Double Jeopardy

30

They were at dinner, and Stone and his friends couldn’t get enough of Carly.

“Carly,” Viv said gingerly, “are you on the spectrum?”

“Yeah, you noticed?”

“Well, there is the blunt speech.”

“I have other quirks, too, like math.”

“You’re good at it?”

“I’m a prodigy,” Carly replied. “Some of it in odd ways, like this afternoon at the twins’ house.”

“What was mathematical about that?” Primmy asked.

“The area. The square footage.”

“That didn’t come up,” Stone said.

“It did with me. I could tell immediately that the house was 4,871 square feet in area.”

“And how did you calculate that?” Stone asked.

“It wasn’t a calculation,” Carly replied. “It was just something I immediately knew at a glance.”

“So, if we had the house plans and measured them, the area would be about that?”

“Not ‘about that.’ That,” Carly said. “It’s 4,871 square feet.”

“How about this house?” Stone asked.

“It’s 5,410 square feet,” Carly said. “Not including the outbuildings. You’ve got another 2,200 square feet out there.”

“To the best of my recollection,” Stone said, “that is correct.”

Primmy looked at her, askance. “You haven’t been running around loose with a tape measure, have you?”

Carly laughed. “No, I haven’t. I’m good at reciting peoples’ heights and weights, too. I could make a fortune hustling at a carnival.”

“Yet another career path open to you,” Primmy muttered.

“Tell me, Carly,” Stone said. “Why didn’t you sense the presence of the twins when they came upon you and Tim by the lake?”

“Couple of things: I didn’t have any interest in them beyond the class. And at that moment, Tim had been going down on me the previous twenty-nine minutes. I wouldn’t have noticed a Mack truck approaching.”

“What a good answer!” Primmy said. “Save that one for the courtroom!”

“Twenty-nine minutes?” Dino asked. “That’s impressive.”

“Tim was young and strong and incredibly fit,” Carly replied, by way of explanation.

“I’ll say,” Viv commented.

“He had excellent stamina,” Carly said. “But not much in the way of skills.”

“Nobody’s ever going to be able to say that of Dino,” Viv said.

“Nor, I suspect, of Stone,” Carly said with a giggle.

“In a minute, she’s going to start divining dimensions of genitalia,” Primmy said.

“I could,” Carly replied, “and more.”

“What an excellent time to change the subject!” Stone cried. “How was the game this afternoon?”

“There was no game this afternoon,” Primmy said.

“Then what did you all do with yourselves?” Stone asked, growing desperate.

“It’s all right, Stone,” Carly said. “I won’t embarrass you all. I know when to stop.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Primmy said.

Eventually, people began to stretch and yawn.

“Where would you like me to sleep?” Carly asked Stone.

“Well, the inside beds are filled. There are two guesthouses, with Lance in one. I don’t think I’d feel good about you being alone in the other one.”

“I’ll be okay. Just loan me a shotgun.”

“I think we’ll just put you on the living room sofa,” Stone said. He got a stack of linens and set them out for her. “There’s a bath with a shower just off the garage. It’s all yours, and there’s a robe hanging on the back of the door. Would you like some very large pajamas?”

“If you’ll loan me a Polo shirt, that will be a good length for me,” she replied.

He went upstairs with Primmy, found a shirt and tossed it down the stairs to Carly, then he went into the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

“Maybe you’d better lock it,” Primmy said.

“Stone?” The call came from downstairs.

“Yes, Carly?”

“Could I borrow that shotgun anyway?”

“I’ll be right back,” Stone said to Primmy. He went downstairs to Dick Stone’s study, opened the weapons locker and loaded a riot gun for her, then took it into the living room.

“Do you know how to use a shotgun?” he asked.

“Not one like that.”

He showed her how to load it, pump it, and the safety.

“If you hear a beeping noise in the night, it means someone is on the property. We heard that the other night. It turned out to be a bear. If you think it’s a bear, don’t go outside, call me. If it’s a continuous noise, the intruder is in the house, or trying to get in.”

“Got it.” She yawned. “You’d better get upstairs,” she said. “Primmy is waiting to show you that experience is better than youth.”

Stone fled up the stairs. As it turned out, Carly was right.