Mr. Clarinet

A Novel

Nick Stone

For Hyacinth and Seb

And in loving memory of Philomčne Paul (Fofo), Ben Cawdry, Adrian "Skip" Skipsey, and my grandmother

Mary Stone

Yo byen konté, Yo mal kalkilé.

(Haitian saying)

Contents

Epigraph

PROLOGUE

TEN MILLION DOLLARS if he performed a miracle and brought…

Part 1

Chapter 1

HONESTY AND STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS weren't always the best options, but Max…

Chapter 2

BACK IN MIAMI, Max took a cab from the airport…

Chapter 3

MAX HAD KNOWN Joe for twenty-five years. They'd started out…

Chapter 4

AT THE HOTEL, Max took a shower and tried to…

Chapter 5

CLYDE BEESON HAD fallen far. Life hadn't just kicked him…

Chapter 6

MAX DROVE BACK to Miami and headed for Little Haiti.

Part 2

Chapter 7

THE FLIGHT OUT to Haiti was held up for an…

Chapter 8

THE ROAD AWAY from the airport was long, dusty, and…

Chapter 9

NIGHT FELL QUICKLY in Haiti. One minute it was late…

Chapter 10

THE MEN FROM the airport picked Max up for dinner.…

Chapter 11

DINNER WAS SERVED by two maids in black uniforms with…

Chapter 12

BACK IN THE car, heading down the mountain to Pétionville,…

Chapter 13

MAX LEFT LA COUPOLE at around two a.m. The Barbancourt…

Chapter 14

WHEN THEY WERE gone, he stumbled around the now-empty streets,…

Chapter 15

MAX WASHED HIS face and shaved and made more coffee.

Part 3

Chapter 16

"MAX, YOU STINK," Chantale told him and laughed her dirty…

Chapter 17

THEY DROVE DOWN Boulevard Harry Truman, a wide, palm tree–lined,…

Chapter 18

THEY DROVE TO the Boulevard des Veuves, where Charlie had…

Chapter 19

THE OLD WOMAN was as Francesca had described her, wearing…

Chapter 20

"SO WHAT DO you think? Did Vincent Paul kidnap Charlie?"

Chapter 21

THE RUE BOYER had once been a gated community of…

Chapter 22

A TEENAGE GIRL with a warm smile and braces on…

Chapter 23

MAX OPENED HIS notebook and pressed RECORD.

Chapter 24

THEY HEADED BACK to the bank, Max at the wheel…

Chapter 25

HE CALLED ALLAIN Carver from the house and gave him…

Chapter 26

NO MATTER WHAT Huxley and Chantale had told him about…

Chapter 27

HE FOLLOWED THE convoy to a clearing near the sea,…

Chapter 28

IN THE LATE afternoon, Vincent Paul got into a jeep…

Chapter 29

WHAT PASSED FOR nightlife in Pétionville was in full swing…

Chapter 30

MAX CALLED ALLAIN Carver the next morning and told him…

Chapter 31

NWOI ET ROUGE was named after the colors of the…

Chapter 32

CHANTALE DROVE MAX to a café where she ordered a…

Chapter 33

"IT'S NOT THAT we don't care. We do—only we…

Chapter 34

THEY LEFT FOR Saut d'Eau at four a.m. the following…

Chapter 35

TO MOST HAITIANS, Saut d'Eau is a place where the…

Chapter 36