The Stone Barrington Collection vol 2 Read Online Free PDF Page B

boring of all lives, I expect,” Lance said. “One of quiet desperation, as the saying goes. I hope his family loves him, because it seems to me that’s about his only comfort.”
    “My experience of him is that he’s not an easy fellow to love,” Stone said.
    Seth Hotchkiss came into the room. “Anything I can do for anybody?”
    “Seth,” Stone said, “let’s you and I have a talk.” Stone led the caretaker outside, and they took seats on teak furniture on the stone patio. The sun was pleasantly warm, though Stone knew that by nightfall there would be a chill in the air. After all, it was only June in Maine.
    “What can I do for you, Stone?”
    “Tell me what Dick and Caleb’s relationship was like.”
    “Well, you remember what it was like when they were boys?”
    “Yes.”
    “It was pretty much like that, except that Dick seemed to do better in life than Caleb, had a better job and a nicer wife. Dick was able to build this house, while Caleb had to be content with propping up the old family place. Funny, I would have stayed on there out of loyalty, but Caleb fired me a week after his parents died in that car crash. Dick hired me the same day, and I’ve been very happy ever since.”
    “Caleb inherited the house?”
    “They both did, but Dick signed his half over to Caleb, said to me he didn’t want any part of it; the place was filled with unhappy memories for him.”
    “Why did he stay on the island?”
    “Oh, he loved the island, he just didn’t love the old house. I think he took some pleasure in sticking Caleb with it.”
    “Have you ever heard Caleb express any animosity toward Dick?”
    “Caleb’s whole attitude toward most everybody is animosity, I guess. He was nice to those folks he had to get along with, which were most of the summer people. After all, he wanted the yacht club and the golf club, so he was nice to the members. The year-rounders hated him pretty good; he had trouble keeping help and all that. When he wanted a new roof, he had to go to somebody on the mainland, which cost him more money. He puts away the booze pretty good, and so does his wife.”
    “How did the locals feel about Dick and his family?”
    “Oh, Dick was a sweetheart, and everybody knew it. Barbara and Esme, too. If Mabel and I weren’t doing this job, folks would be lined up to get it.”
    “I expect there’s a pretty good grapevine on the island among the locals?”
    “There is.”
    “I’d like to know what you hear on it.”
    “Folks are real interested in you, Stone.”
    “Well, I don’t have any secrets, so feel free to talk. In particular, you might let it be known that I’m not very happy with the murder-suicide theory held by your state trooper.”
    “Me, neither,” Seth said, “and nobody who knew Dick is going to put much stock in it. Folks start arriving tomorrow, and they’ll have seen about it in the Boston papers, so there’ll be a lot of curiosity.”
    “Well, let’s not starve them for information, but don’t give anybody the impression that I think Caleb is in any way responsible. He and his family hadn’t even arrived on the island at the time, so let’s not hang it around his neck.” Then they got up and went back into the house.
     
    THAT NIGHT, after dinner, the group enjoyed coffee and brandy before a crackling fire in the living room.
    “Lance,” Stone said, “there’s a possibility we haven’t talked about.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Could these murders have been work related? Dick’s work, I mean.”
    “Don’t worry, I’ve thought a lot about it. I’ve reviewed the threats Dick received in London over the years. There were more of them than you might think, but most from nuts or the ineffectual. Generally speaking, terrorist groups don’t tell you they’re going to kill you; they just kill you. Anyway, there was nothing in the file less than a year old. The other thing is that it just doesn’t happen that foreigners murder Agency personnel in