“I called a guy I know who had been seriously intimate with a woman who works at the Maine State Prison. He got her to scan and send a copy of their prison record to him. Here’s a summary of what he learned. Forgive me if I paraphrase.”

“Granted.”

“Okay, since the day the twins were incarcerated they have been perfectly ideal prisoners, every warden’s dream. They didn’t get into fights, because they’re big, muscular guys, and they watched each other’s backs. They cheerfully performed any task they were ordered to, including serving at the warden’s dinner parties. They taught other prisoners to read. They wrote pardon requests and appeals for other prisoners. Did I mention that they had already graduated from Yale Law when they were arrested, and subsequently requested and got permission to take the Maine bar exam? They were driven to the test site by two prison guards, and now they can practice law. There was a move afoot to have their licenses yanked, which has not yet succeeded. After a year in max, they were transferred to the hospital wing, where they were made very comfortable.”

“How’d they swing that?” Stone asked.

“If I had to guess, I would guess that palms were crossed with silver, but who knows? May I continue?”

“Please.”

“They reorganized the prison library, replaced the out-of-date law books with new ones, and paid for a computer link to a legal website for research, endearing them to the warden. They were pretty much running a law firm out of the prison library.”

“Didn’t the warden know they were homicidal maniacs?”

“I must point out that they were convicted only of murdering their parents, and their testimony about their dad’s sexual abuse of the boys won them friends. Among them, a young woman who started a get-the-twins-out movement, which has a big following on the Internet.

Stone started to speak, but Dino held up a hand.

“Let me finish. The prison psychiatrist examined them both at length and came to know them well. His opinion is that they are brilliant, charming, and saner than you or I, but with a touch of narcissism. He also noted that they are the most identical identical twins he has ever seen. He persuaded them to get visible tattoos, so the staff could tell them apart—a plus sign on Eben’s left earlobe and a minus sign on Enos’s.”

“That’s convenient.”

“He also says that they seem to think and act as one man. Their interpersonal communications seem almost telepathic.”

Dino sat back and sipped his drink. “Got all that?”

“Yes.”

“So what’s your best idea?”

“Let’s talk about how to get them killed in prison,” Stone said.

5

Dino accepted another Scotch, while shaking his head. “That’s not going to happen.”

“Why not?” Stone asked. “You can have anybody killed in prison.”