Ed went into the house and returned with a bottle of Talisker, ice and glasses, a slab of Brie, and a box of crackers. He set the tray on a table between the two rockers, poured them both a drink, and sat down. “Your health,” he said, raising his glass.

Lance took a big swig. “Stone called me. He couldn’t raise you.”

“I came to in the trunk of the car and managed to get the shotgun out of the rear seat. They took me to the proverbial cabin in the woods, and there the tables were turned. I left them unconscious and handcuffed. If you want them I’ll give you directions.”

“Let’s let them find their own way home,” Lance said. “It’ll be a good experience for them.”

“Right.” They ate the cheese and crackers and drank much of the scotch.

“I’d better call Stone,” Lance said finally. “He’ll be worried about you.”

“You do that,” Ed said, “and give him my best. I’m going to bed. I’d be grateful if you locked the doors behind you.”

47

STONE AND DINO had finished dinner and were on cognac when Stone’s phone vibrated. Number blocked.

“Yes?”

“It’s Lance. Sometime in the wee hours of last night two men invaded Ed Rawls’s home, sedated him, opened his safe, and retrieved the strong case. They stuffed him in the trunk of a car and took him to a cabin in the country about thirty minutes from his house. While en route, Ed regained consciousness and managed to retrieve a shotgun from the rear seat. When they opened the trunk they were surprised to find their own shotgun pointed at them. Having cuffed the two men and thrown away the keys, Ed is now in his bed. The strong case is with him.”

“I’m relieved to hear all of that,” Stone said. “You sound a little drunk, Lance.”

“Funny, so do you.”

Stone laughed. “Does the fact that Ed still has the strong case indicate a disinterest on your part in possessing it?”

“Pretty much. As I told you before, I believe I know everything that’s in it.”

“Did you know that Nelson Knott fathered two children with black mothers, respectively seventeen and twelve years ago, and that the elder child and her mother are dead from an accident described as the mother falling asleep and striking a bridge abutment on the New Jersey Turnpike, and that the other mother and child have disappeared?”

Lance drew in a quick breath. “What evidence exists of this?”

“I have both the original birth certificates.”

“I did not know about this.”

“I didn’t think so. Also, the attorney who gave me the birth certificates earlier today was killed on his way back to Virginia in an accident described as his driver falling asleep and crashing into a bridge abutment on the interstate.”

“Have you called the police?”