Stuart Woods - Dead In The Water

Stone sat, thinking about the woman, imagining her taking requests from other old ladies for dollar tips in some faded Palm Beach hotel, scraping by on Social Security.

"Stone, you still there?"

"Yeah, Bob; I'm sorry, I was lost in thought there for a moment."

"Anything else you need?"

"No, not at the moment; I'll call you if I do."

"Sure; see you later."

Stone hung up, depressed. Before he could move, the phone rang again. "Hello?"

It was Thomas. "Stone, there's somebody named Potter on the phone; says he's a lawyer, wants to talk to you."

Now what? "Okay, put him through."

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon, Mr.Barrington; my name is Harley Potter of the law firm of Potter and Potter, of Palm Beach, Florida." The voice was elderly, courtly.

"What can I do for you, Mr.Potter?"

"I understand you are the attorney for the estate of Paul Manning."

"No, that's incorrect. I represent Mr.Manning's widow in…another matter. I believe the estate is being handled by a firm in Greenwich, Connecticut." He gave the man the name of the firm.

There, was a long silence.

"Is there something else I can do for you?"

"I wonder, Mr.Barrington, have you, during the past few days, had occasion to meet a Mrs. Elizabeth Manning?"

"Yes, I have. She arrived in St.Marks the day before yesterday."

"Ah, good; I wonder if you could tell me where she's staying?"

"Do you represent Mrs.Manning?"

"I represent her mother, who is an old friend. Usually, when Libby travels, she keeps in close telephone contact with her mother, but nothing has been heard from her, and Mrs.Peters-that's her mother-is concerned."

"Mr.Potter, I'm afraid I have some very bad news. Mrs.Manning was killed yesterday in an airplane crash. She was on her way home to Palm Beach."

"Oh, dear God!" the man cried, more upset than Stone would have expected an attorney to be. "Are you absolutely positive? Could there be any mistake?"

"I'm positive. In fact, I witnessed the crash. It was a light, twin-engined airplane that flies people to Antigua, where they make airline connections. There was an engine fire; the pilot tried to ditch in the water, stalled, and the airplane disintegrated. All three people aboard, Mrs.Manning among them, were killed instantly. I believe the local government has been trying to notify Mrs.Manning's next of kin, but apparently they've not yet contacted Mrs.Peters."

"No, I'm sure they haven't; I spoke with her not ten minutes ago. This is just terrible; Libby's mother is so dependent upon her."

"I suggest you get in touch with the minister of justice in St.Marks, whose name is Sir Winston Sutherland, at Government House in the capital city."

"I shall certainly do that. I will want to make arrangements to bring the body home for burial."

"I'm afraid that two of the three bodies, including Mrs.Manning's, went down with the fuselage of the airplane in deep water. I should think that it is unlikely in the extreme that it will ever be recovered."

"Oh, how terrible."

"Mr.Potter, do you know if Elizabeth Manning had any life insurance?"

"Why do you ask?"

"It occurs to me that you might need an affidavit to establish death. I can supply that, having been a witness, and there was another witness, who I'm sure would be glad to do the same."

"Oh, good. Yes, there was a small insurance policy, little more than enough to cover the burial expenses. You are an attorney, you said?"

"Yes, I practice in New York."

"I suppose there will be an inquest."

"Yes, I should think so."

"I wonder if you would undertake to act for this firm in the matter of obtaining a death certificate and any other legalities which might arise. I'm afraid that Mrs.Peters could not afford to send me down there, and in any case, I would find it physically impossible to make the trip."

"I'm leaving St.Marks to return to New York the middle of next week, but until that time I would be happy to handle any details that might come up, including the death certificate."

"It me give you my address and phone number."

Stone wrote down the information.

"You may send your bill here."

"I would be glad to render this small service as a courtesy to Mrs.Peters," Stone said.

"You are very kind, sir. Ah…" He paused as if unwilling to mention something. "Mr.Barrington, Libby spoke with me before she left, and I was under the very distinct impression that she expected to realize some financial benefit from the estate of her former husband. Are you aware of any such benefit? Even a modest sum would mean the world to Mrs.Peters."

Stone winced. "I am aware that there was no mention of the first Mrs.Manning in Paul Manning's will," he said, "and that the alimony required by his divorce decree had expired."

"Yes, I'm afraid that is correct," Potter said. He sighed deeply. "No bequest, eh?"

"I'm afraid not, but I will raise the subject with Mr.Manning's widow."

"Would you? I would be so very grateful. Mrs.Peters's health is not good, and I'm very much afraid that without her daughter's help she will be unable to afford to stay in her apartment, and I don't know where she would go."

"I'll speak to Mrs.Manning about it," Stone said, "and I'll be in touch with you on my return to New York next week."

"Good. I won't mention this to Mrs.Peters until I hear from you; I wouldn't want to get her hopes up, you know."

"I understand," Stone said.

"One other thing, could you learn the name of the insurance company representing the owners of the airplane? If it crashed because of a mechanical problem, Mrs.Peters might be eligible for a payment from the policy."

Stone was anxious to get off the phone before he was saddled with any other duties. "Yes, yes, I'll inquire about that."

"I'll look forward to hearing from you, then."

"Good-bye, Mr.Potter."

Stone hung up and lay back on the bed. It was worse than he could have imagined, and he didn't know whether Allison would honor her agreement. He went back to work and tried not to think of the old lady at the piano in Palm Beach.

The inquest was held in the same village hall that had been used for the inquest into the death of Paul Manning, the coroner was the same, and the jury was indistinguishable from the first one. The only difference was the absence of Sir Winston Sutherland, who, apparently, could see no political advantage in attending.

Stone and Thomas gave their testimony, and then the mechanic employed by Chester's air taxi service was called and questioned by the coroner.

"State your name," the coroner said.

"Harvey Simpson," the mechanic replied. He was black and appeared to be in his early forties.

"Mr.Simpson, are you a fully qualified aircraft mechanic?"

"Yes sir, I am. I done my training in Miami, and I worked in Fort Lauderdale for eight years before I come home to St.Marks."

"How long had you done mechanical work on Chester Appleton's airplane?"

"For eleven years."

"The same airplane?"

"No, sir; Chester bought this one six years ago."

"Was the airplane in good condition?"

Harvey Simpson straightened in his seat. "Yes sir, it certainly was. I did an annual inspection on the airplane last month; I always kept it right up to snuff."

"What about the port engine?"

"That was the newest of the two. I installed it eight months ago, and it only had five hundred and ten hours on it."

"How long is an engine good for?"

"That one was rated for two thousand hours."

"So Chester had only used a quarter of its expected life?"

"That's right, sir."

"At the time of the annual inspection, did you find anything wrong with the engine?"

Harvey Simpson opened a plastic briefcase and removed a book. "I got the engine logbook right here," he said. "There's a list of what I done to it."