The Short Forever (Stone Barrington 8)

Stone laughed. “I see your point. I have a feeling, though, that whatever is going on here is taking place outside the bounds of any official action. It sounds awfully personal to me.”

Stone said goodbye to Jones and returned to the party. As he entered the house, he encountered Lance, who had an empty glass in his hand.

“Where did you go?” Lance asked, motioning him to follow toward the bar.

“Just for a stroll; I felt like some air.”

“I know the feeling,” Lance replied. “These wakes can be oppressive.”

“It was good of you to have it here.”

“I’m happy to help out Sarah at a difficult time.” He got a drink from the barman and led Stone out into a small garden. They sat down on a teak bench.

“Lovely house,” Stone said.

“I had nothing to do with that,” Lance said. “It came as you see it, right from the agency. The owner is with the Foreign Office; he’s in India or someplace.”

“Good break for you.”

“The rent isn’t a good break. Tell me, is what I’ve been reading in the papers true?”

“I don’t know; what have you been reading?”

“That Sarah is going to inherit James’s estate.”

“That much is true,” Stone said. “I’ve seen the will.”

“How much?”

“Hard to say; difficult to put a value on the business.” So far, he hadn’t told Lance anything that wasn’t public knowledge.

“I suppose Sarah will sell it.”

“I don’t know if she’s had time to think about it. I imagine there’ll be quite a lot of legal work to be done before it’s settled.”

“This turn of events brings me back to what I initially said to you about the boating accident.”

“You still think it wasn’t an accident?”

“I have a suspicious mind.”

“Well, I’ve looked into it a bit, and so has Sir Bernard Pickering, and to my knowledge, no information has arisen to indicate that Sarah even knew about the contents of James’s will.”

“But you can’t say definitively that she did or didn’t know.”

“I don’t think anyone can, but it’s my best judgment, based on what Sarah has told me and on my knowledge of her character, that she did not know.”

“You sound as if you’re testifying at a trial.”

“You sound as if you’re conducting one.”

Lance laughed. “Fair enough.”

“How well did you know James?”

“I’d met him two or three times.”

“What did you think of him?”