“I’ve had a call from a friend at Government House. When Allison…when her case was resolved, the yacht, as her bail bond, reverted to her…estate. But my friend says that Sir Winston Sutherland has filed a petition with the Admiralty, which administers maritime affairs, claiming the yacht for the Ministry of Justice, supposedly to defray the costs of Allison’s trial. It’s just a naked grab of someone else’s property, but he can probably bring it off.”

Thomas grinned. “I hear you are a boat owner now.”

“Well, for a few hours, anyway,” Stone said. “Leslie, how much time have I got?”

Leslie looked at his watch. “It’s just past ten. Lord, I don’t know; Winston could be here with an order any minute.”

“Thomas, can you put together a week’s provisions for me in a hurry?”

“I’ll see to it,” Thomas said. He jumped down from the deck and sprinted back toward the Shipwright’s Arms.

Stone looked at Leslie Hewitt. “Well, Leslie, I hear that my co-counsel hasn’t been absolutely frank with me about the way Allison’s case was conducted.”

“What? What do you mean? I surely…”

Stone held up a hand. “Don’t bother; Allison came to see me last night.”

Leslie looked embarrassed, but he managed a grin. “Well, perhaps I wasn’t entirely candid with you, Stone, but all’s well…”

“That ends well,” Stone said. “It did end well, I suppose; you’re just lucky I didn’t die of a heart attack last night.”

“Myself as well,” Leslie said. “I was frantic when I couldn’t get anyone on the phone at the prime minister’s residence or in his office. I was nearly as much in the dark as you, right up until you asked about the disposition of the body, and the policeman gave you that malarkey about cremation. There’s no crematorium on St. Marks, so I figured I must have brought it off after all.”

“You certainly did, but you aged me ten years in the process.”

“Well, I’m glad it came out all right. I got a lovely fee, the prime minister got his, ah, pension fund, and you got a very fine yacht.”

“If I can hang on to it,” Stone said, laughing. “I’d better get the engine started.” He went aft to the cockpit, switched on the ignition, and prayed that the thing would start. The starter ground on for a good ten seconds before the engine caught and ran smoothly. He looked up and saw Thomas running across the lawn again, carrying a cardboard box and followed by an employee carrying a second one.

Stone checked the fuel gauges. Full. He hoped to God the water tanks were full, too.