“We didn’t see anything. It’s not like we were witnesses. There was nothing there for us to do.” Stone was relieved that he could tell the truth about this, even if he was withholding information.

Griggs sighed.

Stone was about to say something, when he looked over Griggs’s shoulder and saw Dolce standing in the garden, maybe two hundred feet away. Griggs was about to turn and follow his gaze, but Stone took him by the shoulder and led him toward the afterdeck banquette. “How about a drink, Dan?” he said.

Griggs pulled away from his grasp, but did not look toward Dolce. “Are you nuts? I’m on duty. I thought that was obvious.”

“How’s Lundquist?” Stone asked, desperate to keep Griggs looking in his direction instead of Dolce’s. He couldn’t allow himself to look that way, either.

“I put him on a medivac plane for Minneapolis this morning. He’s recovering, and his department sent the aircraft.”

“He’s going to be all right, then?”

“Didn’t I just say that?” Griggs asked, irritated.

“Sorry, Dan. I just wanted to be sure.”

“Something else: You still looking for that Manning fellow?”

“Not really,” Stone said. “I pretty much straightened that out in a favorable manner.”

“Favorable? Did you shoot him?”

“No, no, I just sorted out the differences between him and Liz, and I think he’s out of our hair now.”

“Maybe not,” Griggs said.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve had two reports from my men of a man answering his description being in town.”

“Well, if he’s in town, I’ve got no quarrel with him, nor him with me.”

“Does he have any quarrel with Liz?”

“Not anymore. That’s all settled.”

“Then you don’t want me to pick him up?”

For a moment, Stone considered blowing the whistle on Paul Manning, and the hell with their agreement. “No. You wouldn’t have a charge, anyway. He’s clean.”

“How do you know that? I thought you said he was the criminal type.”

“As a result of our settlement, he’s now too rich to be criminal.”

“You paid him off?”

“Let’s say he walked away in very good shape.”

“Well, I’ll leave him alone, if that’s the way you want it, but I intend to keep an eye on him.”

“That can’t hurt, I suppose, if you have the manpower.”

Stone thought of something. “Tell me, Dan, did the description of the man include a bandage on his face?”

“A bandage? No, nobody said anything about that. He’s clean-shaven, with dark hair, going gray.”

“Oh.”

“Why did you think he might be wearing a bandage?”

“When I saw him he was. I thought maybe he’d had an accident or something.”

“Well, I’ve got to get going,” Griggs said, turning back toward the house.