Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 12

four cars and a staff apartment and a guesthouse to one side of the main house.
    Seth drove over to the guesthouse and unloaded Lance’s and Dino’s luggage. “We’ll put the fellers here,” he said, “and the lady over in the main house. That okay?”
    Holly nodded. “Fine with me, Seth.” She glanced at Stone, who pretended not to notice.
    Seth showed Lance and Dino to neat little rooms, divided by a sitting room with a TV and a fireplace. “Mabel will have some lunch for you in half an hour,” he said.
    They got back into the wagon and drove the few yards to the main house. Seth carried the luggage upstairs and put Stone in what was, obviously, the master and Holly into an adjoining room, which seemed meant for guests. “Lunch is in half an hour in the kitchen,” Seth said. “I’ll leave you to get settled.”
    â€œI’ll come down with you, Seth,” Stone said.
    â€œYou want to see where it happened?” Seth asked.
    â€œDidn’t it happen in the master bedroom?”
    Seth shook his head and beckoned. He led Stone down the hall to a large, pretty bedroom, full of stuffed animals and the detritus of childhood and the teen years. Everything was very neat. “For some reason, Barbara was in bed with Esme. They were both sleeping on their right sides, with their backs to the door. Somebody put two bullets in each of ’em’s head. It was like they never woke up, never moved.” He turned and led the way downstairs. They walked through a large living room with broad views of the harbor and into a smaller study.
    Seth walked over to the desk. “Dick was sitting here, and he had this tiny, little gun in his left hand, and it had what looked like a silencer on it, like you see on TV. There was a hole in his left temple, and it was all black around it. The bullet went all the way through and ended up here.” He tapped a hole in the leather desktop. “There was a lot of blood and brains.”
    â€œWho found them?”
    â€œMabel did, when she came down to fix breakfast. It was about six-thirty in the morning. She screamed real loud, and I was down quick.”
    â€œDid either of you touch anything?”
    â€œNo, sir. I’ve seen me enough Law & Order s not to do that.”
    â€œWhy is there no crime-scene tape around the house, and why was Mabel allowed to clean up?”
    â€œThe trooper told us we could do that after they took the bodies away,” Seth said. “By the way, he’s coming over, getting the two o’clock ferry, so he’ll be here by two-thirty.”
    â€œDid they take any photographs?”
    â€œI’m not sure, but I did.” Seth reached into a pocket and handed Stone a small electronic camera. “It was Dick’s, just a point-and-shoot thing, then you put the pictures in the computer. I didn’t know how to do that.”
    Stone put the camera into his pocket. “I’m sorry you and Mabel had to see that,” he said.
    â€œSo’m I,” Seth replied.
    â€œSeth, Dick left you and Mabel some money, half a million dollars, and he left another half a million in a trust for your kids’ education. How old are they now?”
    â€œThey’re eighteen and nineteen; boy’s younger. They’re at Bowdoin, freshman and sophomore. Dick had been paying for their college. I’m relieved to hear that’s going to keep on.”
    â€œThat will continue, and they can go to graduate school, if they want to. When the older one is twenty-five, what’s left in the trust will be divided between them.”
    â€œNice little nest egg for them, then.” Seth began to cry.
    Stone patted him on the back, but didn’t say anything.
    â€œLunch in half an hour, in the kitchen,” Seth said. He handed Stone a bunch of keys. “These were Dick’s.” Then he hurried out of the room.
    Stone walked around the study, looked at the view of the harbor, looked at the book titles. A remarkable number of them were in his own library. There were silver-framed photographs of Barbara and Esme on his desk. He suddenly felt closer to Dick, remembered his good cheer, his sense of humor, his innate kindness.
    â€œWho are you?” a voice said.
    Stone turned to find Caleb Stone standing behind him. He had put on some weight but was still recognizably the twenty-year-old Stone had known, with the same broken nose. “Hello,