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Viv was just peering into Stone’s face, without speaking.
“I think maybe you should lie back down for a while,” Dino said.
“I don’t want to. I want to see Vanessa. She has some explaining to do.”
“I don’t know what she could possibly tell us,” Dino said. “Are you looking for a message from the other side?”
“The other side of the coffee table,” Stone said, pointing at the empty chair. “She was sitting right there, in a bikini, almost.”
“Almost what?” Dino asked.
“I know what he means,” Viv said. “He’s not crazy, and he hasn’t had a stroke.” She reached into Dino’s shirt pocket and extracted the lime. She squeezed it slightly, then put it to her nose. “Amyl nitrate,” she said. “Or that’s my best guess, anyway. It’s been a long time.”
Dino smelled the lime. “Jesus, I think you’re right,” he said.
“You slipped me a mickey,” Stone said.
“No, somebody slipped me the mickey, and I unknowingly passed it on.”
“What were you drinking?” Stone asked.
“Scotch on the rocks,” they both said.
“No lime?”
“On Scotch? Are you kidding me?”
“It’s gone,” Stone said, pointing at the coffee table.
“The lime?” Dino asked. “Viv has it.”
Stone pointed at the table and shook his finger at it. “No, not the lime, the... other thing.” For the life of him, he couldn’t remember the word. Shaking his finger at the table wasn’t helping, but he continued to do it.
“The other thing?” Viv asked.
“What other thing?” Dino followed.
“The goddamned other thing that was there!”
“Stone, you’re babbling. Lie down again,” Dino said.
“I don’t want to lie down!”
And then they heard a faint noise from the cabin below.
“What was that?” Stone asked.
“A toilet flushing,” Viv said.
“Must be the maid,” Dino offered.
“Too early,” Stone said. “They don’t start before noon, in case we’re sleeping in.”
“I know what’s missing,” Viv said.
“What is it?” Dino demanded.
“The plastique bomb,” she said.
