“How long you staying?”
“I don’t know, really. Until Stone kicks me out, I guess.”
“What do you do now, Ms. Barker?”
“Oh, I live the soft life.”
“I see you keep in shape.”
“Sporadically.”
“Well, enjoy your run, but please keep to the roads. We don’t know exactly what we’re dealing with here, so be careful.”
“I will, Sergeant.”
“Is Stone at home now?”
“Yep. Doing the crossword.”
“I’ll drop in on him.”
Holly said goodbye and continued her run.
STONE ANSWERED THE door to find Sergeant Young there. “Come on in, Sergeant,” he said.
“Thank you. I just met your lady friend, Ms. Barker, on the road.”
“Yes, she’s staying here. You want some coffee?”
“No thanks. Already had some this morning.”
Stone led him into the study. “I’m glad you dropped by; I want to show you something.” He went to the cabinet that once concealed the safe and opened it.
“What happened here?” Young asked.
“We came home last night to find that somebody had been in the house and ripped out the safe that was here.”
“What was in the safe?”
“Nothing particularly valuable: papers and such. And Esme Stone’s diary.”
Young looked at him sharply. “That’s the second diary to go missing,” he said. “Janey Harris’s was taken, too.”
“I don’t know if that’s what our visitor was looking for,” Stone said. “I can’t imagine how he’d know the diary was in the safe.”
“Who knew where it was?”
“Only three other people: Holly Barker, another woman of my acquaintance who was visiting, and her young son. The boy found the diary in an upstairs bedroom that Esme used for a study, and he was copying her handwriting, which was quite beautiful.”
“Did you read any of the diary?”
“No. I felt I would have been intruding.”
Sergeant Young made some notes in his notebook. “What time did this happen?”
“I guess between eight and ten; that’s about when Holly and I were having dinner at the inn.”
“Anybody know you were going?”
“No. Seth and Mabel Hotchkiss were on the mainland last night. But we were in Dick’s old MG, which is a pretty recognizable car. Just about anyone who might have seen us would have known it.”
“Why do you think he took the whole safe?”
“I suppose because he tried to open it and failed. Probably wanted to work on it at his leisure.”
'Was it an expensive safe? Hard to open, I mean?“
“A friend of mine opened it in a few minutes, without the combination.”
“Would that have been Ms. Barker?”
“Yes.”
“You have any idea how the thief got into the house? I understand this place is supposed to be very secure.”
“We’re baffled. Our best guess is he had a key.”
“Who else has keys?”
“Seth and Mabel Hotchkiss. Caleb Stone had a key, but he gave it back to me. The locks are by a Swedish company called Assa. They’re just about impossible to pick, and you can only get a key or even a blank from the manufacturer through a dealer.”
“I’ve heard about those locks,” Young said. “Are you sure the Hotchkisses are the only people with keys?”
“I’ll find out,” Stone said. He picked up the phone, pressed the intercom button and tapped in Seth’s extension. “Seth, can you come to the study for a minute?” He listened, then hung up.
Seth was there in less than a minute. “What can I do for you, Stone?”
“You know Sergeant Young, don’t you?”
“Know of him.” Seth shook his hand.
“Seth, who else outside the family might have a key to the house?”
Seth shrugged. “Nobody that I can think of. Dick was very strict about not giving a key to anybody but family. Caleb has one.”
“He returned it to me awhile back,” Stone said.
“Then just me and Mabel.”
“No repairmen, workmen, maybe the contractor who built the house?”
“Nope. After the locks were installed, I always had to be here to open the door for anybody who came to fix anything. I fix most things myself.”
“Any questions, Sergeant?”
“What have you had to have fixed by somebody else?”
“That Viking stove in the kitchen needed some adjustment once. Mabel let the fellow in and stayed with him while he did it. The installer of the TV and audio stuff made several trips, but I was always with him.”
“Nobody else?”
“Not that I can think of.”
“What about regular maintenance? Furnace, air conditioning?”
“I clean or replace the filters myself; I know how to light the pilot light.”
“Plumber? Electrician?”
“I do that stuff.”
“That’s all I’ve got,” Young said.
“Thanks, Seth. Oh, you should know that somebody got into the house last night and stole Dick’s safe out of the cabinet.”
Seth looked dumbfounded.
“I’ll tell you about it later.”
Seth left the room, and Stone heard the back door close.
Holly came back from her run and entered the study. “You two guys don’t look too happy,” she said.
“Good guess,” Stone replied.
Chapter 37
STONE AND HOLLY had lunch on the rear terrace, enjoying the sun, and as Mabel was taking away the dishes the doorbell rang. Dick Stone had installed an outside bell, apparently for occasions like this.
Stone went to the door and found the remaining three Old Farts standing there.
“Good afternoon,” Rawls said. “We disturbing you, Stone?”
“No, gentlemen, come in,” Stone replied, waving them inside. “We’re sitting out on the terrace.”
Stone led them out onto the terrace. “Holly Barker, this is Ed Rawls, Harley Davis and Mack Morris.”
“How do you do, gentlemen?” she asked.
They all muttered greetings.
“Stone, forgive me,” Rawls said, “but we need to speak to you alone.”
