“Let’s take the ten-cent tour,” Rawls said. They went into the kitchen, the dining room, and into what would be a library or study, all with drying plaster. The library had rows of bookcases lined up and ready to be installed.

There was a broad central staircase, and Rawls led the way upstairs. “Hello? Anybody home?”

“I won’t fire until you do,” Stone said.

Rawls turned a corner and went through an open door. “And we’re in the master suite,” he said. It was only partly furnished, but neat.

“Interesting that there’s only one bed,” Stone said.

“Two,” Ed replied, “twins pushed together, inside a king bedstead. And electric beds, like at a hospital.”

French doors led out to a long, narrow porch on the side facing the road, wrapping around to the front of the house, then again, to the library.

“Pretty good field of fire from up here,” Rawls said, noting the relative positions of his house, porches, and dock.

They went back inside, and Ed opened a glass-fronted cabinet. Inside was a row of assault weapons and racks for handguns, plus shelves for ammunition, of which there was plenty.

“They’re prepared for a siege,” Stone said.

“More likely a slaughter,” Ed said.

They walked around the house once more, just to imprint the floor plan in their minds.

“How long you figure before they’re completely moved in?” Rawls asked.

“Well, let’s see,” Stone said. “The HVAC systems are working, the kitchen cabinets and appliances have been installed, and the plastering is complete, if not yet dry. The study cabinetwork has yet to be installed, and there will be at least a week of painting. I’d say two to three weeks, if they’re hurrying.”

“That’s about what I figure,” Rawls said.

“Why do you ask?”

“I’m opportunity oriented,” Ed said. “I look around me now, and what I see is opportunity, gradually vanishing as each job gets done.”

“Maybe the Maine cops have got something on them in the Jackson murders,” Stone said. “Something we missed when we walked around the crime scene.”

“I hope so,” Ed said. “That would sure make life easier for all of us.”

“I can’t hang around the whole summer waiting for a chance to exercise my right to self-defense,” Stone said.

“I’m less pressured and more patient than you,” Ed said back.

“I can’t argue with that. Do you have a plan?”

“Several. Outlines, of course; not fleshed in. Ways of approaching the job.”

“What do you think is the better plan?”

“I think we have to kill them before the house is finished,” Rawls said. “Can you stick around that long?”

“Probably not,” Stone said. “But I’ll do the best I can.”

“That’s good enough for me.”

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