“Any idea what that can mean?” Stone asked.
“There’s a Z mentioned, too.”
“Are these people male or female?”
“Z seems to be female, but I can’t tell about X and Y. These could be friends of hers at school.”
“But what does she mean by ”neutralized‘?“
“I don’t know. ”Made harmless,“ maybe?”
“How do you make somebody harmless?”
“Take away their weapons; take away their freedom of action?”
“How far back have you gotten?”
“January,” Ginny said. “It’s slow going,”.
“She’s glad to be going back to Islesboro, now that X and Y are neutralized,” Stone said. “X and Y must be on Islesboro, too.”
“Z, too,” Ginny pointed out. “She says that Z will be relieved, too.”
“So, both Esme and Z would have been anxious about returning to Islesboro for the summer, if X and Y hadn’t been neutralized?”
“That could fit what she’s saying.”
“Does she give any hint about why they have to be neutralized?”
“Not so far.”
“Go back further in the diary, Ginny. Go back to last summer, say the month of August.”
“That part of the diary is in very poor condition,” Ginny said, “but I’ll try.” She grabbed her drink from Dino and went back upstairs.
“Dinner will be ready soon,” Stone called after her. “We’ll let you know.” He sank back into a chair.
A bell chimed in the little office, and Lance got to his feet. “Something coming in,” he said. “Maybe the new thermal scan.” He went into the office. A moment later he came out with some sheets of paper.
“What is it?” Stone asked.
“It’s a report from one of our people who used to be a Boston cop. You remember, we checked to see if Caleb Stone had a criminal record? His boys, too.”
“Yes, and they were all clean. The report from the New Haven police and the Yale campus cops had the boys clean there.”
“Well, this isn’t much,” Lance said, “but the boys had a juvenile record.”
“For what?”
“Don’t know; the records are sealed.”
“Can your man get at them?”
Lance got up and walked back toward the office. “I’ll ask him to try.”
Stone got up and followed him. “There’s something else I’d like to know from New Haven.”
Chapter 47