Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 12

boat.” Stone switched on the GPS plotter and let it warm up. A few seconds later, an image of Islesboro appeared on the screen.
    â€œHey, that’s neat,” Dino said.
    Stone played with the image. “Yes, and you can zoom in and out, too.” He dug out a paper chart from below and studied it.
    â€œCan we get moving?” Dino asked.
    â€œI just want to take a look at possible hazards,” Stone said. “Maine is a rocky place.”
    â€œGood idea.”
    Fifteen minutes later they were under way. They passed the yacht club, which seemed mostly deserted.
    â€œWhere is everybody?” Dino asked.
    â€œA lot of people have left the island,” Stone said, “and Sergeant Young says a lot of those still here are staying home until this thing is resolved.” Stone was staying close to shore, looking intently at the water.
    â€œYou looking for rocks?” Dino asked.
    â€œNo,” Stone replied.
    â€œOh.”
    Stone continued to watch the water as they made their way toward the southern tip of the island. He hoped to God he didn’t find what he was looking for. He zipped up his jacket against the breeze.
    â€œBesides that, what should we be looking for?” Dino asked.
    â€œLook for places ashore where she might be hidden,” Stone replied.
    â€œShe could be hidden in any house on the island,” Dino said.
    â€œMost of the houses are occupied by families who are spending the summer here. Look for other outbuildings—barns, sheds, that sort of thing. If we find something that looks promising, we can always get Young and his people to go search it.”
    Dino looked intently toward the shore. “We’re grasping at straws,” he said.
    â€œI know,” Stone replied. “But I don’t know what else to do.”

48
    S TONE AND DINO ARRIVED back at the dock, tired and cold, a little after seven o’clock. They put out bumpers and made the picnic boat fast, then went into the house. Everybody was sitting around looking disconsolate.
    Lance got up and went into the little office, silently waving Stone to follow him.
    â€œWhat’s up?” Stone asked.
    â€œI’ve heard from our ex–Boston cop,” he said. “He found nothing new in Caleb Stone’s background, but something cropped up on his two sons, Eben and Enos. You remember, they had a sealed juvenile record.”
    â€œYes. Was he able to crack it?”
    â€œHe was. The twins were arrested when they were thirteen for torturing and killing small animals, neighborhood pets.”
    â€œThat’s a marker for later criminal behavior,” Stone said.
    â€œYes, but there hasn’t been any further criminal behavior. The boys got a year’s probation, the family moved to another neighborhood and it was over.”
    â€œAnything else?”
    â€œYes. You asked me to check with the Yale campus police and the New Haven force.”
    â€œRight. Anything turn up?”
    â€œSame as before with the Yale cops: They’ve had no problems with the twins. Neither has New Haven.”
    â€œBut?”
    â€œBut, you were on the money about something else: There are four unsolved cases of kidnapping, rape and murder of women in New Haven over the past two years, none of them students. Three were townies, girls who hung out in local bars, and one was a young housewife.”
    â€œIs there anything to connect them to the twins?”
    â€œNo, there’s nothing to connect them to anybody, so calling the twins suspects is a real stretch. You can’t accuse them of four murders because they harmed some animals when they were kids.”
    Stone picked up the phone and called Sergeant Young’s cell phone.
    â€œThis is Young.”
    â€œIt’s Stone Barrington. You have a list, don’t you, of everybody who’s present on the island and those who have left?”
    â€œYes, I do.”
    â€œWill you look up Caleb Stone’s family? I’d like to know where they all are.”
    â€œJust a minute.”
    Stone could hear papers being shuffled.
    Young came back on the line. “Caleb Stone and his wife are at home on the island; his twin sons left five days ago to participate in a yacht race in Newport, Rhode Island.”
    â€œHas the location of the twins been confirmed?”
    â€œWe confirmed that they took the ferry, but nothing after that.”
    â€œWill you see if you can confirm their location for