“How long since this happened?”

“Four, five years. Good night.” Billy hung up.

—

Later, after the dinner party had dissolved, Stone and Primmy lay in bed, kissing and fondling.

“Which was scarier?” he asked her. “The bear or the twins?”

“The bear, when I thought it was the twins,” she replied. “I thought they had come for revenge over the ear wound.”

“I don’t think they’ll forget that,” Stone said. “For the next few days, I don’t want you to go anywhere alone.”

“That’s easy,” she said. “I don’t want to go anywhere alone. Maybe ever again.”

“I understand your feeling.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a Fish and Wildlife for rogue people, in addition to bears? If we could just call them and they’d come, anesthetize them, put them in a cage, and take them away.”

“Something like that exists,” Stone said.

“Oh? What is it called?”

“It’s called the criminal justice system. These two have already been there once, but I don’t think we’ll ever get them back there again.”

“What’s the alternative?” she asked.

Stone sighed. “That remains to be seen.”

22

Early the following morning, Stone had an idea. He made love to Primmy (not a bad idea), they had breakfast, then they dressed and went downstairs. Dino and Viv were just finishing theirs.

“Dino,” Stone said, “I’ve had an idea about how to go after the twins.”

“Does it involve running around in the woods in the dark with flashlights chasing bears?”

“It does not. It involves police work, something you and I know a bit about.”

“I thought you had forgotten,” Dino said.

“Only when I can persuade you to do it for me.”

“Is that what we’re doing now?”

“No, we’re going to call Sergeant Tom Young at the Maine State Police and persuade him to do it for us.”

“I thought you’d already spoken to him, and he was unwilling to get involved.”

“That’s true, but you should always give a man a chance to change his mind.”

“Okay, let’s call him, and you do all the talking while I listen.”

“That’s what I had in mind.” Stone led him to Dick Stone’s little office, concealed behind a bookcase. “We’ll use the landline and put it on speaker.” They sat down, and Stone called the number.

“Sergeant Young.”

“Tom, it’s Stone Barrington and Dino Bacchetti.”

“Uh-oh. You’ve hit a dead end on the Stone twins thing, and you’re going to try to talk me into helping.”

“We’re not asking you to stick your neck out, Tom, just to review the unsolved rape/homicide files of the Islesboro cases, and those in Boston and New Haven.”