After a few more minutes of chat, the others headed for their rooms, too.

STONE WAS PLEASED to find Holly in his bed, and when he slid in beside her, even more pleased to find her naked. He snuggled up to her back and nestled between her cheeks. Holly reached back with her hands and fondled him, bringing him erect. “I thought you’d never come upstairs,” she said, guiding him into her. She rolled over on her stomach, pulling him with her, and they kept that position until they had both come. Finally, she turned over, slung a wet leg over his and snuggled into his shoulder.

Stone reflected that it was nice to have her sleeping beside him. He didn’t fall asleep for a long time, though, because he was running every possible permutation of the events in the house through his head and getting nowhere. He resolved to get to the bottom of Dick’s and his family’s death. It was the last thing he could do for them.

7

AT BREAKFAST the following morning Stone asked Mabel if he should make a ferry reservation for his trip to Belfast.

“Well,” Mabel said, “you won’t need a reservation going over to the mainland, and you won’t get one coming back. Too many folks are arriving today for the summer, and the ferry’s been booked up for weeks.”

“Is there an airport in Belfast?” Stone asked.

“Yup. Bigger than ours, too.”

“Okay, I’ll fly,” he said.

“I’ll come with you,” Dino chipped in. “I don’t have anything else to do.”

Lance spoke up. “Now that I’ve got Dick’s computer up and running, I’m going to check out some things. Holly, I’d like you here with me to see what I’m doing. You’ll find the knowledge useful, eventually.”

“Okay by me,” Holly said, rubbing Stone’s leg with her toe under the table.

Stone looked at his watch. “I’d better get a weather forecast,” he said, getting up from the table.

STONE AND DINO LANDED at the Belfast airport at 9:30 and took a cab to the Waldo County Courthouse. Stone found the probate office, filed Dick’s will and was sworn in as his executor. By 10:30, he had all the necessary documents for disbursing Dick’s estate. He and Dino walked outside and found a bench in the sunshine where they could wait for the inquest to begin.

Shortly, Sergeant Young appeared with an envelope and handed it to Stone. “Morning,” he said to Stone. “Here are the photographs of the scene, the autopsy report, the ballistics report and a copy of my report. Will you have anything to say at the inquest?”

“I’ll take a look at your material and then decide,” Stone said.

“I’ll tell the coroner who you are,” the trooper said. “See you in the small courtroom downstairs.” He walked back into the courthouse.