Stone had hardly reached the house when Geoffrey told him he had a call from the manager of the Arrington property next door.

“Yes?”

“Mr. Barrington, this is Mr. Scott, at the Arrington.”

“Yes, Mr. Scott.”

“Earlier today we received an e-mail from Mr. duBois in Rome, asking us to deny registration to a Mr. Boris Tirov.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.”

“Our desk clerk replied that Mr. Tirov had a reservation for a week, beginning today.”

“I know all that.”

“What the desk clerk failed to make clear was that Mr. Tirov had already checked in. We met his flight from Rome this morning and drove him to the hotel. He is in his suite now, and so are his traveling companions, in theirs.”

“Can you get him out?”

“I’m afraid that, under law, once a guest is in possession of his rooms we cannot oust him unless he fails to pay upon presentation of his bill.”

Stone thought for a moment. “Can you shut down the hotel on some pretense? A power failure, something like that?”

“Sir, the hotel is full, and all the guests with bookings have checked in. If we shut down the hotel we would greatly inconvenience guests with whom we are trying to build loyalty, and incidentally, we would lose a great deal of money. Also, we would be obliged to furnish them with other accommodation at our expense.”

“All right, I understand. Don’t shut down the hotel. What are our alternatives?”

“We have none, sir. Unless Mr. Tirov and his guests conduct themselves in a manner that would tread upon the rights of the other guests, we are, well, stuck with them.”

“How many security personnel are typically on duty?”

“Four in the daytime, two after midnight.”

“Can you summon other security staff?”

“Yes, sir, in an emergency.”

“Please add another man, and should Tirov or his guests leave the building, have them followed. Should they trespass on my property, please call the police, in the person of Detective Chief Superintendent Holmes, of the Hampshire police, and tell him. Bill my account for the extra personnel.”

“As you wish, Mr. Barrington. May I inquire, with respect, what the difficulty is with Mr. Tirov?”

“He is an obstreperous person who may be a danger to a guest of mine. He had to be ejected from the Rome Arrington last night after he attacked me with a knife.”

“I hope you are all right, sir.”

“I am. Please have Tirov followed.”

“I quite understand, sir, and I will follow your instructions to the letter.”

“Thank you, Mr. Scott.” Stone hung up and found Gala watching him.

“I heard most of that,” she said. “Boris is next door?”

“I’m afraid so, and there’s nothing I can do about it except have him followed.”

Gala collapsed onto a sofa. “Then I should go back to Santa Fe,” she said. “My presence here is causing too much trouble.”