Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 12

suspect. Just let us get this done.”
    â€œAll right,” Rhinehart said, “look wherever you want. I was just about to open the shop.” He handed Stone a key. “Let yourself in while I tell my wife what’s going on.”
    â€œStone,” the sergeant said. “You take one man and go through the workshop. We’ll take a look in the house.”
    Stone headed for the shop followed by his fellow searcher. He unlocked the door and walked in. “Here’s how we do this,” he said to the man. “You take that side of the shop. Look in every room, every closet, every cupboard, every box—anyplace that’s big enough to hide a human being. Look particularly for trapdoors that might hide a stairway to a basement. Don’t miss anything.”
    The man nodded and started his work. Stone went into Rhinehart’s office and, trying not to make a mess, searched every corner of it, pulling back a rug to expose the floorboards. Satisfied there was nothing there, he opened another door and found a storeroom full of tools and paint cans. He moved everything that might conceal another door or a trapdoor. Nothing. He moved on to the paint shop and was joined by the other man.
    â€œI didn’t find nothing, and I looked hard,” the man said.
    Stone nodded, and the two of them continued their work. Finally, satisfied that no one was hidden in the workshop, they walked to the house. The front door stood open.
    â€œHello,” Stone called. He opened the screen door and walked in. Nobody was in sight. He walked through the nicely furnished living room to the kitchen, where he found Mrs. Rhinehart feeding her baby. “Good morning,” he said. “I hope we’re not causing you too much trouble.”
    â€œIt’s all right,” she replied. “I know you’ve got to find that lady who’s missing.”
    â€œWhere is Sergeant Young?”
    â€œI think they’re all in the cellar,” she said, pointing toward a hallway.
    Stone walked into the hall and found an open door, with stairs leading down. He walked downstairs and found Sergeant Young and his other searcher standing, talking to Rhinehart.
    â€œAnything in the workshop?” Young asked.
    â€œNothing.”
    Rhinehart turned to Stone. “This is because of my record, isn’t it?”
    â€œHal, they’re searching every house and outbuilding on the island,” Stone replied. “Every structure has to be cleared, and the woods and beaches, too. It was just your turn.”
    Rhinehart nodded.
    â€œI think we’re about done here,” Young said.
    They all trooped up the stairs. Young thanked Rhinehart and apologized for the intrusion, and the four men got into Young’s cruiser.
    â€œI guess that clears Rhinehart,” Young said.
    â€œI guess so,” Stone replied.
    â€œI’m taking you home so you can get some rest.”
    â€œAll right.”
    Young dropped Stone at the top of the driveway. “I’ll call you the minute we find anything.”
    Stone noted that he didn’t say “Holly” or “her.” She had already become an object.

43
    S TONE WENT BACK TO THE HOUSE, and Mabel brought a sandwich on a tray to the study.
    â€œYou look terrible,” she said. “Eat; you need your strength.”
    â€œMabel, when was the last time you saw Holly?”
    â€œWell, after you left for your lunch appointment, she had a sandwich. Then she did some work in that little room of Dick’s while I was vacuuming. Then she changed into her running clothes and went out. I saw her stretching when I took out the garbage.”
    â€œWhat time was that?”
    â€œPretty close to one o’clock,” she replied.
    Stone looked at his watch. Holly had been missing for twenty-four hours. After that long, the chance of recovering her alive fell off sharply as the hours passed. And after forty-eight hours, she was very likely dead.
    There were exceptions, he knew, and that was what kept the hopes of friends and relatives of missing people alive. There was that girl out in Utah who was kidnapped and held for more than a year. But that rarely happened.
    Thinking of friends and family, he suddenly had an awful thought: He had not called Hamilton Barker, Holly’s retired master-sergeant father. He opened his address book and picked up the