“Why not? Eben’s a charming young man who is thought to be innocent by half the people who know about him. He and Enos have been pardoned by the governor and had charges lifted a second time by the D.A. He was wholly convincing, Smith felt. And his wife looked as though she was accustomed to going along with his decisions on just about everything. It would have been churlish of me to deny them the house because of my own feelings.”

“As long as you feel you’ve done the right thing, I won’t worry about it anymore.”

Carly, who had been silent through all this, spoke up, “If there were a guillotine available for use, I would be happy to pull the lever.”

Stone laughed. “So everybody’s on board?”

“Oh,” Primmy said, “we’ve all been on board since the seaborne attack.”

“So, you’re both okay with finding a way to kill them?”

“I wouldn’t pull the trigger,” Primmy said, “but I wouldn’t have a problem watching it done.”

Stone laughed again. “I wouldn’t like to be judged by a jury that had you both as members.”

“If that should ever happen,” Primmy said, “please remember to be innocent.”

—

Finally, everyone went up to bed, except Stone, who poured himself a last, small brandy. He ran once more through the situation and its possible resolution. The Stone twins had put themselves in this situation, he reasoned. And the law, with all its power, had failed to make them accountable for their actions. They had painted Stone, as well as themselves, into a corner from which there were two ways out, and Stone had ruled out dying himself. That left the twins.

He tossed off the last sip of his brandy and went upstairs into the arms of Primmy.

49

Stone and Dino were enjoying a second cup of coffee the following morning, while the women were taking the sun on the dock, when the doorbell rang. Stone carefully used the peephole, then opened it. “Come in, Billy.”

Billy entered looking troubled.

“Coffee?” Stone asked.

“Sure, black, please.”

Stone poured a mug and handed it to him. “What’s on your mind?”

“Your house,” Billy said.

“Okay, which house?”

“The one you’re selling to the Petersons.”

“What troubles you about it?”

“The Petersons.”

“You think they haven’t got the cash to close?”

“Sure they have. You think I wouldn’t check that out on a sale this size?”

“Then what about the Petersons?”

“I don’t know.”

Dino spoke up. “Does the deal smell bad, Billy?”

“No, the Petersons.”

“Fishy smell?”

“No, there’s a cop expression when something’s not quite right about somebody.”

“What’s the expression?” Dino asked.

“That’s what I’m asking you. You’re the cop.”

Dino stared at the ceiling. “Hinky?”

“That’s it. There’s something hinky about them.”

“Dino,” Stone said, “can you run their names?”