“What about regular maintenance? Furnace, air conditioning?”
“I clean or replace the filters myself; I know how to light the pilot light.”
“Plumber? Electrician?”
“I do that stuff.”
“That’s all I’ve got,” Young said.
“Thanks, Seth. Oh, you should know that somebody got into the house last night and stole Dick’s safe out of the cabinet.”
Seth looked dumbfounded.
“I’ll tell you about it later.”
Seth left the room, and Stone heard the back door close.
Holly came back from her run and entered the study. “You two guys don’t look too happy,” she said.
“Good guess,” Stone replied.
Chapter 37
STONE AND HOLLY had lunch on the rear terrace, enjoying the sun, and as Mabel was taking away the dishes the doorbell rang. Dick Stone had installed an outside bell, apparently for occasions like this.
Stone went to the door and found the remaining three Old Farts standing there.
“Good afternoon,” Rawls said. “We disturbing you, Stone?”
“No, gentlemen, come in,” Stone replied, waving them inside. “We’re sitting out on the terrace.”
Stone led them out onto the terrace. “Holly Barker, this is Ed Rawls, Harley Davis and Mack Morris.”
“How do you do, gentlemen?” she asked.
They all muttered greetings.
“Stone, forgive me,” Rawls said, “but we need to speak to you alone.”
“Relax, Ed,” Stone said. “Holly is one of you; she works for Lance Cabot.”
Ed’s eyebrows went up. “Oh?”
“Yes, and she’s helping me with our, ah, situation. Anything you can say to me, you can say to her.”
The three men sat down around the table.
“Can I get anybody anything? A sandwich? A beer?”
“Maybe later,” Rawls said.
“What’s up, Ed?”
“We’ve been over and over this thing, and we’ve come to some conclusions.”
“I’m all ears,” Stone said, leaning forward and putting his elbows on the table.“
“First of all, we think we’re dealing with two different people,” Harley said.