The Stone Barrington Collection vol 2 Read Free

trust, set up to pay the expenses of maintaining and running the house. If I don’t want the place, it would be sold, and the proceeds would go to the same foundation. Dick has specifically excluded his brother and his brother’s family as heirs, and if I sell the house, I am instructed to entail the deed in such a way that Caleb could never buy it.”
    “Sounds like some hard feelings between the two of them.”
    “Given my experience of them in their youth, I’m not surprised,” Stone said. “I know Sam Bernard, of course, but what is the foundation?” Samuel Bernard had been a law-school professor of Stone’s and had remained a mentor who had historic connections to the CIA.
    “It’s set up to provide for the families of Agency officers killed or disabled in the line of duty,” Lance said. “How much did Dick leave the foundation?”
    “A million dollars,” Stone said, “in the event of his own death. As I said, in the event of the whole family dying simultaneously, most of the estate goes to the foundation.”
    “And how much is that?”
    “Thirty million dollars, give or take. Dick’s wife was a very wealthy woman.”
    Lance drew in a quick breath. “That is astonishingly generous,” he said.
    “Lance,” Stone said, “what reason do you have for thinking that Dick murdered his family and killed himself?”
    “That is the opinion of the sheriff and the state police in Maine,” Lance said. “My superiors would like for you and me to determine if he’s right.”
    “Do you think Dick was mentally ill? You’ve seen him more recently than I.”
    “I have no reason to think so, and certainly the contents of his letter to you and his will are lucid and make him seem sound of mind.”
    “So the sheriff wants us to believe that a man who has spent his career handling intricate intelligence matters and who has just received the promotion of a lifetime is so nuts and despondent as to murder his family and commit suicide?”
    “At this date, I suppose the sheriff’s conclusions are preliminary and based only on the physical evidence.”
    “And what is the physical evidence?”
    “I have no idea.”
    “Then I guess we’d better go to Maine,” Stone said.
    “I could take some time,” Dino said. “Mind if I come along? It would keep me out of Mary Ann’s way.”
    “We could always use another experienced homicide investigator,” Lance said.
    “Then I’ll fly us up tomorrow morning,” Stone said.

3
    S TONE CAME DOWN to breakfast to find Dino dressed and drinking orange juice in the kitchen. “Sleep well?”
    “Not as well as I thought I would,” Dino said. “I’m not used to sleeping alone.”
    Stone scrambled them some eggs and fried bacon in the microwave. “Was divorce mentioned?”
    “No, but death was. Mine.”
    “You think she wants out?”
    “She was madder than I’ve ever seen her, and that’s saying a lot.”
    “You should leave a message about where we’ll be.”
    “Where will we be?”
    Stone picked up the phone and buzzed his office.
    “Good morning,” Joan Robertson, his secretary, said.
    “Good morning. I have a couple of things for you to do.”
    “Shoot.”
    “There’s an inn on the island of Islesboro, in Maine; I think it’s called the Dark Harbor Inn. If it isn’t, find it on the Internet and book four rooms for me, starting tonight. Make it for three nights, but tell them we might need to stay longer.”
    “Got it.”
    “There’s a will on my desk, witnessed by four people. Please call them all and ask them to confirm that they witnessed the will of Richard Stone.”
    “Right.”
    “One of the witnesses is a man called Seth Hotchkiss, a family retainer. When you speak to him, ask him about a taxi service on the island and arrange for a cab to meet us at the airstrip on Islesboro at noon today.”
    “Got it.”
    “Also, find out what county Islesboro is in, call the sheriff, tell him I’m Richard Stone’s executor, and I’d be grateful if