“The metaphorical green peppers.”
“Yes, sir,” she replied.
28
Holly took a seat on the cottage patio and poured herself a glass of whatever was in the icy pitcher. She sipped it. “Mmmm, what is this?”
“Some kind of rum punch, I think,” Stone said. “Thomas sent it over.”
“It’s delicious, but it doesn’t taste alcoholic.”
“Don’t you believe it,” Dino said. “I’ve had two, and it ain’t iced tea.”
“I think we should ask Irene to dinner,” Holly said. “To repay her kindness in inviting us.”
“Whatever you say,” Stone replied. “Do you hope to learn more from her?”
“I think this Robertson guy could be Teddy. Or maybe, Pemberton or Weatherby.”
“Who?”
“Robertson owns the Cessna 140; Weatherby and Pemberton are the Englishmen who bought the cottage that used to be Irene’s guesthouse and the one next door to that.”
“And why do you think one of them is Teddy?”
“Because Pemberton and Weatherby have the paper trail-passport, driver’s license, credit reports, et cetera that any innocent citizen would have.”
“And that causes you to suspect them of multiple murders, not to mention making a fool of the FBI, the CIA and everybody else who was after him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Robertson doesn’t have a paper trail, and Teddy would never use an identity that couldn’t be verified. He would look upon that as unprofessional.”
“What profession are we talking about?”
“You know-master criminal and all that.”
“I didn’t know master criminal was a profession. That kind of waters down the pool of professionals, doesn’t it?”
“Oh, stop it, Stone, you know what I mean.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“How many expatriate Brits do you suppose live on this island?”
“I don’t know; hundreds, maybe a few thousand.”
“And how many of them do you think might have perfectly ordinary paper trails floating in their wakes?”
“How the hell should I know?”
“All right, for the sake of argument, let’s say that ninety-five percent of them are who they say they are, and an investigation would back them up, and the other five percent are fleeing criminals with false passports.”
“What’s your point?”