Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 12

our group. Why don’t I ask him to use his contacts at the Boston PD to reinvestigate the brother’s alibi? Maybe Caleb is smarter than we’re giving him credit for.”
    â€œGood idea,” Stone said.
    â€œAll right,” Lance said, “but tell Bob not to make a career of it.”
    â€œAre you going back up to Maine, Stone?” Holly asked.
    â€œNot until I get more to go on,” Stone replied. “I’ve got to make a living, after all.”
    â€œIf you go back, maybe Lance will give me some time to go with you. I’d really like to get my teeth into this one.”
    â€œMaybe,” Lance said. “You want to use vacation time?”
    â€œRemember, the Agency has a stake in this.”
    â€œOh, all right. Get your desk cleared.”
    â€œI’m happy to have all the help I can get,” Stone said, thinking he’d be happy to have Holly up there, in any case.

32
    S TONE WAS AWAKENED by the telephone too early. He glanced at the bedside clock: 6:30 A . M . He picked up the phone. “Hello?” he croaked.
    â€œIt’s Ed Rawls.”
    â€œAnd good morning to you, Ed.”
    â€œDid I wake you?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œSorry. You better get back up here, Stone.”
    â€œWhat’s going on?”
    â€œAll hell has broken loose, that’s what.”
    Stone pressed the button that raised the head of his bed and rearranged himself. “What do you mean?”
    â€œThe people on the island, both locals and summer folks, are up in arms. They had a meeting at the yacht club yesterday.”
    â€œAnd what happened at the meeting?”
    â€œMostly they just aired their complaints.”
    â€œAbout what?”
    â€œLack of police protection, mostly. They’ve sent the state police a request to have officers stationed on the island round the clock until this situation is resolved.”
    â€œSounds like a good idea.”
    â€œWhat’s not a good idea is they’re arming themselves. Sergeant Young told me they’ve had something like a couple of dozen applications for carry licenses, the most ever in one day from one town, and this is a village. Several carloads of people went over to Ellsworth yesterday afternoon.”
    â€œIs there something ominous about Ellsworth?”
    â€œNo, it’s just that the only gun shop in this part of the state is in Ellsworth, a place called Phil’s. There are more guns than people in Maine, but for some reason, not very many gun shops.”
    â€œI’m trying to find this alarming, Ed. Are you afraid they’re going to start shooting each other?”
    â€œSomething like that. Everybody’s really on edge. They were all shocked by the killings of Dick and his family and Don, but Janey’s murder has really got them spooked. A bunch of people have just packed up and left.”
    â€œI can understand that, Ed, but why does that make it important for me to get back up there right away?”
    Rawls cleared his throat. “Well, your name came up at the meeting.”
    â€œIn what regard?”
    â€œSomebody, I forget who, asked a question that implied that you might have had something to do with Dick’s murder, since you inherited his house. The guy was shouted down, but the thing is, the idea is in the air now.”
    â€œOh, swell. Did somebody mention that I was in New York at the time of the murders and that I didn’t even know about Dick’s murder until the day after?”
    â€œI said you weren’t on the island that night, but that just started a discussion about how anybody could get onto the island in a boat. I think you need to be seen up here dealing with this. There’s another meeting at five o’clock this afternoon, and I think you ought to be here for it.”
    Stone clicked on the TV and went to the Weather Channel just in time to see the national radar displayed. “All right. I’ll be there,” he said. “But I don’t know what I can do to placate them at this point.”
    â€œJust being there will let them know that you’re not afraid to show your face. That’ll mean something.”
    â€œAll right, Ed. I’ll see you this afternoon.” Stone hung up and called Holly.
    â€œHello?” She didn’t sound sleepy.
    â€œGood morning. It’s Stone.”
    â€œGood morning.”
    â€œI just got a call from Ed Rawls. He thinks I’d better get