Double Jeopardy (Stone Barrington #57)(60)

“He was a civil servant of some sort, I believe.”

“Does your knowledge of him go any further than that? He was, after all, your brother-in-law.”

Smith regarded Stone evenly. “Let’s just say that Henry Lee and I were the closest of friends, as close as brothers, as close as I was to my sister, Grace.”

“Then you’re aware of where in the government they both worked.”

“I am, I . . . Did you say ‘both worked’?”

“I did.”

“Now that, I did not know. I thought Grace was a housewife.”

“No. Do you know the nature of the work Henry Lee and Grace did?”

“Not specifically. He gave me to understand that it was confidential.”

“Do you know how much money Henry Lee earned?”

“Not exactly.”

“Did you believe him to have the means to pay three and a half million dollars for a house?”

“I believe he had private means beyond a government salary.”

“What reason do you have to believe that?”

“That’s what he told me, when I asked him that question. I wanted to help, if I could, but he told me that would be unnecessary. Please tell me what you’re getting at, Stone, and where you’re getting your information.”

“The Jacksons never owned this house. They were decoys, set up there by a certain government agency as a last job before retirement.”

“I don’t understand.”

Stone handed him his Agency business card. “I’m in a position to get a lot of information about a lot of people,” he said. “You, for instance.”

“What do you know about me?”

“Just about everything,” Stone said. “And what I don’t know, I can pretty accurately guess.”

Smith sat back in his chair and gazed at Stone. “Go ahead, tell me what you want to know, and I’ll help, if I can.”

“I know about your military record and your shooting skills, and I can guess how you want to employ those skills. Do you think you’re up to that?”

“I do. I think that, if you know so much about me, you must know that I shot and killed seventy-one men and three women when I was in the military.”

“I do. Do you consider that you murdered them?”

“Certainly not. I killed them in the line of duty.”

“Do you know the difference between line of duty and murder?”

“Murder is an illegal act, and an immoral one.”

“Very good distinction.”

“Are you a priest or clergyman of some sort?”

“Hardly. I’m an attorney and a former police officer. And I’m here to try and help you understand that murder, in addition to being illegal and immoral, is a very dangerous act—to the murderer. I don’t suppose that during your training, anyone explained that to you.”

“It wasn’t necessary. I knew that I could be killed.”

“But you didn’t fear arrest, trial, conviction, or punishment.”

“Of course not.”

“Those are the things you have to fear now. You have a great deal to lose, not excepting your life.”

“Perhaps you’d better tell me what you believe I intend to do.”

“I believe you’re going to try to murder the Stone twins, and that your motive is revenge for the death of your brother-in-law and closest friend, and your sister.”

“Do you also believe that I intend to be caught?”

“No, but nevertheless you will be. You have been trained as an assassin, but not as a suspect or a fugitive. It took me and my friends only a couple of phone calls and a laptop computer to figure that out. How long do you think it would take the Maine State Police? I have dealt with the local representatives of that body, and they are neither stupid nor without resources.”

“They’ve had every opportunity to catch the Stones, but they haven’t done so. Nor have they been able to keep them in prison, after being sentenced.”

“They did catch and convict the Stones, even if their efforts were later overridden. It helped that their father was close to the governor when they were in college. Is your father close to the governor?”

“My father is dead.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. What do you think he would advise you, if he were still alive?”

Smith looked away for the first time. “That is irrelevant.”

“The way he brought you up is not irrelevant. Did he teach you that, if you committed a crime you would be caught and punished?”

“Of course.”

“Do you think he was lying to you?”

“No.”

“But now, your hatred of your friend’s murderers has been sufficient to cause you to ignore his teaching. Let me tell you, hatred and revenge are very difficult motives to conceal. If I were examining you under oath, it would take me only a couple of minutes to establish your hatred of the twins. Conviction for murder requires motive, means, and opportunity. Also, bad luck helps. You have all of that in abundance.”

“What about ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’?”

“That will be wrapped up in the first three.”

Smith said nothing.