Stone Barrington 06-11

regarded the decidedly mixed group of men and women who stood around him, dressed—or half-dressed—in what each of them understood to be evening clothes.
    Behind him, propped on the marble mantel, was a crude drawing of the house and grounds that he had done himself with a Magic Marker in black, with other colors for various personnel. He felt quite proud of it, in fact.
    “Okay, everybody listen up,” he said. “You see here an outline of the place—house, gardens and yacht. There are sixteen small circles, in red, denoting employees of Rightguard Security. Jeff Collender will assign each of you to stations, and, once we’ve swept the grounds, you are to maintain those stations. Pick up a drink from the bar so you’ll look at least a little like a guest, and the drink will be iced water, soda, tonic or soft drink—no booze. Eight of you, four men and four women, will roam the house and grounds as couples. Jeff will assign you areas to patrol.
    “The green circles denote Palm Beach police officers—two at the curb to control traffic, one at the door to display a little authority to anyone contemplating gate-crashing, especially unauthorized members of the press, and to handle the metal detector. Authorized press people will be wearing photo IDs on strings around their necks. If you see anybody taking notes or photographs who is not wearing this tag, firmly request the ID card and, if it is not immediately forthcoming, escort him or her from the premises. If possible, take such people either through the center hall of the house or around the sides to the street. If they become obstreperous, turn them over to a police officer on the street, who will arrest them for trespassing and place them in a police van.”
    He pointed to his colleagues as he listed their names. “Chief Dan Griggs, Jeff Collender of Rightguard, Lieutenant Bacchetti and I will be known as the ‘management group’ and will be roaming the house and grounds. Everybody has been issued a lapel pin—green for Rightguard Security, red for Palm Beach Police, black for management group. You may also see some people with yellow lapel pins, but they are separate. Each of you has been issued a two-way radio, tuned to channel six. You understand that the use of radios is to be confined to sightings of Paul Manning. There is to be no unnecessary chat on the radios; there are too many of us for that. Paul Manning is six-feet-three or -four, two hundred pounds, dark hair going gray, moderately long. We have no photographs or sketches of him. If you spot a man answering that description, say the word ‘bogey’ into your microphone and give the specific location. If you see a weapon, either in his hand or on his person, say, ‘gun,’ into the radio. Keep it as short as you can while conveying the information you need to. After that, speak into the radio only if the subject changes position or if you are asked questions by one of the management group.
    “Each of you has two sheets of paper with the entire guest list printed on them. If you have reason to suspect that a visitor is uninvited, politely request his or her name and refer to the list. If the name does not appear, ask the person to accompany you to the front door by one of the routes already mentioned, and turn him or her over to a police officer, who will determine if that person is, in fact, invited. It is possible that some invited guest may bring along another, uninvited guest. If an invited guest intercedes on behalf of such a person, do nothing, but make a note of the name on your guest list. Apologize for any inconvenience.
    “Everybody insert the radio earplug for a sound check.” He waited while they did this. “This is a test,” he said into the microphone concealed in his left hand. “Anybody didn’t hear that, raise your hand.” No hands went up. Thank God the equipment was working.
    “Now, let me tell you the policy on firearms. You are all carrying concealed weapons. You are not to take out that weapon, unless you see a weapon in the hand of someone not in this room now, such as the subject, Paul Manning. If you do see a weapon and produce your own weapon, you are not to fire unless you feel sure that the subject is threatening to fire. You are not to fire unless you have a clear shot. You are not to shoot any guest. I hope that is perfectly clear.” That got a laugh. “You might remember that if you fire a weapon this evening, you are going to have to answer to