“Never met him,” Young said. “I just phoned his office this morning, and they put me in touch with him.”

“How did he strike you on the phone—sharp?”

“Not really. He kept getting things mixed up: the twins’ names, the name of the yacht.”

“So, maybe he’s mixed up about the twins being on the yacht.”

Young produced his cell phone and called Potter’s number.

“Yeah?”

“Lieutenant, it’s Tom Young from the Maine State Police again.”

“Yeah?”

“When you went down to the boat this morning, did you actually see the twins?”

“Ah, no, but the two guys on board said they had just gone for beer. I’m looking for them now.”

“So, you didn’t sight the twins?”

“Not yet.”

“Thanks, Lieutenant.”

“You think the two guys lied to me?”

“It’s a strong possibility. If you find them, please call me immediately. Good-bye.” Young hung up. “He didn’t see them.”

“I’d like to visit Caleb’s house,” Stone said.

“Me, too,” Young replied.

Ham stood up. “I’m coming, too.”

“I’d rather you didn’t, Mr. Barker,” Young said. “You just stay here, and let me do my job. You, too, Stone.”

“As you wish, Sergeant,” Stone replied.

“I’ll call you after I’ve talked to Caleb—and his sons, if they’re there.”

“Be careful,” Stone said.

Young left the house.

“You shouldn’t get too excited about this, Ham,” Stone said.

“No?” Ham replied. “If these twins are here, why are they establishing an alibi for themselves in Nantucket?”

“I don’t know, but they may actually be in Nantucket, and we still don’t have anything to connect them with Holly.”

The doorbell rang, and Stone went to answer it. Ed Rawls stood on the doorstep.

“Come on in, Ed.”

“Thanks. Anything new?”

“I’m not sure. We’ve just learned that Caleb Stone’s twin sons have gone to some lengths to make the police believe that they’re in Nantucket, but we’ve learned that they’re not.”

“We haven’t learned that yet, Stone,” Lance pointed out. “All we know is that the Nantucket cop looking for them hasn’t seen them yet.”

“And,” Dino pointed out, “we’ve got these thermal scans that show four people sleeping in Caleb’s house last night.”

“So, what if they are here?” Rawls asked. “Have you got anything to connect them to any of the murders?”

“Not really,” Stone said, “but I find it very suspicious that they seem to be trying to create a false alibi.”

“I see your point,” Rawls said.

“Sergeant Young has just gone over to Caleb’s house to see if they’re there,” Stone said. “I’ll be interested to hear what he finds out.”

SERGEANT TOM YOUNG pulled up to the Stone house, a rambling shingled house sagging with age in places. He walked up onto the front porch and rang the bell.