“No, unplug it. The ones upstairs, too.”

Soon they had achieved an electronics silence in the house.

“I didn’t say you couldn’t speak,” Lance said. “So, unless you’re electronically based, feel free.”

The keypad for the security system began making a series of noises, once even playing a little tune.

“At least it isn’t ‘Daisy, Daisy,’” Dino said.

This continued off and on for the better part of an hour, then the computer played a farewell fanfare and was silent.

“All right,” Lance said. “You may reassemble your devices.” They did so. Dino plugged in the TV in time to get a news report that the missing FBI agent’s body had been recovered from a sunken boat in the river.

As if on cue, there was a sharp knock at the door. Stone answered it, and two grim-looking men in suits stood there, holding up badges.

“FBI,” one of them said. “Are you Stone Barrington?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know the whereabouts of a Ms. Carly Riggs?”

“I believe I do,” Stone said. “Please come in.”

32

The two agents came into the living room. In their dark suits, button-down collars, and bland neckties, they looked like aliens from the spaceship Federal. They held up their badges.

“Good morning,” the taller of them said. “I am Special Agent Neal Olshan, FBI, and this is my partner, Special Agent Robert Paul. Which of you is Carly Riggs?”

“I am,” Carly said, giving them a little wave. “And no, you may not speak to me alone. I want witnesses.”

Olshan looked a little worried. “I’m afraid we have to speak about some rather delicate, personal matters,” he said. “Things they might not care to hear.”

“They’ve heard it all before, with all the wrinkles and crevices. And they’ve stood up to it very well. I hope you two can do the same. What do you want to know?”

“Let’s start with your criminal appeals class,” Olshan said.

“Would you like to sit down?” Stone asked, indicating two vacant chairs.

“Thank you, yes,” the agent replied, then did so.

“All right,” Carly said. She took them through her experience, step by step, omitting nothing and finished with her rescue from the river by the teenager. “There,” she said finally, “anything else?”

“You have told others that you recognized your assailants.”

“Rapists.”

“If you prefer.”

“Yes, I do. I didn’t say I recognized them. I, rather, identified them from their eyes, which were uncommonly blue and identical, and from their manner of speaking.”

“You recognized their voices?”

“No. I recognized their manner of speaking.”

“And how would you describe their ‘manner of speaking’?”

“Shorthand,” she said. “They used very few words to communicate, and yet, both understood exactly what was said.”

“I understand that you have said you could pick them out of a police lineup by their eyes.”

“I did say that, and I’m waiting for somebody to take me up on it.”