t get our order in early.”

  “Great.”

  “You want a beer?”

  “Sure.” Caleb retrieved two beers from the counter and set them on the table. He tore open the FedEx package and removed a blue-bound document, scanned it quickly and handed it to Stone. “That’s the previous will, which was superceded by the one you gave me.”

  “Thanks, Caleb.” Stone tucked it into his pocket.

  “The substance of it was that he left all his assets to Barbara and she to him. If she predeceased him, then everything would go to Esme in trust, until she was thirty, with me as the sole trustee. If they died together, say, in a car crash—or as they did die—then everything would come to me.”

  “I understand,” Stone said. Their burgers arrived, and they began to eat. “Caleb, I know you’ve already been through this with the state police, but I’d like to go through the timeline with you. Until all this is substantiated, they’ll still consider you a suspect, but I’d like to do what I can to eliminate you as such.”

  “I’m a suspect?”

  “Everybody on this island is a suspect until eliminated by an alibi, and the police are trained to always start with family. This whole thing is baffling to the police and to me, and the only way they can clear the case is to start with everybody and narrow it down.”

  “I understand. Do I need a lawyer?”

  “No, I’m not a policeman; I’m just doing what I can to help.”

  “All right, ask me anything you like.”

  “Let’s talk about the day before the night of the murders. Can you give me an account of your day and evening?” Stone took out a notebook and opened it. This was a common cop technique with suspects: If they knew everything was being written down, it concentrated their minds on getting it right.

  “It was a normal day. I was at the office by eight-thirty A.M., as usual. I worked through the morning, ordered in a sandwich, ate lunch at my desk, then worked until six-thirty. I had a lot of dictation, letters involving several estates. My wife came to the office at six-thirty, and we had a drink. Then, at seven, we went to a retirement dinner at the Ritz-Carlton for Alden Hayes, head of our litigation department. It was Alden’s last day; he was retiring to Florida. We got home around ten, watched a program on television, then the eleven o’clock news. We were asleep by eleven-forty-five.”

  “Who else was in the house?”

  “Only the twins; we don’t have any live-in help. The boys had gone out to dinner and come home late.”

  Stone noted all the times. “Tell me about the following day.”

  “I had breakfast with my wife; the boys were still asleep. I was at my desk by eight-thirty. Shortly after that I got a call from Seth Hotchkiss, telling me what had happened. We had planned to leave at noon that day for Islesboro; I called home, gave the family the news and told them to get ready for an immediate departure. We were on the road by ten-thirty, in two cars. My wife and I drove the Suburban, and the boys followed us in their car.”

  �
��What kind of car do the boys drive?”

  “A BMW convertible. One of the nice things about having twins is that they don’t mind sharing.”

  “What time did you arrive on the island?”

  “We came over on the three o’clock ferry, so we would have landed at three-twenty, and fifteen minutes later we were at home. I went over to Dick’s house and talked with the state police, who were still there.”

  “Were the bodies still in the house then?”

  “No. Thank God, I didn’t have to see that.”

  “You still had the key to Dick’s house at that moment?”

  “Yes, the one I gave to you later.”

  “Where was the key?”

  “It was in a little key cupboard in the butler’s pantry. There are so many keys in our lives these days, I keep the spares there, all labeled.”

  “Did you have the security alarm code?”

  “Yes. The key wouldn’t have been much use without it.”

  “Do you know if Dick set the alarm at bedtime, as a matter of habit?”

  “No, I don’t. I think Dick probably had the alarm installed to use when he wasn’t on the island, but I don’t think he would have used it every day. He mentioned to me when he was building the house that, with Seth and Mabel living on the property, he wouldn’t have bothered with the security system, except that the State Department insisted.”

  “Did you know much about Dick’s work?”

  “Not really. When it came up in conversation I got the impression that it was pretty unremarkable diplomatic work.”

  “Did you know that he didn’t work for the State Department?”

  “But he did,” Caleb said. “His degree was in international relations, and he took the foreign service exam before graduation, then went to work at State shortly after that.”

  Stone shook his head. “That was a cover. Dick was a career CIA officer.”

  Caleb appeared dumbfounded. “Are you certain about that?”

  “Perfectly. Operations people at the Agency commonly have diplomatic cover.”

  “But when he was still in this country and I called him at work, it was through the State Department switchboard.”

  “It may have sounded that way, or State could have rerouted the call to Langley.”

  “You’re saying that my brother was a spy?”

  “He was a high-ranking officer in the Operations Division of the CIA. I don’t know how much actual spying he did. At the time of his death he had been promoted to Deputy Director, Operations, but he hadn’t started the job yet.”

  “I knew he was coming back to Washington, but I thought it was as an Assistant Secretary of State.”

  Stone shook his head. “That job is a key position at the Agency, one of the top three.”

  “Well, I’m glad Dick did well at his work,” Caleb said.

  “From what I know, he was highly regarded.” They had finished their burgers now, and Stone had most of what was needed. “Just one more thing, Caleb.”

  “What’s that?”

  “When did you last see Dick?”

  “He came to the house for drinks after his return from London. He was on the way to Washington. That was a week or so before his death.”

  “Did you spend any time alone with him?”

  “A few minutes.” Caleb looked over Stone’s shoulder toward the water; he seemed to be remembering the occasion.

  “What did you talk about?”

  Caleb looked down at the table. “Family business.”

  “Tell me about it, please.”

  Caleb shook his head.

  “This is important, Caleb. If you don’t tell me about it, then you’re going to have to tell the police.”

  “It had nothing to do with his death, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Caleb, immediately after you saw him, Dick changed his will, excluding you. I have to infer that his action was a result of your conversation with him on that occasion.”

  “It was deeply personal and not relevant to the investigation,” Caleb said. “I won’t discuss it with you, and if you’re in touch with the state police, you can tell them that I won’t discuss it with them, either. Ever.” Caleb stood up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Stone.

  Lunch is paid for.” He left the table and walked out the door.

  As Caleb left, the commodore of the yacht club entered the club, deep in conversation with another man. They spoke to other people, and whatever they were talking about seemed to spread around the room.

  Stone got up, walked over to the commodore, shook his hand and asked what was going on.

  “There’s been another murder,” the man replied.

  39

  HOLLY LET HERSELF INTO Dick Stone’s hidden office, inserted her data card into the computer and logged on. There was an encrypted e-mail waiting for her, asking her to contact Lance Cabot soonest. She called the Barn, the code name her unit used for their offices, and was told that Lance was out until 3:00 P.M. and was not available on his cell phone. She asked that he call or e-mail her when he returned.

  With Stone gone for lunch, she had nothing pressing to do, so she changed clothes, strapped on her 9 mm and went for her daily run. Since Lance was not reachable by cell phone, she left her own in the study.

  She did her stretching exercises, then turned left out of the Stone driveway and began running at a steady clip, keeping to the left, so that she faced oncoming traffic.

  As she warmed up, she increased her pace, taking longer strides and breathing deeply. Holly was not a big fan of running, but it seemed to be the only thing that would keep both her ass tight and her weight down.

  She came around a curve into a straight stretch and saw a car coming toward her. She had allowed herself to stray into the middle of the road, and she moved left to give the car plenty of room to pass.

  Oddly, the car seemed to follow her movement. She moved off the pavement to continue running on the firm dirt of the shoulder until the car passed. It appeared that it was going to come uncomfortably close to her, and it was slowing. The sun was reflecting off the windshield, and she could not see the driver.

  Holly put her hand on her gun holster for reassurance and continued to run. The car came within a couple of feet of her as it passed, and she was conscious of someone beginning to lean out the window.

  Then, as she began to turn to look over her shoulder, she heard the squeal of brakes, and something hard struck her in the head.

  STONE RETURNED FROM the yacht club to the house to find Holly gone and reckoned she was out running. After the news he had been given, he hoped she had remembered to go armed. The doorbell rang.

  “Afternoon,” Sergeant Young said when Stone opened the door. “Have you heard the news?”

  “Yes, but no details. Come on in.”

  The two men went into the study and sat down.

  “Tell me,” Stone said.

  “Two young housewives, Joan Peceimer and Terry Brown, played golf together late yesterday afternoon and left in the same car, telling someone they were having dinner together at Brown’s house. This morning, Brown’s car was found abandoned in a dirt lane, and we started a search. Joan Peceimer’s body was found in the water, in Dark Harbor, much like Janey Harris’s.”

  “And the other woman?”

  “Still missing.”

  “Good God. Two of them?”

  “Just between you and me, I don’t think there’s much chance of seeing Terry Brown alive again.”

  “Then what we’ve got here is a full-blown serial killer,” Stone said.

  “No doubt about it,” the sergeant replied. “And he’s accelerating the pace of killings.”

  “They had to know him,” Stone said.

  “You think so?”

  “Otherwise it would have been very difficult for him to kidnap two women. They must have recognized him when he approached them.”

  “Well, that’s not a startling conclusion, given that everybody on this is
land knows just about everybody else.”

  “What steps are you taking?”

  “Peceimer’s body is on its way to the M.E. in Augusta. My partner has organized a search party of volunteers, and they’re covering every inch of the island.

  I’ve got half a dozen more sergeants on the way here. There’s not much more I can do.”

  “I had a conversation with Ed Rawls and his buddies yesterday,” Stone said. “They think that Dick’s family and Don Brown were killed by one man, and Janey Harris by another. They have a point.”

  “That had occurred to me,” Young said. “If you accept that premise, then it seems to me that the idea of the Stone family’s murder is probably related to Dick’s work.”

  “I don’t know, Sergeant. It’s hard for me to accept that we’ve got some European assassin and a serial killer on this small island so close together in the timeline.”

  “I’ve seen weirder, and I expect you have, too,” Young replied. “Frankly, I don’t know what to think, and my superiors in Augusta are all over me. The papers are going to have a field day, too; there’s already a reporter from Boston here, and we can expect TV crews when word gets out about these two women.”

  “The Old Farts’ principal suspect is Caleb Stone,” Stone said. “I’ve just had lunch with him, and we went through his alibi thoroughly.” Stone read Young his notes, then tore out the page and handed it to him. “If you can substantiate all this, then Caleb is in the clear.”

  Young read through the notes again. “We already have substantiated it,” he said, “point by point. Caleb’s in the clear, as far as I’m concerned.”

  “If the alibi checks out, then I’m with you,” Stone said. “Nothing about Caleb strikes me as guilty. The only thing he wouldn’t talk about was his last meeting with Dick, when Dick was passing through Boston on his way back to Washington. He says it was family business and deeply personal, and he wouldn’t talk about it. He told me to tell you he wouldn’t talk about it to you, either.”

  “Do you think what they talked about might be relevant to all these killings?”

 

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