“I’m no expert at this, but I should think fifty to a hundred thousand dollars would go a long way toward accomplishing what we want. Woodman and Weld would hire and instruct them, and you’d have to pay their fees, too. Will the insurance money cover it?”

“Yes,” she said, but she looked doubtful.

“What’s the problem?”

She shrugged. “I just don’t know if I want to be that kind of celebrity. I’m really a very private person.”

“Allison, let me put this to you as strongly as I can. If we don’t do something you’re going to be a very dead private person. In St. Marks, Sir Winston holds all the cards; he’s in control. But he can’t control the rest of the world. This island subsists mostly on tourism; if he wants to become prime minister he’s not going to want somebody telling the world’s tourists that if they come to St. Marks they’re liable to be arrested, tried, and hanged on spurious charges. That translates into a lot of empty hotel rooms and a catastrophic loss of revenue for the government.”

She wrinkled her brow. “Why don’t I just get the hell off this island? There must be a way.”

“Didn’t you listen to His Lordship this morning? If you try that and they catch you, it’s tantamount to conviction; they could hang you before the week is out. Even if you made it off the island, they could come after you, maybe extradite you; then you’d be worse off than you are right now; you’d be guilty.”

She shrugged and said nothing, but she seemed to be imagining something terrible.

“Will you let me get this PR campaign in gear?”

“All right,” she sighed.

“Good. I suggest you get a hundred thousand dollars sent to Bill Eggers at Woodman and Weld as soon as possible. Nobody’s going to want to extend credit to you in the circumstances.”

“All right; I’ll call my bank in Greenwich; the insurance money is supposed to be deposited there soon.”

“Allison, speaking of insurance, did you mention to the investigator that you had been charged with the murder of the insured? That might make them reluctant to pay.”

“It never came up,” she said.

“Hello, Bill, it’s Stone.”

“What’s happening?”

“Allison Manning is sending you a hundred thousand dollars from her Greenwich bank tomorrow.”

“How nice! Do I have to do anything for it?”

“I want you to get ahold of the hottest PR firm you can find and have them start a campaign in the media to get Allison Manning released.”

“I believe I get the picture,” Eggers chuckled. “Barbaric islanders persecuting American blonde?”

“You’re a quick study, Bill.”

“How much does she want to spend?”