Standup Guy

Everybody held up flashlights. “I want a search of the woods,” he said. “Work your way out from the house. Remember what we found the last time we searched the woods.”

• • •

Ten minutes later, Sparks came back into the house and beckoned to Stone, Dino, and Viv, who were sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee from the grocery bags. He led them outside and a short distance into the woods.

“Is that your Parese guy?” Sparks asked, playing his powerful little flashlight on a figure on the ground. “He’s got an empty holster on his belt, and we found a single nine-millimeter shell casing on the ground in front of the house.”

“That’s Marty Parese,” Stone said. “And that’s a knife sticking out of his chest.”

“You’re very observant,” Sparks said drily. “Now, where’s Henrietta Cromwell?

“In the wind,” Dino said.

58

The group sat around the living room of the lake cottage. It was after one AM, and the medical examiner’s wagon had already left with Parese’s body. They were all having a drink from the cabin’s booze supply.

“So,” Dino said, “where are we?”

“I like Stone’s idea about the chartered airplane,” Dan Sparks said. “My people are checking every airport in the western half of the state, as far as and including Hartford’s airports. Danbury and Oxford are the closest ones. Danbury closes at dusk, and Oxford is quiet. I’ve got men on the runway at each, should anybody try to land, and the New York boys are covering White Plains, Newburgh, and Albany.”

“Hank could be headed for Mexico,” Stone said. “We don’t know anything about the vehicle, except that it’s a van—no make, year, or color.”

“Yeah,” Sparks said, “and I’m not issuing a nationwide APB for a van. I don’t need that kind of trouble. We are checking every nearby motel, hotel, and B&B for a woman in a van, though.”

Dino spoke up. “And I’ve got people watching her apartment building in the city.” He sighed. “I guess we ought to head back soon, late as it is.”

“Listen, you guys shouldn’t be driving back to the city this late,” Sparks said. “Why don’t you sleep here and get an early start? Our crime scene is outside, and we’ve already shut it down. Nobody’s going to disturb you.”

“Suits me,” Viv said, and nobody argued with her.

“I want another drink,” Stone said, getting up and heading for the kitchen. “Can I bring anybody anything?”

“The bottle,” Dino said, “and some ice.”

Stone brought back the makings and set them on the dining table, then poured for everybody.

“Not for me,” Sparks said. “I’m headed home.” He shook everybody’s hand, then left.

“Where would you go with five million dollars in cash?” Viv asked. “I mean, the airplane makes the most sense. But Dan has a lid on that. Where else?”

“That’s the five-million-buck question,” Dino said, “and I’m too tired to think. I put in a twelve-hour day before we got here.”

“Yeah,” Stone said. “And you’d be surprised how exhausting it is to be bound hand and foot all day. I’m really beat.”

“No more great ideas?” Dino asked.

“None. Zip. Nada.”

They finished their drinks, then Dino and Viv took the double-bedded room, and Stone and Dino’s driver took the twin-bedded one. Stone didn’t bother looking for sheets; he found a blanket and slept in his clothes. Everybody was down and out in fifteen minutes.

• • •

Stone woke up to sunlight streaming through a window onto his bed. He struggled out of bed, went into the bathroom and splashed some water on his face, then he put on his shoes and walked outside.

It was a beautiful spot, he thought. The sun sparkled on the little lake, and a light breeze rustled the trees around the house. It didn’t look like the sort of place where two men had died over the past few days. He went back into the house and, using the groceries from the two bags, started breakfast. The smell of bacon got everybody up, and soon they were having scrambled eggs. They had just finished when Dino’s phone rang.

“Bacchetti,” he said. He listened for a minute, then turned toward Stone. “You know where Oxford Airport is?”

“Yes,” Stone replied. “Don’t you remember? You and I attended a shoot-out there a few years back. It’s a twenty-minute or half-hour drive.”

“Oh, yeah. Dan, we’ll be there in half an hour.” Dino hung up. “Let’s get going.”

“What’s happening there?”

“He didn’t say.”

Dino’s driver brought the car to the house and they piled in.

“I hope they caught her,” Stone said.

“You hope they caught your five million bucks,” Dino said.

“That, too.”

The drive took less than half an hour. “Go to the main terminal,” Stone said. They drove down the road for half a mile, and some buildings hove into view at the top of a hill.

“That’s it,” Stone said.

There were two police vehicles in the parking lot below the terminal building, and one van, a black one. They pulled into the lot and got out.

Sparks was standing next to the van, looking in through the driver’s window. He turned as they approached. “Well,” he said, “we’ve got your woman.” He stepped back so they could look inside.

Hank Cromwell was lying across the bench front seat, her head resting on her crooked arm. She looked asleep, but the seat was soaked with drying blood that had dripped onto the passenger-side floor, as well. Nobody said anything.

The medical examiner’s van pulled into the lot, and everybody stood back to let them pass.

“A jet landed at eight-thirty this morning,” Sparks said. “The pilots refueled and waited another half an hour, made some phone calls, then took off again. We’ve got the tail number and are checking it out. After the jet had gone, somebody parked down here, saw the body, and called us.”

The ME left the van and approached Sparks. “Single gunshot wound, right side,” he said. “If she’d had reasonably prompt medical attention, she would have survived. Looks like she parked here, went to sleep, and bled out.” He held up a Glock in a plastic bag. “This was underneath the body. We didn’t find a shell casing, so I don’t think she shot herself.”

“We found the shell casing last night,” Sparks said.

They stood back to let the stretcher be wheeled past and put into the state van. “It’s your scene now,” the ME said to Sparks.

Sparks put on some latex gloves and opened the van’s side door. There were two suitcases on the rear seat. He opened them both and found only a woman’s clothing, then he went to the rear door and opened that. Two black nylon suitcases with built-in wheels sat in the luggage compartment. Sparks tipped one on its side and unzipped it. The case was filled with stacks of hundred-dollar bills.

“Mystery of the money solved,” Sparks said.

“Stone,” Dino said, “it was nice of Hank and Parese to change all that cash into hundreds. Much more convenient to deal with.”

“You’re right, Dino. I wonder how much they paid whoever did the swap.”

“You can count it all over again when it gets to your house.”

“As far as I’m concerned,” Sparks said, “you can take it with you. Just give me a receipt, I don’t want it on my hands.”

Dino took out his notebook and wrote out a receipt. “Received of Dan Sparks two black suitcases, contents: uncounted.” He signed it and ripped off the page. “There you go, Dan,” he said. He grabbed one of the bags and set it on its wheels. “You get the other one, Stone.”

Stone followed Dino to his car with the other bag, and they stowed them both in the baggage compartment of the SUV.

“I want to go straight to my bank,” Stone said to Dino as he got into the car.

“Your bank is closed,” Dino said. “Holiday weekend, remember? You’re going to have to take the money home with you.”