Double Jeopardy

53

When Stone got home he called Billy Hotchkiss.

“Hey, Stone.”

“Billy, do you know if Smith Peterson is on the island right now?”

“No, but I can call him for you.”

“Would you ask him to come and see me at the earliest possible moment?”

“Sure. See you later.” Billy hung up.

Ten minutes later, the phone rang. “Hello?”

“Stone, it’s Smith Peterson.”

“Hi, Smith. Are you on the island?”

“Yes, we’re at the inn. We’re about to go over to the house and measure some things.”

“Could I meet you there? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Sure. We’ll be there in a quarter of an hour. See you then.” He hung up.

Stone was approaching the house when he saw the Petersons pull into the driveway ahead of him. He got out and strolled over to the porch. Coco went inside, and Smith pointed to a chair. “Have a seat.”

Stone sat down. “I see you’ve got a long gun in your car.”

“A Remington deer rifle, thirty-ought six.”

“I don’t know if you’re aware that hunting is prohibited on the island.”

“I do know now, but I didn’t when I was deciding to bring the rifle. I expect I can find somewhere on the mainland that I could bag a buck.”

“I’d recommend a place, if I knew one.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Smith, you and I need to have an intimate chat, one more personal than either of us might be comfortable with.”

Smith’s brow wrinkled. “Okay, what’s on your mind?”

“You are the brother of a former occupant of this home, Grace Jackson, who was murdered here along with her husband.”

Smith did not reply.

“Do you know what Henry Lee Jackson did for a living?”

“He was a civil servant of some sort, I believe.”

“Does your knowledge of him go any further than that? He was, after all, your brother-in-law.”

Smith regarded Stone evenly. “Let’s just say that Henry Lee and I were the closest of friends, as close as brothers, as close as I was to my sister, Grace.”

“Then you’re aware of where in the government they both worked.”

“I am, I... Did you say ‘both worked’?”

“I did.”

“Now that, I did not know. I thought Grace was a housewife.”

“No. Do you know the nature of the work Henry Lee and Grace did?”

“Not specifically. He gave me to understand that it was confidential.”

“Do you know how much money Henry Lee earned?”

“Not exactly.”

“Did you believe him to have the means to pay three and a half million dollars for a house?”

“I believe he had private means beyond a government salary.”

“What reason do you have to believe that?”

“That’s what he told me, when I asked him that question. I wanted to help, if I could, but he told me that would be unnecessary. Please tell me what you’re getting at, Stone, and where you’re getting your information.”

“The Jacksons never owned this house. They were decoys, set up there by a certain government agency as a last job before retirement.”

“I don’t understand.”

Stone handed him his Agency business card. “I’m in a position to get a lot of information about a lot of people,” he said. “You, for instance.”

“What do you know about me?”

“Just about everything,” Stone said. “And what I don’t know, I can pretty accurately guess.”

Smith sat back in his chair and gazed at Stone. “Go ahead, tell me what you want to know, and I’ll help, if I can.”

“I know about your military record and your shooting skills, and I can guess how you want to employ those skills. Do you think you’re up to that?”

“I do. I think that, if you know so much about me, you must know that I shot and killed seventy-one men and three women when I was in the military.”

“I do. Do you consider that you murdered them?”

“Certainly not. I killed them in the line of duty.”

“Do you know the difference between line of duty and murder?”

“Murder is an illegal act, and an immoral one.”

“Very good distinction.”

“Are you a priest or clergyman of some sort?”

“Hardly. I’m an attorney and a former police officer. And I’m here to try and help you understand that murder, in addition to being illegal and immoral, is a very dangerous act — to the murderer. I don’t suppose that during your training, anyone explained that to you.”

“It wasn’t necessary. I knew that I could be killed.”

“But you didn’t fear arrest, trial, conviction, or punishment.”

“Of course not.”

“Those are the things you have to fear now. You have a great deal to lose, not excepting your life.”

“Perhaps you’d better tell me what you believe I intend to do.”

“I believe you’re going to try to murder the Stone twins, and that your motive is revenge for the death of your brother-in-law and closest friend, and your sister.”

“Do you also believe that I intend to be caught?”

“No, but nevertheless you will be. You have been trained as an assassin, but not as a suspect or a fugitive. It took me and my friends only a couple of phone calls and a laptop computer to figure that out. How long do you think it would take the Maine State Police? I have dealt with the local representatives of that body, and they are neither stupid nor without resources.”

“They’ve had every opportunity to catch the Stones, but they haven’t done so. Nor have they been able to keep them in prison, after being sentenced.”

“They did catch and convict the Stones, even if their efforts were later overridden. It helped that their father was close to the governor when they were in college. Is your father close to the governor?”

“My father is dead.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. What do you think he would advise you, if he were still alive?”

Smith looked away for the first time. “That is irrelevant.”

“The way he brought you up is not irrelevant. Did he teach you that, if you committed a crime you would be caught and punished?”

“Of course.”

“Do you think he was lying to you?”

“No.”

“But now, your hatred of your friend’s murderers has been sufficient to cause you to ignore his teaching. Let me tell you, hatred and revenge are very difficult motives to conceal. If I were examining you under oath, it would take me only a couple of minutes to establish your hatred of the twins. Conviction for murder requires motive, means, and opportunity. Also, bad luck helps. You have all of that in abundance.”

“What about ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’?”

“That will be wrapped up in the first three.”

Smith said nothing.

“Are you aware that the twins are extremely dangerous? Isn’t that why you sought to disarm them by offering them the opportunity to buy the house? You may be sure that they saw through that and they know who you are. They likely view you and Coco as replacements for Henry Lee and Grace. It is very unlikely that you would survive an attempt to kill them. Even if you did, it is even less likely that you would remain a free man. Think what that would mean to your wife. Even if she avoids conviction as an accessory, is she supposed to spend the rest of her life visiting you once a week and bringing you cakes with files baked into them?”

A very long pause. “You have a point,” Smith said.

“Thank you. Perhaps it would help to restrain your ardor if I told you that others — as well-trained and proficient as you — are interested in seeing the twins brought to justice.”

“Is that so?” Smith asked earnestly.

Stone nodded. “And they are much more likely to achieve that result without danger to themselves.”

“Who are these people?”

“They are better friends than you know, or need to know.” Stone stood up. “If you want to survive this episode in your life, it’s better that you start now. How did you travel here?”

“A friend in New York has a King Air. His pilot flew us directly to the island.”

“Can you recall the airplane?”

“Yes, if it’s not in use.”

“You should do so now. Do you have any clothing or personal effects at the inn?”

“No, we checked out a little while ago. We had planned to sleep here tonight.”

“Call about the airplane.”

Smith produced a phone and made the call, then hung up. “The airplane is in the air, returning to Teterboro from the Hamptons. They can divert and be here in an hour. I’d better explain things to Coco.”

“You can do that when you reach the airfield,” Stone said. “Let’s not waste any more time here.”

They locked the house and loaded their things, while Stone kept a watchful eye on the twins’ house.

Stone followed them to the airfield and waited with them, watching the perimeter. The King Air was late by ten minutes, but the pilot had no problem with the short field length. Stone helped them load their belongings.

“Listen,” Smith said, “we still want to close on the house. Once all this is cleared up, we can move in.”

“I’ll let you know when it’s safe,” Stone said.

They shook hands, then boarded the airplane. Five minutes later the pilot set the flaps for takeoff, revved the engines to full throttle, then, after a moment, released the brakes. The aircraft used all the runway, then lifted off and turned south.

Stone felt vastly relieved. He drove slowly back to his house and arrived to find Dino and Viv sitting in the living room, reading.

“Where are Primmy and Carly?” he asked.

“They left a few minutes ago,” Viv said.

“Left for where?”

“They didn’t say, but they took bathing suits with them.”

Outside, the skies darkened, and it began to rain. They could hear thunder in the distance, growing closer, and the rain became dense. The lights in the house went out, then came back on a few seconds later, as the generator kicked in.

“Not a good day for a swim,” Stone said.

“Thunderstorms don’t last long,” Viv said. Then, as if to confirm her judgment, the lights dimmed again, then came back bright, as the generator turned itself off. A moment later, the sun was shining again.

“Now,” Dino said quietly to Stone, “all we have to do is make sure the twins don’t kill us before Ed can kill them.”