“I’ll ask him tomorrow,” Holly said.

They arrived back at the cottage, let themselves in, and switched on the lights.

“Nobody move,” Holly said.

Everybody stood still.

“What?” Stone asked.

“Something’s different; things have been moved. That little sculpture was on the other end of the coffee table; the TV was a little more to the left.”

“We do have a staff, Holly,” Genevieve pointed out. “Maybe they’ve been cleaning.”

“I gave them the rest of the day off late this afternoon,” Holly said. “They wouldn’t be spending their evening cleaning the house; anyway, it was already clean. Check the bedrooms.”

Dino and Genevieve went into their bedroom, while Holly and Stone went into theirs. She began opening drawers, and so did Stone.

“You’re right, Holly,” he said. “The place has been turned over.”

“But not by an expert,” she replied. “I mean, it’s neat, but it’s not the way it was. What could they be looking for?”

“I’ll check the safe.” Stone went into his dressing room, opened the little safe with his credit card and looked inside. “My cash is still here, and my spare watch,” he called, “but my clothes are pushed over on the rack.” He went back into the bedroom.

Holly came out of her dressing room. “Same with my stuff; nothing missing.”

“A burglar would have taken the TV and stereo and the booze,” Stone said.

“Where’s your passport?” Holly asked.

“In my jacket pocket,” Stone said, feeling for it. “I always carry it when I’m in a foreign place. Yours?”

“In my handbag.”

“Was there anything here…” He stopped himself, walked over to Holly and whispered in her ear. “Let’s check for bugs.”

She nodded, and they both went to work. Dino knocked and came into the room. “We’re not missing anything,” he said, “but you’re right; somebody’s been through the place.” He got no response, but Stone tapped his ear. “Oh,” he said, and went back to his own room.

Holly unscrewed the mouthpiece on the phone, then waved to get Stone’s attention. He walked over, looked at the small device inside and nodded. Holly left it there and screwed the thing back together. They went into the living room and found the same device on the phone there; there was one in Dino’s room, too.

“Why don’t we have a nightcap on the terrace?” Stone said. He grabbed a bottle of premade gimlets and some glasses and led them outside. The wind was up a little, and the waves on the shore were making more noise than usual.

They sat down and Stone poured the drinks. “Okay,” he said, “who?”

“The way I see it,” Holly said, “we’ve got two choices: Sir Winston’s cops or Teddy Fay.”

“Any particular thoughts on which?” Stone asked.

She thought for a minute. “Nope, but Lance is going to just love this.”

17

Stone walked up to the inn and found Thomas Hardy in his office, working at his computer. He looked up.

“Stone,” he said, sounding pleased, “come in and sit down. Would you like some coffee?”

“Thank you, yes, Thomas.”

Thomas spoke briefly into the phone, and a moment later, a waiter appeared with a coffeepot and a plate of cookies.

Tags: Stuart Woods Stone Barrington Mystery
Source: readsnovelonline.net