Stone nodded. “I’m not sure it was a total surprise to them, actually. But I think what I told them about Bradley and DeHaven was definitely new intelligence.”
“Speaking of DeHaven, his funeral is today. That’s what we were calling you about. Caleb is going, along with most of the Library of Congress. Milton’s coming too, and I switched my shift at the dock so I could go. We thought it might be important.”
Stone rose but immediately wobbled.
Reuben grabbed his arm. “Oliver, maybe you should just sit tight.”
“One more torture session like that, you’ll be attending
The service at St. John’s Church next to Lafayette Park was very well attended by many library and government types. Also in attendance was Cornelius Behan with his wife, a tall, slender and very attractive woman in her early fifties with expertly colored blond hair. Her haughty air was intriguingly coupled with a wary, fragile bearing. Cornelius Behan was well known in Washington, and people continually went over to him, pressing the flesh and paying homage. He accepted it all with good graces, but Stone noted that he kept one hand on his wife’s arm at all times, as though she might fall without such support.
At Stone’s insistence the Camel Club members had scattered in the church so they could survey different sections of people. Though it was clear that whoever had kidnapped him knew of his involvement with the others, Stone didn’t want to give those people, in case they were here, a reminder that he had three friends who would make nice targets.
Stone sat in the very back, and his gaze swept the area with a practiced motion, until it stopped on one woman who sat off to the side. As she turned and flicked her hair out of her face, Stone’s gaze intensified. His previous training had made him highly skilled at remembering people’s features, and he had seen that profile before, although the woman he was looking at now was older.
After the service was over, the Camel Club members left the church together, stepping in behind Behan and his wife. Behan whispered something to his wife before turning and speaking to Caleb.
“Sad day,” he said.
“Yes, it is,” Caleb said stiffly. He looked at Mrs. Behan.
“Oh,” Behan said. “My wife, Marilyn. This is, uh . . .”
“Caleb Shaw. I worked at the library with Jonathan.”
He introduced the other Camel Club members to her.
Behan glanced at the church where the pallbearers were bringing the casket out. “Who’d have thought? He looked so healthy.”
“Many people do, right before they die,” Stone said absently. His gaze was on the woman he had spotted earlier. She had put on a black hat and sunglasses and was dressed in a long black skirt and boots. Tall and lean, she cut quite a figure amid all the grief.
Behan looked searchingly at Stone and tried to follow his gaze, but Stone broke it off before the man could do so. “I suppose they’re sure about his cause of death,” Behan said. He added quickly, “I mean, they tend to get these things wrong sometimes.”
Stone spoke up. “I suppose if they have, we’ll know about it at some point. The media usually ferrets those things out.”
“Yes, the journalists are rather good about that,” Behan said with mild distaste.
“My husband knows a lot about instant death,” Marilyn Behan blurted out. When they all stared at her, she hastily added, “I mean, because of what his company does.”
Behan smiled at Caleb and the others and said, “Excuse us.” He took his wife’s arm firmly and led her away. Had Stone detected a hint of amusement in the lady’s eyes?
Reuben’s gaze trailed after them. “I can only visualize that guy now with a pair of panties flying at half-staff on his dinky. I had to cram my fist in my mouth to stop from ripping a laugh during the service.”
“Nice of him to come today,” Stone said. “I mean, for being such a
“The missus seems a complicated piece of work,” Caleb commented.
“Well, she strikes me as sharp enough to know about her husband’s indiscretions,” Stone said. “I can’t believe there’s much love lost between them.”
“And yet they stay together,” Milton added.
“For love of money, power, social status,” Caleb said in a disgusted tone.
“Hey, I wouldn’t have minded some of that in my marriages,” Reuben shot back. “I had the love, at least for a little while, but none of the other stuff.”
Stone was now eyeing the lady in black. “That woman over there, does she look familiar to you?”
“How can one tell?” Caleb said. “She’s wearing a hat and glasses.”
Stone pulled out the photo. “I think she’s this woman.”
They all crowded around the picture, and then Caleb and Milton stared directly at the woman and took turns pointing.
Stone hissed, “Do you two think you could be a little more obvious?”
The funeral party headed to the cemetery. After the gravesite service was finished, people started heading back to their cars. The lady in black lingered by the raised coffin as two workmen in jeans and blue shirts waited nearby. Stone glanced around and noted that Behan and his wife had already returned to their limo. He scanned the surrounding area looking for folks to whom the administration of water torture might be a daily part of life. And you
