D.C. Dead (Stone Barrington 22)

“How many phones were in the bag?”

“Six, in all. One must have been Shelley’s. We called Fair Sutherlin’s phone, and Shelley’s bag began to ring.”

“How about the other four? Can you swear that they belong to the other victims?”

“No, that’s just our assumption. You’d do well to capture that bag, as well as Shelley.”

“All right, I’ll issue the orders immediately. You three stay there. I’m going to send some agents to talk to you.”

“We’ll be right here,” Stone said, and hung up. He put the phone into its holster, went to the bar, and poured himself a stiff bourbon. “Anybody else?”

“Me,” Dino said.

“Me,” Holly said.

Stone poured the drinks, and they all sat down.

Dino was the first to speak. “I’ve been sleeping with a serial murderer since we arrived in this town,” he said.

“Do you know,” Stone said, “that in all our investigating and checking, we never checked the whereabouts of Shelley at the times of the various murders? Not once?”

“When she got called to go to the White House, after Mrs. Kendrick’s murder, she was already at the White House,” Dino said.

“It never occurred to me,” Holly said. “She was the FBI’s lead investigator on all the murders. If she hadn’t hung on to those phones, nobody could ever have made even one of the charges stick.”

“So, she was just one of Brix Kendrick’s conquests,” Dino said.

Stone nodded. “She eliminated Mimi from Kendrick’s life. That makes sense—she wanted him to herself. Then, when he didn’t play that way, she started taking revenge.”

“And she was right among us the whole time,” Dino added. “She knew every detail of our investigation from day one.”

Holly took a swig of her scotch. “And now I’m going to have to call the first lady and director of my agency a">

“That we got it wrong twice,” Stone said. “At our dinner with the Lees, when we told them Charlotte Kirby was the killer, and, of course, now.”

“We’re going to look like assholes,” Dino said. “Amend that: we are assholes.”

“You’re not going to get an argument from me,” Stone said.

Holly said nothing.

Stone got up and started toward the bedroom.

“Where are you going?” Dino said. “The FBI will be here in a minute.”

“I’m going to

pack,” Stone said. “Then I’m going to answer their questions for as long as it takes. Then I’m going to get the hell out of D.C.”

Dino got up and started toward his bedroom. “Good idea,” he shouted over his shoulder.

“Fellas,” Holly called out, “this may take longer than you think.”

54

STONE ANSWERED THE DOORBELL, AND SPECIAL AGENT DAVE King stepped inside and introduced his partner, Special Agent Ann Potter.

“Now,” King said, “tell me what the hell is going on here.”