Page 18 of Nightshade

“Okay,” he said. “I guess I’ll let you get back to it.”

“No, I… uh, it just seems so weird,” Tash said. “Her being down there for… how long did you say?”

“Probably four days. Maybe longer. The tide brought her into the harbor. It’s probably a case that has nothing to do with this place.”

“But then why are you asking about a girl with a purple streak in her hair?”

“Force of habit, I guess. But I’ll be standing down on this. Let A-Hole handle it from overtown.”

“A-Hole?”

“What they call Ahearn over on the sheriff’s homicide team.”

“I wonder if you had anything to do with that.”

“Could have. I’ll talk to you later, Tash.”

“Yes, see you later.”

Stilwell nodded, hesitated, then headed for the steps.

7

STILWELL WOKE SATURDAYmorning with a headache firing on all pistons behind his eyes. He didn’t know whether to blame the fumes he had inhaled during the dive the day before or the two fingers of Knob Creek he had put down after finally getting off work the night before.

He went into the kitchen and put a pot of coffee on to brew, then went to the front door. It was seven a.m. and he had received no calls from the sub during the night, so he took that as a sign that all was quiet.

TheCatalina Callwas on the front porch. Stilwell picked it up and sat on one of the Adirondacks as he unfolded it. A photo of the sheriff’s dive boat with the tented back deck was the center image on the front page. The headline was big and bold:HARBOR HOMICIDE: BOUND BODY RECOVERED. Stilwell smiled slightly as he thought about Mayor Allen unfolding the paper to the same image and words. He guessed that the editor of theCallhad not gotten the message that murder was bad for business.

The story carried Lionel N. McKey’s byline, and most of its details had been supplied by an interview with Denzel Abbott.The sheriff’s department officially declined to comment, which Stilwell believed would put him in the clear with the mayor.

TheCallwas tabloid-size, and the splash of the photo and story on the harbor homicide left room for only two other articles on the front page. One focused on the town council receiving a first look at design plans to build a giant Ferris wheel on the pier that would be lighted in neon and visible at night all the way from the mainland. Though billed as a project that would boost tourism to the island, it was a controversial proposal. Polling by theCallrevealed significant opposition from Avalon residents. It had become common to see signs on lawns and in windows that saidTURN THE WHEEL DOWN! And this was before any real plans had even been seen.

The last story on the page was another McKey-authored piece on the mystery surrounding the mutilation of a buffalo on the mountain preserve three nights earlier. The animal had been cleanly beheaded and the head remained missing. The mystery tapped into the island’s long history of supposed UFO and USO sightings. With no official update from Stilwell on the investigation, McKey had turned to a chorus of self-proclaimed extraterrestrial experts who were eager to plant the idea of alien mischief at the preserve. “Look, they’ve been coming to Catalina since forever,” said Jack Sprague from the Center for the Study of Unidentified Submersible Objects. “They’re in the air and water. This doesn’t surprise me at all.”

Other so-called alien experts were quoted as well, though none offered an opinion, scientific or otherwise, as to why the aliens would want a buffalo’s head.

Stilwell was about to turn to the continuation of the story inside the paper when he heard the front door open behind him.

“Coffee should be ready,” he said.

“I’ve gotta go,” Tash Dano said. “I’ll get some at the tower.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. Anything in there about the body?”

Stilwell stood up to show her the front page.

“The mayor didn’t get to Denzel Abbott,” he said. “He told McKey everything.”

“Oh, man,” Tash said. “His Honor’s not going to be happy about that.”

“Well, on the other hand, there’s an alien story on the front page. That should be good enough to get a boatload or two of true believers to come out and spend their money.”

“Aliens cancel out murders. Nice. You have any extraterrestrial suspects yet?”

“I have suspects. But they’re more of the terrestrial kind.”

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