Shoot Him If He Runs

19

As 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.

“Leslie?”

The old man turned and peered at him through thick, steel-rimmed eyeglasses. “Stone? Is it Stone?”

“Yes, 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.”

“I couldn’t visit St. Marks without seeing you.”

“Will you have some tea?”

“Thank 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?”

“I’ve been busy doing a lot of things, but I haven’t spent all that much time in court lately.”

“I’m sorry to hear it; it is your natural habitat.”

“Thank you, Leslie; that’s high praise coming from such an eminent barrister. How about you? Any interesting cases?”

“Only the small stuff. As usual, I specialize in annoying the government in small ways.”

“That must give you great satisfaction. I hear there have been a lot of changes around here.”

“Oh, 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.”

“I hope you’re staying out of his way.”

“Oh, yes, I just peck around the fringes, but I hear a lot of things.”

“Thomas told me you are a fount of information.”

“Well, 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.

“I think I’m looking for more of an opinion.”

Sir Leslie grinned. “I am full of opinions.”

“Well, 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?”

“Oh, 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.”

“And why would he wish to bug the cottage of some tourists?”

“Because 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.”

“Do you fear for my safety just because I’m here again?”

“Let me put it this way: I think that if Winston could think of a plausible reason to arrest you, and perhaps your friends, jail you for a few days, then throw you ignominiously off the island, it would give him great pleasure to do so.” He smiled. “But I think it is unlikely that he would go so far as hanging you, as he tried so hard to do with the lovely Allison.”

Stone laughed. “Then I must be careful not to do anything to excite his interest.”

“There is another possibility as to why you were bugged,” Sir Leslie said. “It is possible that, after Thomas built the cottages, all of them were bugged, on general principles. It’s the sort of thing our Colonel Croft would do.”

“So it’s possible that I and my friends are not targets of Colonel Croft?”

“You should not draw that conclusion. The fact that the cottages may already have been bugged would simply be a convenience for the Colonel.”

“I’m surprised Thomas has not mentioned Colonel Croft to me,” Stone said.

“Thomas is in a delicate position,” Sir Leslie said. “He is your friend, but he is a subject of the Colonel’s and Winston’s constant attention. So far, he has fared well under the new regime, but he is well aware that, should he cross Winston, he could find himself bereft. You must be careful not to put him in that position.”

“I’m glad you told me this, Leslie, because I would not wish to do anything to harm Thomas or his interests here.”

“Just be very careful of your conversations in the cottage.”

“I’ll do so. Tell me, Leslie, do you know of an Irene Foster?”

“Ah, the CIA lady, the queen of Black Mountain!”

“Exactly.”

“She is quite something,” Leslie said. “I believe I might be one of the few men on the island she hasn’t slept with.” He giggled.

“Surely she can’t be that bad.”

“I exaggerate, of course, but I know of four instances where gentlemen have succumbed to her tender mercies. At the moment, I believe, she has an in-house lover.”

“Yes, one Harry Pitts; they knew each other back in Virginia.”

“I wonder if Mr. Pitts is or was CIA, too?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, these intelligence people tend to stick close to their own kind, don’t they?”

“I think he is probably what he says he is, a retired building contractor.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not. Permit me my fantasies; they are all that is left for an old man.”

“Do you know of an Englishman named Robertson?”

“Ah, the retired Englishman; he is quite new to the island, and also a denizen of Black Mountain. I understand he was in the computer business in some fashion, back in the mother country.”

“Have you met him?”

“No; I meet so few people these days, but I hear a lot.”

“Have you heard anything that might make you think that Mr. Robertson is not exactly who he says he is?”

Sir Leslie grinned. “No, but I suspect everyone.”

Stone laughed. “Please excuse me, Leslie, but I must rejoin my friends; they will think I’ve been arrested.”

Sir Leslie stood. “Then you must see to it that their worst fears are not realized. And Stone, if you should run afoul of the Colonel, tell Thomas to call me; I’ll be happy to represent you.”

“Thank you, Leslie.” They shook hands, and Stone took his leave. As he went through the garden gate he looked back to see Sir Leslie back on his knees, digging in the soil.