“Perhaps you’d better tell me what you believe I intend to do.”

“I believe you’re going to try to murder the Stone twins, and that your motive is revenge for the death of your brother-in-law and closest friend, and your sister.”

“Do you also believe that I intend to be caught?”

“No, but nevertheless you will be. You have been trained as an assassin, but not as a suspect or a fugitive. It took me and my friends only a couple of phone calls and a laptop computer to figure that out. How long do you think it would take the Maine State Police? I have dealt with the local representatives of that body, and they are neither stupid nor without resources.”

“They’ve had every opportunity to catch the Stones, but they haven’t done so. Nor have they been able to keep them in prison, after being sentenced.”

“They did catch and convict the Stones, even if their efforts were later overridden. It helped that their father was close to the governor when they were in college. Is your father close to the governor?”

“My father is dead.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. What do you think he would advise you, if he were still alive?”

Smith looked away for the first time. “That is irrelevant.”

“The way he brought you up is not irrelevant. Did he teach you that, if you committed a crime you would be caught and punished?”

“Of course.”

“Do you think he was lying to you?”

“No.”

“But now, your hatred of your friend’s murderers has been sufficient to cause you to ignore his teaching. Let me tell you, hatred and revenge are very difficult motives to conceal. If I were examining you under oath, it would take me only a couple of minutes to establish your hatred of the twins. Conviction for murder requires motive, means, and opportunity. Also, bad luck helps. You have all of that in abundance.”

“What about ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’?”

“That will be wrapped up in the first three.”

Smith said nothing.

“Are you aware that the twins are extremely dangerous? Isn’t that why you sought to disarm them by offering them the opportunity to buy the house? You may be sure that they saw through that and they know who you are. They likely view you and Coco as replacements for Henry Lee and Grace. It is very unlikely that you would survive an attempt to kill them. Even if you did, it is even less likely that you would remain a free man. Think what that would mean to your wife. Even if she avoids conviction as an accessory, is she supposed to spend the rest of her life visiting you once a week and bringing you cakes with files baked into them?”

A very long pause. “You have a point,” Smith said.