“Ah,” duBois said, rising, “Mr. Barrington and Ms. Heller, I presume.”
“That’s right,” Stone said.
“Good. You are both under arrest.” He made a motion and the two police officers cuffed Stone’s and Holly’s hands in front of them.
“Colonel duBois,” Dino said, getting to his feet. “Why are you arresting my friends?”
DuBois turned and looked at Dino. “Lieutenant Bacchetti, I would advise you to mind your own business.”
Dino’s eyes flicked toward Stone and Holly; he saw a folded piece of paper fall at her feet, and she kicked it under the police car.
“Call the embassy, Dino,” Stone said, as they got into the back of the police car.
The car drove away.
“What was that all about?” Genevieve asked.
“I don’t know,” Dino said. He walked over to where the police car had been parked and retrieved the piece of paper Holly had dropped. When he unfolded it, he saw the photographs of the three men. “Robertson, Pemberton and Weatherby, I presume,” he said. Then he walked quickly to the phone.
43
The phone was answered by a young man. “United States Embassy,” he said.
“I don’t suppose you would connect me with the CIA station chief, would you?” Dino asked.
There was a brief silence. “Sir, what is the nature of your business?”
“Please give him or her a message,” Dino said. “Virginia Heller and Stone Barrington have just been arrested by a Colonel Marcel duBois of the Home Office, presumably in connection with the murder of Colonel Croft.”
“And your name, sir?”
“Dino Bacchetti; I am traveling with Ms. Heller and Mr. Barrington.” He gave the man the phone number at the inn. “I believe this to be a secure line,” he said, “since we disabled the bugs in the telephones. I can’t speak for your end.”
“I will pass on the message,” the young man said, then hung up.
James Tiptree’s phone rang, and he picked it up. “This is James Tiptree.”
“Scramble,” a voice said.
Tiptree pressed the button. “Scrambled.”
“Jim, this is Lance Cabot; we met some years ago in London.”
“Yes, Lance, I remember.”
“Have you received cable traffic regarding the replacement for Hugh English?”
Tiptree sat up straighter. “Not yet.”
“You should shortly. The cable will say that I have been appointed to replace Hugh.”
“Ah, well, congratulations, Lance.”
“Thank you. I’m calling to brief you with a situation on St. Marks.”
Tiptree immediately wondered what Cabot could know about St. Marks that he, himself, did not. “Yes?”
“I have an operative in St. Marks who is investigating the possibility that Teddy Fay is alive and on the island.”