Cold Paradise (Stone Barrington 7)

“So Manning is a bank robber, as well as a murderer?”

“Yes. It appears that he had been supporting himself in that manner while he was writing a novel, which has now been published and has become a bestseller.”

“Busy guy.”

“Yes, he has been. Which brings us to today’s visit from the FBI and the Houston detective. The FBI told us they were interested in the Virginia bank robbery, which was patently nonsense because the Bureau would never spend its resources on such a small crime, especially when they know the banks won’t even prosecute small robberies unless violence was employed.”

“So what were they really interested in?”

“The Houston PD, in investigating a suspected homicide, also came up with a fingerprint, which they ran against the FBI’s databases. They turned up the Virginia bank robbery, too, and then, when Dino’s precinct turned up the same thing, it alerted both the FBI and the Houston department that somebody else had a match. What’s more, Dino could attach an identity to the prints, as well, and that’s why we had these visits today.”

“Did you or Dino tell them who the prints belonged to?”

“Yes, we did.”

“So they’re looking for Manning, now?”

“Yes. And we think he may be in Palm Beach.”

“Well, this is very good news, Stone.”

“It is. I hope they’ll have him in custody soon, which would prevent Manning’s trying to disrupt the wedding.”

“Why do you think he would try to do that?”

“Last night, while the yacht’s crew was off duty, and Dino and I were asleep on the yacht, somebody let go all her mooring lines and removed the gangplank. If Dino hadn’t woken up, the yacht would almost certainly have collided with a bridge south of here and done great damage; maybe even have sunk the yacht.”

“Jesus. And you think it was Manning?”

Stone avoided mention of Dolce. “He seems the likely candidate. It was hardly the prank of a roving band of juvenile delinquents.”

“And you think he might try to disrupt the wedding?”

“Yes. We’ve taken security precautions against that possibility.”

“So everything that can be done has been done?”

“Yes.”

Thad stood up. “Then I’m going to put it out of my mind.”

“Please sit down, Thad. I’m not finished.”

Thad sat down.

“The Houston PD is interested in Manning because one of his fingerprints was found on a bedside glass of a man they believe may have been poisoned.”

“So he killed somebody in Houston, too? Good God, the man’s a maniac.”

“That certainly appears to be so. But what’s important to us here, today, is that the man the police think may have been poisoned was Winston Harding, Liz’s late husband.”

Thad seemed to freeze in place. “Oh, my God,” he said, finally.

Stone felt he had finally made his point.

“The poor girl. This man has made her life hell, and now we learn he murdered her husband, too?”

Maybe he hadn’t made his point, after all, Stone thought. He was going to have to spell it out. “That is a very distinct possibility,” Stone said. “And it has implications for you.”