Page 33 of Nightshade

“Product would be easier. Our inventory is digital. We could pull up sales of that individual product. Credit card is more involved.”

“Good. I’d be interested in anybody who bought one of these in, like, the past sixty days.”

“Okay.”

“How long will that take?”

“Uh, give me a couple days. Is this about that buffalo beheading? Is that what they used?” He pointed at the saw.

Stilwell was never surprised by how fast word got around. Avalon was a small town, and everybody seemed to know everybody’s business long before it ended up in theCall.“Look, Ned—”

“I know, I know. Keep it to myself.”

“Please.”

“No worries. I’ll call you when I’ve looked.”

“Thank you.”

Outside the store, Stilwell checked his watch. The autopsy on the body of the woman from the water was still a few hours away. He pulled his phone and called Tash.

“Do you think I can grab a screen over there and go through the harbor cameras for earlier this month?” he asked.

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” she said. “I can set you up. It’s pretty quiet around here.”

“You want me to bring lunch?”

“That’d be nice. Blue Rose?”

“Sure. What do you want?”

“Chicken mole, please.”

“Okay, I’ll be over.”

After he disconnected, Stilwell called Maggie’s Blue Rose and put in an order for pickup. While it was being put together he walked back to the sub to check in with Mercy. Deputy Ilsa Ramirez was in the dayroom bent over some paperwork.

“Sergeant,” she said. “I just took a missing person report on a guy Mercy said you asked about the other day.”

“Who?” Stilwell asked.

“Henry Gaston? He works as a mechanic in the cart barn for one of the tour companies.”

A dull thud hit Stilwell in the chest and he was silent for a moment as he digested the news.

“Who reported him missing?” he finally asked.

“His wife,” Ramirez said. “She says he hasn’t been home since Saturday morning.”

“What happened Saturday morning?”

“Nothing unusual. She said he went into work because one of the tour carts broke down and they couldn’t replace it because all the tours and carts were booked for the weekend. He said he’d be gone a couple hours while he fixed it, but he never came home after that.”

“Did you take this by phone or in person?”

“In person. I went to their house up on Tremont.”

“Did you ask if any of his clothes were missing?”

---