At 2:00A. M., in Gary Winthrop's town house in the elite northwest section of Washington, two men were removing paintings from the walls of the drawing room. One man wore the mask of the Lone Ranger, the other the mask of Captain Midnight. They worked at a leisurely pace, cutting the pictures out of the frames and putting their loot into large burlap sacks.
The Lone Ranger asked, «What time does the patrol come by again?»
Captain Midnight replied, «FourA. M. »
«It's nice of them to keep to a schedule for us, isn't it?»
«Yeah.»
Captain Midnight removed a painting from the wall and dropped it onto the oak floor with a loud noise. The two men stopped what they were doing and listened. Silence.
The Lone Ranger said, «Try it again. Louder.»
Captain Midnight took down another painting and threw it heavily against the floor. «Now let's see what happens.»
In his bedroom upstairs, Gary Winthrop was awakened by the noise. He sat up in bed. Had he heard a sound, or had he dreamed it? He listened a moment longer. Silence. Unsure, he rose and stepped out into the hallway and pressed the light switch. The hallway remained dark.
«Hello. Is anyone down there?» There was no answer. Downstairs, he walked along the corridor until he reached the door of the drawing room. He stopped and stared in disbelief at the two masked men.
«What the hell are you doing?»
The Lone Ranger turned to him and said, «Hi, Gary. Sorry we woke you up. Go back to sleep.» A Beretta with a silencer appeared in his hand. He pulled the trigger twice and watched Gary Winthrop's chest explode into a red shower. The Lone Ranger and Captain Midnight watched him fall to the floor. Satisfied, they turned and continued to remove the paintings.
II
DANAEVANS WAS awakened by the relentless ringing of the telephone. She struggled to sit up and looked at the bedside clock, bleary-eyed. It was five o'clock in the morning. She picked up the phone. «Hello?»
«Dana…»
«Matt?»
«See how fast you can get down to the studio.»
«What's happened?»
«I'll fill you in when you get here.»
«I'm on my way.»
Fifteen minutes later, hastily dressed, Dana was knocking on the door of the Whartons' apartment, her next-door neighbors.
Dorothy Wharton opened the door, wearing a robe. She looked at Dana in alarm. «Dana, what's wrong?»
«I hate to do this to you, Dorothy, but I've been called to the studio on an emergency. Would you mind getting Kemal to school?»
«Why, of course not. I'd be happy to.»
«Thank you so much. He has to be there at seven-forty-five, and he'll need breakfast.»
«Don't you worry. I'll take care of it. You run along.»
«Thanks,» Dana said gratefully.
Abbe Lasmann was already in her office, looking sleepy. «He's waiting for you.»
Dana walked into Matt's office.
«I have some awful news,» he said. «Gary Winthrop was murdered earlier this morning.»
Dana sank into a chair, stunned. «What? Who—?»
«Apparently his house was being robbed. When he confronted the burglars, they killed him.»
«Oh, no! He was so wonderful!» Dana remembered the friendliness and warmth of the attractive philanthropist, and she felt ill.
Matt shook his head in disbelief. «This makes—my God—the fifth tragedy.»
Dana was puzzled. «What do you mean, the fifth tragedy?»
Matt looked at her in surprise, then suddenly realized, «Of course—you were in Sarajevo. I guess over there, with a war going on, what happened to the Winthrops during the last year wouldn't have been such headline news. I'm sure you know about Taylor Winthrop, Gary's father?»
«He was our ambassador to Russia. He and his wife died in a fire last year.»
«Right. Two months later, their older son, Paul, was killed in an automobile accident. And six weeks after that, their daughter, Julie, died in a skiing accident.» Matt paused for a moment. «And now, this morning, Gary, the last of the family.»
Dana was stunned into silence.
«Dana, the Winthrops are a legend. If this country had a royal family, they would hold the crown. They invented charisma. They were world-famous for their philanthropy and government service. Gary was planning to follow in his father's footsteps and run for the Senate, and he'd have been a shoo-in. Everyone loved him. Now he's gone. In less than one year, one of the most distinguished families in the world has been totally wiped out.»
«I—I don't know what to say.»
«You'd better think of something,» Matt said briskly. «You're on the air in twenty minutes.»
The news of Gary Winthrop's death sent shock waves around the world. Comments from government leaders flashed onto universal television screens.
«It's like a Greek tragedy…»
«Unbelievable…»
«An ironic twist of fate…»
«The world has sustained a terrible loss…»
«The brightest and the best, and they're all gone…»
Gary Winthrop's murder seemed to be all that anyone was talking about. A wave of sadness swept over the country. Gary Winthrop's death had brought back the memory of the other tragic deaths in his family.
«It's unreal,» Dana told Jeff. «The whole family must have been so wonderful.»
«They were. Gary was a real sports fan and a big supporter.» Jeff shook his head. «It's hard to believe that some two-bit thieves wiped out such a wonderful person.»
Driving to the studio the next morning, Jeff said, «By the way, Rachel's in town.»
By the way? How casual. Much too casual, Dana thought.
Jeff had been married to Rachel Stevens, a top model. Dana had seen her picture in television ads and on magazine covers. It was hard to believe how beautiful she was. But she probably doesn't have a working brain cell in her head, Dana decided. On the other hand, with that face and body, she doesn't need any brains.
Dana had discussed Rachel with Jeff. «What happened to the marriage?»
«It was great in the beginning,» Jeff told her. «Rachel was so supportive. Even though she hated baseball, she used to come to the games to watch me play. Besides that, we had a lot in common.»
I'll bet you did.
«She's really a wonderful woman, completely un-spoiled. She loved to cook. When she was on a shoot, Rachel would cook for the other models.»
Great way to get rid of the competition. They were probably dropping like flies.
«What?»
«I didn't say anything.»
