STONE WAS HAVING his own breakfast in bed, watching Morning Joe, when the phone rang. “Yes?”

“It’s Ed Rawls.”

“Good morning, Ed.”

“I thought you’d like to know that I received the key, and just in time.”

“In time for what?”

“In time for two of Christian St. Clair’s thugs to walk, armed, into my house and demand the strong case on pain of death.”

“Well, since you’re still alive, I assume you either killed them both or gave them the case.”

“I gave them the case, and the key, which had arrived only a few minutes before.”

“So, there’s an end to that,” Stone said.

“Not quite,” Ed said, “they still have to get it open.”

—

AS THE TWO MEN drove away from Rawls’s house, one of them said to the other, “Are we going to open the thing?”

“That’s above my pay grade,” the man said. “I’ll pass it up the line, and somebody else can make that decision.”

They drove into Washington, went to Erik Macher’s office, and delivered the case and its key to him. “Rawls didn’t give us an argument,” the man said.

—

WHEN THEY HAD gone, Macher sat and stared at the case. Weeks of trouble, he reflected; how many dead? He had lost track. He inserted the key into one of the two locks.

“No,” he said aloud. He put the key back into his pocket and called Christian St. Clair.

“Yes, Erik?”

“Good morning, sir.”

“Have you heard anything further from our people in England?”

“No, sir. It’s mid-afternoon there, so I expect there has been no change in the circumstances, or I would have heard.”

“Then what can I do for you?”

“I have the strong case, sir.”

There was a sharp intake at the other end of the line. “Bring it to me, unopened,” he said.

“Where are you?”

“At my home in New York.”

“I’ll leave immediately, sir. It should take me four or five hours to drive the distance.”

“I’ll expect you.” St. Clair hung up.

Macher left his office, stowed the strong case in the trunk of his car, and drove away. He turned on the satellite radio and selected CNN. All the news was of Nelson Knott’s announcement of his candidacy the previous day. He found some classical music.

—

STONE WENT DOWN to his office in time to get a call from Will Lee.

“Good morning, Will.”

“Good morning, Stone. Have you had any news of the delivery of your packages?”

“Not yet. They are all supposed to be delivered by three PM, or so the post office promises.”

“In time for the evening news.”

“Should be plenty of time.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Will said.

The two men hung up.

57

AROUND NOON, Stone got a call from Ed Rawls.

“Hello again, Ed,” he said.

“Hello, Stone. If it sounds like I’m in a car, I am.”