Double Jeopardy

13

Stone and Dino got back in the MG. “Let’s go see Ed Rawls,” Stone said.

“And get shot for our trouble?”

Stone pulled over, stopped, and phoned Rawls.

“Speak.”

“It’s Stone. Dino and I are on the island, headed your way, with news.”

“I’ll buy you a drink, if you know something I don’t know,” Rawls said, then hung up.

The giant log that was Rawls’s outer gate rolled away as they approached, then closed behind them. The inner gate, down by the house, opened, too. The view was of Penobscot Bay, and Rawls had a sturdy dock and boathouse, too.

Ed emerged as they pulled up to the porch. “Friend or foe?” he shouted.

“That depends on how good the booze is,” Dino shouted back.

They were escorted into the living room, where Sally, an Englishwoman of Stone’s acquaintance who had become Ed’s live-in companion, was already pouring drinks.

Ed showed them to comfortable chairs. “Tell me something I don’t know,” he said to them.

“The Stone twins arrived on the island yesterday, house hunting. Looks like they’re going to buy that old place down on the point.”

Ed smote his forehead. “Sally, double up on those drinks.” He sat down, while Sally poured. “How did you know that before I did?”

“I got to Billy Hotchkiss first.”

“And I thought he was saving those tidbits for me.”

“That’s what everybody on the island thinks,” Stone replied.

“I think they’re up to no good,” Ed said.

“Everybody knows that, too, we just don’t know what.”

“Should I just kill them now and save us all the anxiety?”

“That’s an outstanding idea,” Stone said, “but I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.”

“Yeah, I heard about all that boxing and Japanese sticks and all. You think they got smarter, too?”

“I think they were always smart.”

“Lance says...” Rawls paused. He was retired CIA. Once he had had a little band of Agency retirees up here, who called themselves “the Old Farts.” Ed was the last of them.

“I’d really like to know what Lance says today,” Stone said. “I know what he thought yesterday.”

“He says we’re going to have to wait for them to make the first move.”

“No hurrying things along, huh?”

“That’s about the size of it.”

“How do we provoke them?” Stone asked.

“Walk around without a weapon,” Rawls said.

“You think?”

“That ought to do it. Or find some other way to look vulnerable.”

“Without actually being vulnerable, you mean?”

“Preferably.”

“How do you do that?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet.”

“You know about Henry Lee and Grace?”

“The Jacksons? I knew them thirty years ago. They were the golden kids of operations. What about them?”

“Jesus, Ed, you’re not keeping up.”

“Enlighten me.”

“You know I bought the Stone house out from under the twins?”

“That, I know.”

“Using a Delaware corporation for cover?”

“Yep.”

“Well, Billy is putting the word out that Henry Lee and Grace are the board of directors and only stockholders. They’re arriving tomorrow to take possession, and Tracey is making miracles over there as we speak.”

“Do they know about the Stone twins’ interest in the place?”

“They do, and they’re coming armed.”

“I would expect no less of them. Do you think the twins will go after them?”

“It’s been thought that they might. If they don’t make a move, we will let it be known that I’m the guy behind the Jacksons.”

“Well, if the scent of your blood isn’t enough to move the boys off square one, I don’t know what is,” Rawls said.

“One thing we have on our side is that the twins have a lot more to lose than they used to. In fact, they seem to have just about everything they want in the world, except that house.”

“Have they got a boat?” Rawls asked.

“I don’t know. Why do you ask?”

“A boating accident is always good.”

“Let’s hope they get a boat,” Stone said.

“Let’s hope they get a gasoline-powered one. I mean, if you’re looking for a tragic accident to happen, gasoline is always a good place to start.”

“Your view is so reasonable, it’s hard to argue with it,” Stone said.

“If you’re in the mood to employ gasoline, why not just commit a little arson on their house, as soon as they buy it?” Rawls asked.

“Because renovating it will keep them busy for a while. When it’s all done and ready to move into, then’s the time to torch it.”

“Not after they move in and are fast asleep?”

“That’s an inviting thought.”

Dino broke in. “You forget that these kids have stayed alive and well in prison for several years. They must be good at it.”

“I can tell you from experience,” said Rawls, who had done some time in his past, “that one gains wariness as a normal state of mind.”

“And they can take turns sleeping,” Dino pointed out.

“This is a problem we don’t have to solve before we finish this drink,” Stone said.

“You have a point,” Rawls agreed.

“Since we’re in a murderous mood,” Stone said, “why don’t we just let the idea roll around our occipital lobes. After it’s simmered there for a while, it might just, willy-nilly, develop into a plan that we could act on.”

“The best thing about your plan,” Dino said, “is that we don’t have to do anything until later.” He tossed off the remainder of his drink, and Sally approached with the Scotch.

“Just leave the bottle, darlin’,” Rawls said, reaching for it.