“Now wait a minute,” Paul objected.
“For purposes of this excursion. You’ll have plenty of time to deny it later.”
Olshan burst out laughing.
“One of them laughs,” Billy said, deadpan. “Here we go,” Billy said as they approached the new property of the Stone twins. “Just pull into the driveway.”
“We don’t want to be obvious,” Olshan said.
“Then act like a buyer.”
Carly pulled into the drive and stopped short of the yard, where various pieces of equipment were moving around.
Billy got out of the car and stood in the group, pointing here and there. “Camden is up that way. Lincolnville, where you got the ferry, is down that way. And a couple of doors away lives a guy named Ed Rawls, who’s ex-CIA, with his girlfriend. If you approach his property in an untoward way, he’ll shoot you where you stand. Remember that.”
Billy turned back and pointed at the house. “They’ve skinned it back to the bones and are starting over. The electrical and plumbing work is nearly finished, and the plastering is underway. The twins live in a big room on that corner of the house. They brought in enough furniture to make themselves comfortable. Any questions?”
“Can we take photographs?” Agent Paul asked.
“Sure, as long as your gear isn’t professional-looking.”
“How about with an iPhone?”
“Fire away.”
Paul took a dozen photos, and they got back into the car.
“All right,” Billy said. “Now we get a tour of the island.”
“I’m not sure if we have time before the ferry,” Olshan said.
“Unless you want your cover blown, act like a normal person,” Billy said, pointing at an upcoming house. “Primmy Primrose lives right there.”
“We met her at the Barrington house,” Olshan said.
“Yeah, she’s afraid to stay at home with the twins hovering.”
“Everyone is being very respectful of the twins,” Olshan remarked.
“Shit-scared would be a better description,” Billy said. “Those boys were pulling the heads off small, furry creatures when they were six. Everybody has been scared of them ever since. I’ve never seen the island relax the way it did the day they started their prison term. Now, they’re all tense again.”
“I’m negatively impressed,” Paul said.
“Me, too,” Olshan commented. “Make a note, Bob, we go armed at all times while we’re here.”
“Don’t think you’re safe off the island,” Billy said, “if they take an interest in you.”
“Let’s see that they don’t,” Olshan said.
“Too late,” Carly replied. “All you can do now is just try to look harmless.”
34
They drove past Primmy’s house, then on past the Jacksons’ place.
“Hang on,” Billy said. “Pull over here.”
Carly did so. “Something wrong?”
“I just want to take a look at something.” He walked back down the road a few paces and peered over the hedge at the Jacksons’ house, then he went back to the car and got in.
“Anything wrong?” Carly asked.
“Yes.” Billy got out his phone and called Stone.
“Hello?”
“It’s Billy. I’m out with Carly and the two FBI geeks, and we just passed the Jacksons’ place. Their car is sitting out front, and the driver’s door is open. Has been for two days, now.”
“Wait for me. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“What does the car door being open mean?” Olshan asked Billy.
“It means they haven’t closed it. Do you leave your car outside with the door open?”
“No, now that you mention it.”
“We’ll wait for Stone and Dino before we go in.”
“Do they have some expertise that we don’t?”
“Probably. They were both homicide detectives with the NYPD. Dino is the police commissioner down there.”
“I should have recognized the name,” Olshan said.
Stone’s MG appeared in Carly’s rearview mirror. Both cars pulled into the Jacksons’ driveway. Everybody, including Lance Cabot in the back seat, got out and followed them.
“Pretty place,” Olshan said.
“It used to belong to the Stone family. The twins murdered their parents here,” Billy said.
“Spooky vibes,” Carly said. “You guys go first.”
Stone found the front door ajar, and he pushed it open. “Henry Lee? Grace?”
“You won’t get an answer,” Carly said.
The group walked into the living room and found Henry Lee and Grace Jackson, posed in chairs at either end of the sofa, each with a pistol in hand and a neat hole in their foreheads.
“Jesus God,” Lance said. “How could this happen to these people?”
“Who are they?” Olshan asked.
“They’re both CIA officers,” Stone said. “They work for Lance, and they’re here to help us with the Stone twins case.”
“Did the twins have something against them?”
“They bought the Stone family house before the twins could bid,” Billy said. “I knew the boys were pissed, but I never expected anything like this.”
“All right,” Stone said, getting out his phone. “Everybody back out of here, just the way you came in, and wait on the front porch.”
“You need some help working the scene?” Olshan said.
“We’re not going to work the scene,” Stone said. “We’ll leave that to the Maine State Police. Maybe it will get them interested in the twins again.” He made the call to Sergeant Tom Young. “Tom? Stone Barrington. We’ve got a double homicide for you, staged to look like a murder-suicide or a mutual suicide. At the Stone family house. Dino and I and two FBI agents will wait for you on the front porch. Take the helicopter and bring everybody.” He hung up.
To Stone’s surprise, Lance took a silver flask from inside his jacket and took a swig from it. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m used to reading about my people dying, but I’ve never witnessed the aftermath.” He looked shaken.
It took just under an hour before Tom’s crime scene team arrived on the front lawn; they didn’t bother with the airfield. As the chopper wound down, the doors opened and people carrying equipment and cases spilled out and followed Sergeant Young into the house. Stone and his party stayed on the porch, leaving the others to it.
“Shouldn’t you FBI types be taking an interest in this?” Carly asked Olshan. “After all, CIA officers are federal employees.”
“There are enough people in the house,” Olshan said. “We’ll leave them to make their conclusion, then we’ll get copies of their reports. It will go faster that way.”
Eventually, Tom Young came out of the house and collapsed into a porch chair. “Well,” he said, “I don’t buy either of the suicide stories. As far as we’re concerned, it’s a straight-up double homicide.”
“I concur,” Dino said, and everybody else nodded. “And your suspects are right across the road.”
“No, they’re not,” Billy said. “The twins left on a morning ferry. I don’t know where they went.”
Stone checked his watch. “And by this time, all the workmen have left the site. You won’t have anybody to interview until tomorrow, Tom.”
“A day late, and a dollar short,” Tom muttered.
“Not your fault,” Stone replied. “We came upon them by accident. Billy noticed an open car door.”
“It’s the little things that matter,” Tom said.
“You’d better check your people into the inn,” Stone said. “Billy, have they got rooms?”
“They’ve got four,” Billy replied. “Two are booked through the weekend. Shall I book you in?”
“They’ll give you dinner there, too,” Stone said.
Tom nodded. “Thanks.”