“A Bombay Sapphire martini, straight up, and the usual for me.”

The butler bowed and disappeared down a long hallway. Gant went through a door off the foyer into a spacious chamber lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with the priceless volumes that he collected. Margrave stood near a set of French doors that overlooked manicured lawns that were as green as the top of a billiard table. He was perusing an antique book bound in red Moroccan leather.

“That's a rare edition of the Divine Comedy published in 1507,” Gant said. “There are only three known copies. I own them all.”

“You've got quite the extensive collection of Dante.”

“Actually, it's the best in the world,” Gant said without pretense.

Margrave smiled and slipped the book back onto the shelf. “I would expect no less. Did you have a good ride?”

Gant tossed the whip onto a side table. “I always have a good ride. The horse does all the work. The animal that I rode today is new to my stables. It's a stallion that needed to be shown who the boss is. I always take a new horse out for a test-drive. Those that survive are treated like royalty. Those that don't end up in a glue factory.”

“Survival of the fittest?”

“I'm a great believer in Darwin.”

The butler arrived carrying a tray with two drinks. Gant handed one glass to Margrave, and took the sixteen-year-old, double-matured scotch whisky on the rocks for himself. Margrave sipped his drink. “Perfect martini,” he said. “You know exactly what I drink. I'm impressed.”

“You forget that I'm in a business where deals are often lubricated with alcohol,” Gant said. “Nothing makes a favorable impression like remembering someone's particular poison.” He settled into a comfortable chair, and gestured for Margrave to take a seat. “What's the latest on our project?”

“On schedule. But I'm worried about Spider. I haven't heard from him since he left the island a few days ago.”

“Barrett is a big boy,” Gant said. “He can take care of himself.”

“I don't care about his health; it's his mouth I'm concerned about. He's had an acute attack of conscience. I don't want to see him on 60 Minutes telling Mike Wallace about our project.”

“You said he agreed to stay with the project until you made contact with Karla Janos.”

“That's right. He wanted a fail-safe option that could shut the project down in a hurry.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about. Barrett is probably off sulking somewhere. The main question is whether the project can proceed without him.”

“That's not a problem. Spider has already laid the groundwork that made him indispensable. We don't need him anymore. All is proceeding according to plan. I worked up this presentation for you.”

Margrave opened a carrying case and pulled out a portable DVD player, which he set up on a mahogany desk. He pressed the ON button and the schematic profile of a ship appeared on the screen.