Double Jeopardy (Stone Barrington #57)(53)

“I think this might be on the market soon,” he said to them, “so I thought I’d give you an early look. The beauty of this place is that it’s turnkey. It’ll be for sale with all the furniture and fittings, down to the last spoon.”

He took them through every room of the place, and they were impressed. They finished in the upstairs master suite.

“What’s this going to list for?” the man asked.

“Probably three and a half million, furnished as you see it. There’s a barn and a boathouse and a dock out back, and it’s all freshly renovated.”

“Why would anybody put all this work and money into a property like this, then just walk away from it?” his wife asked.

“There was a tragedy, and they both died,” Billy said. “The police said it was a murder/suicide.”

The woman started to ask another question, but her husband raised a hand to stop her. “Don’t ask,” he said. “We don’t want to know where it happened.”

“I guess you’re right,” she said.

He pulled her aside, and they had a moment of earnest conversation. Finally, they rejoined Billy. “We’d like to make an offer,” the husband said. “Three million.”

“I don’t think that’s going to do it,” Billy said, “not with all the furniture and everything. I know the owner, and he doesn’t like to be lowballed.”

“Three and a quarter?” the man asked.

Billy pointed upward with a thumb.

“Okay?” the man asked, misinterpreting the thumb.

Billy shook his head. “More.”

“All right, three and a half, but that’s as far as I’ll go.”

“All cash, or do you need a mortgage? I can help with that.”

“All cash, a couple of weeks to close?”

Billy opened his notebook, took out an offer form and filled it in with lightning speed, then handed it to the man with a pen.

“It’s owned by a corporation?” the man asked, looking over the form.

“The owner is a very private person. He doesn’t want the transaction to make the papers, and frankly, neither do you. The summer folks here don’t want outsiders to even know about the island, and especially not who’s moving in and out.”

“That’s good for us,” the man said. He signed the offer and handed it back to Billy. “When will we know?”

“Maybe today,” Billy said.

“You mind if we just wander around for a few minutes?” the woman asked. “Pretend we own it?”

Billy smiled. “Sure. I’ll sit out on the porch and make some calls.” He went outside, took a rocker, and got out his cell phone.



* * *



—

Hello?”

“Stone, it’s Billy. How are you?”

“Very well, Billy. You?”

“Me, too. I just had a word with Eben Stone, over at his house.”

“Yeah? What did he have to say for himself?”

“He said they had an accident last night, trying to light a gas camping stove.”

“Poor kids. Anybody hurt?”

“Eben was having a little shoulder pain.”

“I wonder why?”

“Who knows. Listen, I have some good news for you.”

“I always like to hear good news,” Stone said.

“I was out, showing some prospective buyers around, and they expressed an interest in your place.”

“This place?”

“No, the old Stone place. I walked them through, and they were impressed.”

“How impressed?”

“Three and a half million impressed, as is. All cash, close in a couple of weeks. Does that impress you?”

“Not to tears, but I guess that would get me out from under.”

“What do you say?”

“I say, call me late this afternoon.”

“They’re on the five o’clock ferry,” Billy said. “Keep that in mind.”

“I’ll call you in an hour,” Stone said, then hung up.

“What would get you out from under?” asked Dino, who had been listening.

“Billy got me an offer on the old Stone house. Three and a half million, furnished, as is.”

“Sounds like a deal to me.”

“How would you and Viv like to have a place up here?”

“We have such a nice place now, and the price is right.” Dino said, waving an arm. “Why would we want to move?”

Stone called Billy back. “Sell it,” he said.

“I’ll bring the offer by for your signature; be there in a few minutes.” He hung up.



* * *



—

Billy’s customers were out back someplace. He put his feet up and gazed around him. The Stone house was across the way, a little uphill from where he sat. He could see the twins moving around their bedroom.

His customers appeared on the porch. “We’re done,” she said.

“You certainly are,” Billy said. “Congratulations on your new house.”

“We got it?”

“You did. I’ll drop you off at the store, and I’ll go get the offer signed.’’