“Thomas? Is that Thomas Hardy?” Leslie Hewitt asked, shielding his eyes from the light.

“Sure is,” Thomas said. “Come to see you, and I brought a friend.” He introduced the barrister to Stone.

“How do you do, Sir Leslie,” Stone said.

“I’m very well, Mr. Barrington; and you?”

“Very well, thank you.”

“Leslie, can we go into the house?” Thomas asked. “There’s a matter we need to discuss with you.”

“Do I owe you money?” Hewitt asked, removing his straw hat and mopping his brow with his forearm. He had short, snow white hair.

“Certainly not, Leslie.”

“Then this is very surprising,” he said. “It’s been a very long time since anyone needed to discuss anything with me except a bill.”

Sitting in a small study crowded with dusty books, Thomas Hardy explained the situation to Leslie Hewitt. “What do you think, Leslie?”

“Well, I certainly don’t like the sound of it,” Hewitt replied, crossing a bare leg over another and dusting off his foot. “All happening very quickly, isn’t it?”

“Very quickly indeed,” Thomas said.

“I shouldn’t be surprised if, in the circumstances, Winston will ask for an early trial date. What is it you want of me? I don’t know if I’m up to trying a murder case, not unless you enjoy a hanging.”

Thomas and Stone laughed. “We need your help for the hearing, Leslie,” Thomas said. “To hold the fort until we can get a barrister in from London.”

“Ah, I see,” Hewitt said. “Well, I can certainly help you to that extent.”

“There’s the matter of bail, too, Sir Leslie,” Stone said.

“Please call me Leslie,” the little man said. “Everyone does.”

“Leslie, do you think there’s a chance of bail?”

“It’s not unheard of in such a case,” Hewitt replied. “It’s not an easy island to get off of, especially if you’re a foreigner, so the judge might smile on such a request. Bail might be steep, though.”

“How steep?”

“A hundred thousand dollars, perhaps twice that.”

“Cash?”

“Does the lady have any property in St. Marks?”

“An expensive yacht.”

“That might do very nicely, if the judge is sure she won’t sail away.”

“That’s good news; I’ll pass it on to Mrs. Manning.”

“I shall want to meet her before the hearing,” Hewitt said. “May we meet at the courthouse at, say, nine in the morning? That should give us time.”

“Of course,” Stone said. “Ah, you mentioned hanging; I hope that was in jest?”

“Oh, no,” Sir Leslie said, shaking his head. “Certainly not in jest.”

“St. Marks has capital punishment, then?”