Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 12

back up there today, before the merry villagers torch my house and slay my cattle.”
    â€œWhat?”
    Stone explained as best he could what he didn’t understand himself. “Can you be ready to go at, say, one o’clock?”
    â€œI’m sure I can. I’ll talk to Lance.”
    â€œPick you up at one?”
    â€œI’ll come to your house.”
    â€œOkay, bye.” Stone hung up and called Dino.
    â€œI’ve got to go back to Maine this afternoon.” He explained the situation. “You want to go?”
    â€œCan’t do it; a couple of big cases landed on my desk while I was gone, and I have to deal with them. Maybe later.”
    â€œGo back to sleep.” Stone hung up and struggled out of bed.
    Â 
    THE MIRAGE TOUCHED down on the Islesboro airfield at 3:30 that afternoon, and he was surprised to find not a single airplane parked on the ramp. When he had departed the day before, there had been at least half a dozen there.
    Seth Hotchkiss met them in the station wagon. “Glad you’re back,” he said, and that was all he said.
    The drive through Dark Harbor was a little spooky; no cars were on the street or parked in front of the shop. He and Holly parked, went inside and found Jimmy Hotchkiss at his desk in the back office. He was wearing a gun on his belt.
    â€œHi, Jimmy,” Stone said.
    â€œHello, Stone. I thought you’d left the island.”
    â€œI just flew Dino down to the city and brought back another friend.” He introduced Holly.
    Jimmy stood up and shook her hand. “I’m glad you’re back, Stone,” he said. “You know about the meeting this afternoon?”
    â€œYes. Ed Rawls called me.”
    â€œI think you should be there.”
    â€œI will be. Where is everybody? The village is deserted, and there are no airplanes at the airport.”
    â€œA lot of folks ended their summer yesterday,” Jimmy said. “We’ve got a couple of state cops due in this afternoon. I found them a rental, so they’re going to stay on the island for the rest of the summer. They’ll be at the meeting.”
    â€œSee you there,” Stone said, and left.
    Â 
    SETH PUT STONE’S BAGS in the master bedroom and Holly’s in Esme’s room; Stone didn’t correct him. The phone rang.
    Stone picked it up. “Hello?”
    â€œIt’s Lance. Put Holly on an extension.”
    Stone paged Holly, and she picked up. “Okay, we’re both here.”
    â€œI finally got an answer from Langley about the inquiry Don Brown made right before his death.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œHe wanted to know if Caleb Stone’s twin sons, Eben and Enos, had criminal records.”
    â€œDid he say why he wanted to know?”
    â€œNo. He just asked that they be checked. He stayed on the phone while they ran the search.”
    â€œWhat did they come up with?”
    â€œZip. They checked in both Boston and in New Haven, since the twins are at Yale. They’re clean. Even the campus police didn’t have a bad word to say about them. They’re apparently upright lads.”
    â€œOne more dead end, then?”
    â€œLooks that way.”
    â€œThanks, Lance.”
    â€œHave you heard anything else since you got back?”
    â€œA bunch of people have packed up and left for the summer; a bunch of others have bought guns.”
    â€œSwell.”
    â€œThere’s a town meeting at five o’clock, and the state cops are supposed to be there. Maybe they’ll have something new.”
    â€œGood luck,” Lance said, then hung up.

33
    S TONE WALKED OVER to the yacht club, passing a group of children playing in the parking lot watched over by two women. Nobody was taking any chances.
    Inside, people were gathered in little groups, talking quietly but earnestly. Stone shook the hands of a few people he’d met before. He waved at Caleb Stone, sitting at a table with his twin sons. A moment later, Sergeant Young of the state police and another uniformed officer walked into the club, and the commodore rapped on a table with a beer bottle for quiet.
    â€œGood afternoon,” he said. “Sergeant Young from the state police is here and would like to speak to us.” The commodore stepped aside, and Young replaced him.
    â€œHey, everybody,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of you, but I’d like to introduce my colleague, Corporal Tom Best. Tom and I are