“I’ve heard about those locks,” Young said. “Are you sure the Hotchkisses are the only people with keys?”

“I’ll find out,” Stone said. He picked up the phone, pressed the intercom button and tapped in Seth’s extension. “Seth, can you come to the study for a minute?” He listened, then hung up.

Seth was there in less than a minute. “What can I do for you, Stone?”

“You know Sergeant Young, don’t you?”

“Know of him.” Seth shook his hand.

“Seth, who else outside the family might have a key to the house?”

Seth shrugged. “Nobody that I can think of. Dick was very strict about not giving a key to anybody but family. Caleb has one.”

“He returned it to me awhile back,” Stone said.

“Then just me and Mabel.”

“No repairmen, workmen, maybe the contractor who built the house?”

“Nope. After the locks were installed, I always had to be here to open the door for anybody who came to fix anything. I fix most things myself.”

“Any questions, Sergeant?”

“What have you had to have fixed by somebody else?”

“That Viking stove in the kitchen needed some adjustment once. Mabel let the fellow in and stayed with him while he did it. The installer of the TV and audio stuff made several trips, but I was always with him.”

“Nobody else?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“What about regular maintenance? Furnace, air conditioning?”

“I clean or replace the filters myself; I know how to light the pilot light.”

“Plumber? Electrician?”

“I do that stuff.”

“That’s all I’ve got,” Young said.

“Thanks, Seth. Oh, you should know that somebody got into the house last night and stole Dick’s safe out of the cabinet.”

Seth looked dumbfounded.

“I’ll tell you about it later.”

Seth left the room, and Stone heard the back door close.

Holly came back from her run and entered the study. “You two guys don’t look too happy,” she said.

“Good guess,” Stone replied.

37

STONE AND HOLLY had lunch on the rear terrace, enjoying the sun, and as Mabel was taking away the dishes the doorbell rang. Dick Stone had installed an outside bell, apparently for occasions like this.

Stone went to the door and found the remaining three Old Farts standing there.

“Good afternoon,” Rawls said. “We disturbing you, Stone?”

“No, gentlemen, come in,” Stone replied, waving them inside. “We’re sitting out on the terrace.”

Stone led them out onto the terrace. “Holly Barker, this is Ed Rawls, Harley Davis and Mack Morris.”

“How do you do, gentlemen?” she asked.

They all muttered greetings.

“Stone, forgive me,” Rawls said, “but we need to speak to you alone.”

“Relax, Ed,” Stone said. “Holly is one of you; she works for Lance Cabot.”

Ed’s eyebrows went up. “Oh?”

“Yes, and she’s helping me with our, ah, situation. Anything you can say to me, you can say to her.”