Double Jeopardy (Stone Barrington #57)(2)

“Did you communicate on any sort of regular basis?”

“Not really. I never met his wife.”

“And did the Stone brothers have progeny?”

“Dick and his wife had a daughter. Caleb, twin sons.”

“Did you ever hear from Dick again?”

“I received a package from him, with a letter instructing me to put it in my safe and to open it only in the event of his death.”

“What happened after that?”

“He died.”

“Murdered, along with his wife and child, I am informed.”

“You are correctly informed.”

“Did you learn who killed them?”

“I deduced who did. The law did not.”

“What was your deduction?”

“That Enos and Eben Stone murdered all three, along with a number of local, Boston, and New Haven women. Oh, and both their parents. I believe the twins are serving life without possibility of parole in the state prison.”

“That is not quite correct,” Keegan said.

“How not so?”

“The Stone twins confessed to the killing of their parents, pled guilty, and were sentenced to life.”

“What about no parole?”

“Their first parole hearing is the day after tomorrow.”





2

Stone blinked. “Whatever happened to ‘without parole’?”

“Like you, the police deduced that the Stone twins were guilty of all the aforementioned murders, but they did not have the evidence to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In shooting their parents, however, they were careless, and the prosecution had them cold.”

“Wasn’t that good enough for life without parole?”

“It should have been, but two factors intervened: first, the boys claimed, convincingly, that their father had sexually abused them as children and that their mother knew about it but did nothing. Second, the state was deeply embarrassed about its failure to charge them on all counts, and they just wanted the case to go away. So, aided by a clever attorney—my father—they pled guilty to the murders of their parents, in exchange for life with the possibility of parole, something the prosecution thought never would happen.”

“And you,” Stone said. “Are you telling me all this because of the guilt of your father’s participation?”

“Yes. I tried to talk him out of it, but he thought it would be a feather in his cap. As a result, he was asked to resign from his clubs, and he never took another criminal case. Also, the twins were a couple of years behind me at school, and I had always thought they were evil little shits. My great regret is that Maine got rid of the death penalty in the 1870s.”

“All right, we’re both up to date, I think,” Stone said. “Now tell me why we are telling each other all this.”

“I can’t very well show up at the parole hearing and beg the board to deny.”

“Why not?”

“Because it would further humiliate my father to oppose him in a case that has already caused him such pain. He loved his clubs, and he is quite old now and has already had one stroke.”

“So, you’d like me to appear and plead the case against parole?”

“If you would be so kind; I would be very grateful.”

“And have you been able to come up with any convincing evidence for me to present?”

“I fear I have not.”

“Let me guess: the twins have been ideal prisoners and they charmed all they have met.”

“That’s about the size of it.”

“So, I’m supposed to appear at the hearing and tell the board that, contrary to all the available evidence, they are very bad boys, not to mention evil little shits, and they should throw away the key.”

“Sort of,” Keegan admitted.

“And, of course, the twins will have a parade of other witnesses—guards, nurses, fellow prisoners, and, let’s not forget, the prison doctor, who will all swear to their cuddliness.”

“You make it sound hopeless,” Keegan said, his shoulders slumping into his damp suit.

“I don’t make it sound hopeless,” Stone said. “It is hopeless.”

“Will you, at least, come up to Maine for the hearing and share my bench with me, holding a briefcase? That would make it appear that I’m not alone in all this.”

“Jack,” Stone said, not unkindly. “Apart from your father, do you have any family?”

Keegan shook his head. “My wife and I were childless, and she died last year.”

“Well, my advice to you is to pack up your shingle and your bags and retire to some remote place in a distant land, but not without a shotgun handy, because your appearance before the parole board, no matter how ineffective, is not going to win the affections of the Stone twins, and they will not have short memories.”

Keegan sighed. “I had hoped to avoid retirement.”

“Why avoid it? Many men of your age retire every day, sitting under a palm tree and drinking pi?a coladas.”

“My problem is, I love the law, love practicing it every day.”

“Do you play golf?”

“Sadly, no.”

“Time to take it up,” Stone said brightly. He rose. “I wish I could help, Jack. I really do, but I have no argument to make that would not just make things worse for both of us.”