STONE GOT UP AS DARKNESS WAS FALLING. He got into some khaki trousers, a shirt, and some moccasins, then went to the kitchenette in the master suite and made himself a cup of tea, with a large dollop of honey. He took the mug down one floor to his study and sat in one of a pair of wing chairs before the window overlooking the garden. The doorbell rang; Stone picked up the phone beside his chair. “Yes?”

“It’s Dino.”

“Come on in; I’m in the study.” He pressed the button on the phone that opened the front door.

Dino walked into the study and threw his coat on the sofa.

“Hi. Want a cup of tea?”

“I want a cup of scotch,” Dino replied.

“Help yourself.”

Dino went to the little wet bar concealed behind a panel and fixed himself a scotch on the rocks, then came and sat down in the chair next to Stone’s. “How about some lights?” Dino said.

“I like it this way at dusk,” Stone replied. “Leave it for a few minutes.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Like somebody worked me over with a baseball bat.”

“You went to the hospital?”

“Yeah; it was Alma. Sorry, I forgot to call and tell you.”

“A citizen found her handbag in a wastebasket a couple of blocks away. There was over a hundred bucks in it, plus her credit cards.”

“Nothing at all taken?”

“Not that we can figure.”

“Doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know.”

“She was such a happy person,” Stone said. “Didn’t matter if I was having a grumpy day; she just took it in stride. Always managed to cheer me up.”

“She was a nice lady,” Dino said. “I always liked her.”

They sat quietly for a while, watching the garden grow dark and the lights come on in the other houses in Turtle Bay, all of which backed up onto the same garden.

“Stone,” Dino said finally.

“Yeah?”

“You see any possible connection between these two killings?”

“I thought about that; the only connection is me.”

“I thought about that, too,” Dino said. “Think for a minute: Is there somebody out there who hates you enough to want to kill people you know?”

“I thought about that, too; couldn’t think of anybody.”

“Neither could I.”

“They can’t be connected,” Stone said. “It’s just an awful coincidence.”

“I think you’re right; I just had to explore the other possibility.”

“I know.”

“When you’re a cop, or when you’ve been a cop, it’s always hanging over your head.”

“What is?”

Dino sighed. “The other possibility. The idea that somebody you’ve busted and sent up will come back to haunt you, to get even. I think that, after getting killed in the line of duty, it’s every cop’s worst fear.”

“I never thought about it until this minute.”