Loitering with Intent

43

TOMMY SWAM BACK , holding his I.D. wallet out of the water, and handed it to the Coast Guard captain.

She looked at it suspiciously, then turned to Stone. “And who would you be?” she asked.

“My name is Stone Barrington,” he replied. “If you want to see me without the towel, I’ll swim back and get my I.D., too.”

Tabor blushed. “Okay,” she said, “don’t bother.”

“We’d like to leave now,” Stone said.

“We’re going to tow this boat back to our base in Key West and impound it,” she said. “How do I get in touch with you?”

“Call Lieutenant Sculley and Key West PD,” Stone said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He dropped the towel, hopped over the side and swam back to the airplane, followed by Tommy.

“Well,” Tommy said, “that was interesting. I guess she just wanted to see me naked.”

They flew back to Key West. Then, back at the hotel, Stone called Evan Keating’s cell phone number and got his voice mail. “This is Stone Barrington; please call me immediately, very urgent,” he said, then he hung up.

“Looks like he’s going to need legal representation again,” Dino said.

“Looks like,” Stone agreed.

STONE WAS HAVING a drink before dinner with Annika at Louie’s Backyard when his cell phone buzzed. “Hello?”

“I got your message,” a voice on the phone said.

“To whom am I speaking this time?” Stone asked. “Evan Keating or Charley Boggs?”

“Take your pick,” he replied.

“Where are you?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Tell me something: When you were knifed, how did you pay your hospital bill?”

Silence.

“Was Charley Boggs using Evan Keating’s very exclusive credit card?”

“What’s your point?”

“I guess I’ll refer to you as Evan Keating from now on,” Stone said.

“Okay.”

“Once again, where are you?”

“I’m in Torrington, Connecticut.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Look, Stone, I don’t owe you any explanations.”

“Evan, it would be wise of you, in a legal sense, to answer my questions.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Where is your boat at this moment?”

“This is getting very strange,” Evan said.

“It’s even stranger that you’re in Connecticut.”

“My father is dead.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“I know. How did you happen to fi nd out?”

“I spoke to my grandfather, and he told me.”

“When was that?”

“Early this morning.”

“Where were you at the time?”

“On my boat.”

“And where was the boat?”

“West of the Keys.”

“And how did you get back to Key West?”

“I didn’t go to Key West. I went by seaplane from the boat to Miami and got a plane there.”

“Your boat is no longer at Fort Jefferson,” Stone said.

“How do you know where it is?”

“Because I was aboard it this morning when the Coast Guard arrived, impounded it and towed it away.”

“What?”

“Do I have your attention now, Evan?”

“You do.”

“Someone saw your boat out there, unattended. I went out there with the police to find out if you were aboard, dead.”

“Why should I be dead?”

“Well, during the past week or ten days you’ve been knifed and shot. It’s not too great a leap.”

“But why did the Coast Guard impound the boat? It’s not illegal to be anchored out there.”

“Gee, Evan, I’m not sure. Do you think it could be because of the large amount of drugs in the stern locker?”

“There are no drugs on my boat.”

“I pried the lock off the stern locker myself. The Coast Guard chose that moment to arrive, relieving me of the responsibility of calling them.”

“The stern locker wasn’t locked,” Evan said. “The lock I had on it rusted out, and I threw it away. I haven’t yet bought a replacement.”

“Well, somebody did you the favor of buying a replacement, a very substantial combination lock.”

“I don’t know anything about that.”

“Evan, I think you’d better return to Key West right away and answer some questions.”

“I can’t just yet. I’m dealing with my father’s burial. My grandfather isn’t up to it.”

“I should tell you,” Stone said, “that one of the theories being posited in all this is that your grandfather hired someone to kill both you and your father.”

“That’s preposterous!” Evan said. “No one who knows my grandfather would ever think that.”

“Do you have another candidate for who might want both you and your father dead?”

A long silence. “No, I don’t.”

“Then answer me this: Who might have a motive for wanting you both out of the picture?”

“I don’t know.”

“A financial motive, maybe?”

“Do you mean the money from the sale of the family business?”

“I would have thought it was enough to kill for.”

“For some people maybe, but not my grandfather.”

“Well, on your fl ight back to Key West, you’ll have time to consider who else might profit from your demise.”

“Am I suspected of a crime?”

“You own a boat that was carrying drugs.”

“There were no drugs in that locker when Gigi and I left,”

Evan said. “I know, because I got a rubber dinghy out of the locker to move us and our luggage from the boat to the seaplane, and there was nothing else in that locker except fenders and mooring lines.”

“Evan, are you coming back? What do you want me to tell the Coast Guard?”

“I’m coming back, and I’d like to retain you again.”

“All right. When are you coming back?”

“My father’s remains are being cremated tomorrow morning. I’ll get the earliest plane I can after that. I shouldn’t think it would be before tomorrow night, or perhaps the day after. It depends on how my grandfather is bearing up.”

“All right, I’ll call the Coast Guard and tell them that.”

“Thank you. I’ll call you when I get in. Goodbye.” Evan hung up.

“You lead such an interesting life,” Annika said.