She closed the phone. “Morgan’s gone,” she said. “His luggage is gone, and most of his clothes. The Morris Minor is in the garage, empty.”

“Is it a two-car garage?” Stone asked.

“Yes.”

“Then he had another car. The device was in the back of the Morris Minor; while Morgan painted, Lance took it and left the money in the car. Morgan drove home, garaged his car, then got into the other car, which was packed and ready to go, and just drove away.”

Carpenter turned to Plumber. “Full-scale alert—every airport, every seaport, every police patrol car. Photographs of Cabot and Morgan faxed everywhere, the continent, too. Call Interpol and explain the situation. I want them both back, and the device, too. Especially the device. What’s the longest Cabot and Morgan could have been gone?”

Plumber looked at his watch. “Forty minutes for Cabot; Morgan would have needed another, say, fifteen minutes to return to the house and leave again.”

“Establish a perimeter at eighty miles,” Carpenter said. “Right now, Cabot could be, say, forty miles away, driving fast, and Morgan less. Every road blocked; turn out the local police, but don’t tell them why we want these two.”

Stone picked up a photograph. “Is this Morgan?”

“Yes,” Plumber replied.

“I want to see his house.”

“Me, too,” Dino said.

Carpenter handed Stone the keys to the Jaguar. “Give them a map,” she said. “I can’t spare anybody to go with you, Stone.”

Stone took the keys and ran for the car.

“I want to drive,” Dino said.

55

DINO GOT THE CAR STARTED AS STONE got in. “Don’t waste any time,” Stone said.

Dino hung a right out of the carpark and found himself staring at a moving van coming straight at him in his lane. “Shit!” he yelled, whipping to the other side of the road and nearly running into the ditch.

“Sorry, I forgot to warn you about that first right turn.”

“Maybe I don’t want to do this after all,” Dino said.

“Shut up and drive,” Stone said. “Just remember which side of the road you’re supposed to be on.”

“Very weird, driving on the left,” Dino said. “But I’ll get the hang of it.”

“Soon, please.”

They followed the map into the small village and to Morgan’s street. All the houses seemed identical.

“It’s gotta be the one with no front door,” Dino said, whipping into the driveway.

They walked into the house to find Mason and his people pulling the place apart. A man appeared from the kitchen. “I found a safe in the garage,” he said.

Everybody trooped through the kitchen to the garage. There was, indeed, a safe, the door open, empty.

“He put that in for the device,” Mason said. The group started to pull the garage apart.

Stone motioned Dino back into the house.

“What are we looking for?” Dino asked.