“Smart girl.”

“I hope she was graceful enough.”

“So do I,” Stone said.

“Something else. They asked me about cleaning their family stuff out of the barn at the old house.”

“What did you reply to that?”

“I explained that the contracts among the past two owners specified that the contents of all buildings were included in the sale.”

“How did they take that?”

“Not well. They said they’d make the new owner an offer.”

“One that he can’t refuse?”

“Let’s not go there.”

“Have the Jacksons arrived yet?”

“They phoned from the air: ETA is two PM. I’m meeting them at the airstrip.”

Stone glanced at his watch: half an hour. “It’s important that I meet them before the twins do,” he said. “Can you ask them to expect me to drop by around three-thirty?”

“All right.”

“Thank you, Billy.” He hung up.

“Was that Billy?”

“It was, and with bad news.”

“They already bought the house?”

“You guessed it.”

“And you’re meeting the Jacksons at three-thirty?”

“You’re a good listener, Dino. I thought I’d invite them for dinner tonight. It’s a chance to get to know them, and it’ll give Primmy something to gossip about around the island.”

Something fairly loud flew over at a low altitude. “I think that’s the Jacksons’ Pilatus landing now. They’re a little early.

“Want me to go with you?” Dino asked.

“No, you’ll meet them tonight anyway.”

“As you wish,” Dino said. He went into Dick Stone’s little office and used the copying machine, then returned and gave both Stone and Viv copies of the Times crossword.

Stone worked on it until it was time to go meet the Jacksons.

—

He drove down in the MG. The gate was near Ed Rawls’s entrance, and theirs had an entry pod set up by an inner gate. Stone pressed the buzzer and gazed into the camera.

“Yes?” A tinny voice.

“It’s Stone Barrington.”

The gate opened immediately, then closed behind him.

Both Jacksons met him at the door and introduced themselves. They were handsome people, Stone thought, appearing younger than their years.

“Have a seat,” Henry Lee said.

“Do you mind if I have a look around first?” Stone asked.

“Sure. I’ll go with you,” Henry Lee replied. “I haven’t seen it all myself, yet.”

“I’ll get us some lemonade,” Grace said.

The two men walked through the house slowly, inspecting.

“It looks like the last people who lived here forgot to move out when they left,” Henry Lee said. “And it’s really nice furniture.”

There was a living room, dining room, kitchen, and a paneled study on the ground floor, and four bedrooms and baths upstairs. The master suite had two baths and dressing rooms.

“The garage is off the kitchen,” Henry Lee said.

They went back into the living room and sat down. Lemonade was served.