Stuart Woods_Stone Barrington 14

airplane’s British registration number.
    â€œAnything else I can do for you?”
    â€œNo, I don’t think so.”
    â€œYou a pilot?”
    â€œYes, I am.”
    â€œWhat do you fly?”
    â€œI’ve had a Piper Malibu Mirage for a few years, and I’m having it converted to a turboprop right now.”
    â€œSounds hot.”
    â€œIt will be.”
    â€œWell, I’ve got to get back to work; gotta have that 150 finished today.”
    â€œThanks very much for the information,” Stone said. “I’d appreciate it if you’d keep our conversation to yourself.”
    â€œSure, I will. Say hello to Thomas.”
    â€œI will, Don. Good day.”
    Stone got back into his car and headed back to the inn. Holly could get Lance to check out the registration number of the 140.

19
    A s Stone drove back toward the inn he recognized the turning to Sir Leslie Hewitt’s cottage, and he swung left into the road. As long as he was out this way, he might as well stop in. He drove up a long hill then turned into the drive, marked by a mailbox, then parked the car in the gravel turnaround and knocked on the door. No answer. He tried again, then he walked around the cottage and let himself through the garden gate. Sir Leslie was a few yards away, kneeling on a gardener’s stool, digging in the soil with a trowel.
    â€œLeslie?”
    The old man turned and peered at him through thick, steel-rimmed eyeglasses. “Stone? Is it Stone?”
    â€œYes, it is.”
    Sir Leslie struggled to his feet and walked toward Stone, taking off his gloves. He was a small, very black man with white curls and a clean-shaven face. They shook hands. “I am so very glad to see you, Stone; I had heard you were on the island, and I had hoped you would come to see me.”
    â€œI couldn’t visit St. Marks without seeing you.”
    â€œWill you have some tea?”
    â€œThank you, yes.”
    Sir Leslie waved him to a table and chairs in the garden and went into the kitchen. He came out shortly with a teapot and a plate of cookies and set them down. “How have you been? What have you been up to? Any interesting cases?”
    â€œI’ve been busy doing a lot of things, but I haven’t spent all that much time in court lately.”
    â€œI’m sorry to hear it; it is your natural habitat.”
    â€œThank you, Leslie; that’s high praise coming from such an eminent barrister. How about you? Any interesting cases?”
    â€œOnly the small stuff. As usual, I specialize in annoying the government in small ways.”
    â€œThat must give you great satisfaction. I hear there have been a lot of changes around here.”
    â€œOh, yes, and it has been fascinating to watch. Winston is in what you Americans call hog heaven; he is enjoying himself immensely, while turning the screws on anyone who gets in his way.”
    â€œI hope you’re staying out of his way.”
    â€œOh, yes, I just peck around the fringes, but I hear a lot of things.”
    â€œThomas told me you are a fount of information.”
    â€œWell, if there were a St. Marks version of the parlor game called ‘Trivial Pursuit,’ I would do very well at it, I think. Are you looking for information, Stone?” Sir Leslie asked.
    â€œI think I’m looking for more of an opinion.”
    Sir Leslie grinned. “I am full of opinions.”
    â€œWell, then, here’s the situation: Some friends and I are staying in one of Thomas’s new cottages, and we came home last night to find that someone had searched the place. We also discovered that all the telephones had listening devices planted in them. Now who would do such a thing? What is your opinion?”
    â€œOh, that’s an easy one,” Sir Leslie said. “Colonel Croft. Colonel Croyden Croft, who is in charge of a department called Internal Investigations—ostensibly under the Home Secretary, but he is a creature of Winston Sutherland.”
    â€œAnd why would he wish to bug the cottage of some tourists?”
    â€œBecause he can, and very likely because Winston wished it. As I recall, you were a tourist the last time you were here, but before you left you had caused Winston a great deal of bother. As much as I enjoyed watching it and being a part of it, I must tell you that I feared more for your safety than I let on at the time.”
    â€œDo you fear for my safety just because I’m