“What is she saying?” Stone asked.
“Well, it’s mostly high school girl stuff,” she said. “The last entry is the day before the family got to Islesboro. She mentions that they have to make the five o’clock ferry the next day.”
“Is there any other mention of Islesboro or Dark Harbor in the days before they arrived?”
“She’s looking forward to going, she says, and right here, she mentions that and says ”“… especially with X and Y neutralized.”“
“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
HOLLY CAME SLOWLY out of sleep, but being awake wasn’t much different. She wondered if he was giving her something to make her sleep; she seemed to be doing an awful lot of it. Not that she had anything else to do.
He was giving her precious little sensory input. He came in four or five times a day, she thought. He emptied her, fed her another candy bar and gave her water. Maybe something in the water? She certainly had not felt wide awake since the first day. How many days was it? Two? Three? Four? She couldn’t tell. The tape over her eyes kept her from knowing whether it was day or night, and the ear plugs muffled most sound.
He didn’t seem interested in sex; he hadn’t touched her in any way, except to pull her clothing down for the bedpan. He hadn’t found her gun, either, since the sweatshirt covered it, even when she was using the bedpan. If she could just get a hand free. She tried again, but it only hurt worse. Her wrists felt bruised and chafed from trying to get loose.
Why would he keep her, hour after hour, day after day? What use would he make of her? If he wanted her dead, she’d already be dead; if he wanted sex, she’d have already been raped. It didn’t make any sense at all. She yawned and dozed off again.
LANCE CAME OUT OF Dick’s little office with a sheet of paper. “The FBI has come to life,” he said. “They’ve given us a profile, done by their experts.”
Sergeant Young, who had seemed almost asleep, came to life. “I want to hear this.”
“He’s between twenty-five and forty,” Lance read, “lives with his mother, is employed as a skilled laborer or as a white-collar worker with considerable responsibility. His father is dead or was divorced from his mother when he was a child. He’s uncomfortable around women, especially those who dress in an overtly sexual manner. People who know him think of him as quiet and pleasant. He’s not married, nor does he have a regular sex life.”
“The dress code doesn’t sound like any of our victims,” Young said, “except Janey Harris, who wore the kind of clothes teenaged girls wear these days: you know, bare bellies almost to the crotch, tight T-shirts, that sort of thing. It certainly doesn’t fit the two housewives.”
“It doesn’t fit Holly, either,” Stone said. “Any more of the profile?”
Lance shook his head. “They make the usual disclaimers about the accuracy of the profile, and they say they need more to go on.”
“I wish to God we could give it to them,” Sergeant Young said.
They all sat quietly for a few minutes.
“Anybody want to go for a boat ride?” Stone asked.
“What?” Dino said.
“I’m going to take the picnic boat and circumnavigate the island, while there’s still plenty of daylight.”
Sergeant Young stood up. “I’d better get back to the land search; I’m not doing any good here.”
“Ham, do you want to come?” Stone asked.
Ham shook his head. “I want to stay here in case Holly turns up, and Ginny is still working on Esme’s diary.”
“Grab a jacket, Dino,” Stone said. “It’ll be chillier on the water.”
They met on the dock, and Stone started the engine. “Will you cast us off?” he said to Dino.
Dino undid the bow, stern and spring lines, then pushed them away from the dock and jumped on board.
“We’ve got to get you some Topsiders,” Stone said.
“Huh?”
“Wingtips don’t cut it on a boat.” Stone switched on the GPS plotter and let it warm up. A few seconds later, an image of Islesboro appeared on the screen.
“Hey, that’s neat,” Dino said.
Stone played with the image. “Yes, and you can zoom in and out, too.” He dug out a paper chart from below and studied it.
“Can we get moving?” Dino asked.
“I just want to take a look at possible hazards,” Stone said. “Maine is a rocky place.”
“Good idea.”
Fifteen minutes later they were under way. They passed the yacht club, which seemed mostly deserted.
“Where is everybody?” Dino asked.
“A lot of people have left the island,” Stone said, “and Sergeant Young says a lot of those still here are staying home until this thing is resolved.” Stone was staying close to shore, looking intently at the water.
“You looking for rocks?” Dino asked.
“No,” Stone replied.
“Oh.”
Stone continued to watch the water as they made their way toward the southern tip of the island. He hoped to God he didn’t find what he was looking for. He zipped up his jacket against the breeze.
“Besides that, what should we be looking for?” Dino asked.
“Look for places ashore where she might be hidden,” Stone replied.
“She could be hidden in any house on the island,” Dino said.
“Most of the houses are occupied by families who are spending the summer here. Look for other outbuildings-barns, sheds, that sort of thing. If we find something that looks promising, we can always get Young and his people to go search it.”