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"I don't guess your boat is bugged."

"It isn't. I checked."

"We're having dinner with Harry at my place, seven o'clock."

"Okay."

"Let yourself in if I'm not there."

"Right."

Holly watched the Piper Saratoga set down and taxi up to Sun Jet Aviation. Harry got out and walked over to her car, carrying a briefcase and a small bag, then the airplane taxied away.

"I guess you're staying overnight," she said, as he got into the car.

"I guess I am. Thanks for the offer."

"Anytime. What's up?"

"Did you bri

ng the material from the Morris investigation?"

"It's at the house, and Ham's waiting for us."

"I'll bring you up to date when we get there. No need to do it twice."

They drove the rest of the way chatting desultorily, or mostly, in silence. When they got to the house, Holly pointed at the living room coffee table. "Everything is there, except the corpses," she said.

"I'll go over it later," Harry replied.

Holly got them all a drink, and they sat down.

"Okay, first of all, Ham's phone is bugged, and only his phone, not the rest of the house. However, Ham, they can listen to what's going on there, even when the phone is not off the hook. I wouldn't say anything in the living room or on the phone that you don't want these people to hear."

"Okay," Ham said.

"I guess I'm not bugged," Holly said, "if we're talking about this."

"That's right. Your place is clean, but be on the alert for signs that anybody has been here. They might decide to add you to their surveillance list." He pulled a small box from his pocket. "See the needle there?" he asked, pointing to a meter.

"Yep."

"You can wave this at a phone, and if it's bugged, the needle will move. You might just check it out now and then, and if you get a reading, let me know, and we'll go over the whole house again."

"Thanks, Harry."

"Now, let's go over the Morris stuff," he said.

Holly fed him the ME's report and her tech's report, then showed him the money. "I guess you'll return that to the bank."

"To their insurance company," Harry said. "They've probably already been paid for their loss." He looked carefully at the fake IDs and birth certificates. "These are pretty good," he said, "but a lot of people could do them with a computer and a laminating machine."

"I'm sorry to hear it," Holly said. She nodded at a cardboard box. "Morris's computer is in there. We don't really have anybody who can go over it, but I'm sure you do."

"Right, I'll take it back with me," Harry said. "It could be important."

Holly got up and started dinner, while Harry and Ham talked. He still hadn't told them why he was there.


Tags: Stuart Woods Holly Barker Mystery