“Bottom line is, Mrs. Manning’s husband could not have kicked off at a better time for her. If Manning had lived and had continued to live as he did, I reckon he wouldn’t have been able to afford the life insurance premiums much longer.”

“How long had he had the insurance?”

“A little over two years, and if the company had known he was going to sail, two-handed, across the Atlantic twice, he never would have gotten it. Insurance companies frown on that sort of sporting activity.”

“I guess not. This information certainly puts a whole new complexion on things, doesn’t it?”

“I would say so. I mean, if you were still a cop, you’d now suspect Allison Manning of helping her husband overboard, wouldn’t you?”

“That’s one theory.”

“The other theory which suggests itself has to do with the very special dinghy Paul Manning had air freighted to him in Las Palmas.”

“Right. I got the brochure on the Parker Sportster today. It sails.”

“Could it have sailed Manning back to the Canaries from where Allison says they were when he died?”

“Yes, but it wouldn’t have had to; Manning could have left the yacht as soon as they were out of sight of land.”

“Aha!”

“Except for one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“The Parker Sportster is still on the yacht.”

“Could he have had another dinghy?”

“He did have, but it wasn’t sailable, and anyway, that one is still on the yacht, too.”

“So it looks as though Manning, when he left the yacht, was either dead or swimming.”

“Looks that way.”

“Could he have swum back?”

“I think we can discount that possibility; he might have been spotted near shore in the daytime and there are sharks out there; I don’t think he would have tried it at night.”

“Another boat might have spotted him sailing a dingy, too.”

“Not if he sailed at night. That’s what I would have done in his shoes, but of course, the point is moot, because the dinghy is still on the yacht.”

“Well, pal, good luck with sorting this one out.”

“I don’t have to sort it out, thank God. All I have to do is think about getting Allison Manning acquitted. I’m not the cops.”

“Good point. I’ll call you if I find out anything new.”

“Thanks, Bob. Take care.” He hung up.

“I’m not the cops,” Stone repeated to himself. “I’m her lawyer, and if she’s guilty, she won’t be the first guilty client I’ve represented.” Still, he wanted her to be innocent.

Chapter
24

Stone hung up the phone and returned to his lunch. He wasn’t the cops, granted, but he was still bothered by what he was hearing about Paul Manning’s affairs. He was about finished with lunch when Jim Forrester pulled up a chair.