Page 56 of Nightshade

“Before I answer that, how did you know I was here?”

“I was just hanging out and I saw you go in.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. So… the body in the water?”

“No comment. Not my investigation.”

“That’s not true from what I hear.”

“Yeah, what do you hear?”

“That you went through all the harbor videos the other day. Probably why you were in there just now.”

The question told Stilwell that McKey had a source. OnlyDennis Lafferty, Heidi Allen, and Tash Dano knew about him going through the cams, and Stilwell didn’t think Tash was the leak.

“I was just getting a rundown on moorings for this weekend,” Stilwell said. “But I do have a question for you, Lionel.”

“Okay, ask me,” McKey said.

“How’d the mayor take the front page Saturday?”

“Ugh. Back at you with the ‘No comment.’”

“Now you see how it works.”

“But, speaking of the mayor, are you looking into the Big Wheel proposal?”

That came from left field. Stilwell was intrigued but didn’t want to show it.

“Should I be looking into it?”

“Well… seems like there’s some cozy cousins involved in that deal.”

“What does ‘cozy cousins’ mean?”

“Just a newspaper term, I guess. But I’ve been doing some digging into who exactly is behind the Big Wheel and there’s some smoke there.”

“And you’re hoping that I take the bait and look into whether there’s any fire? Then you get the headline without actually doing the work.”

“Well, there are some firewalls I can’t get through but somebody with a badge can. You could always feed me off the record, you know.”

Stilwell stopped and turned so he was face-to-face with McKey.

“I want to make something clear to you so it doesn’t end up in the paper,” he said. “I am not looking into the Big Wheel project. If you print that I am, then we’re going to have a major problem. Understand?”

“I understand,” McKey said. “I’m not trying to bait you. I’mjust saying that… there’s some smoke there, that’s all. And maybe law enforcement on the island should take notice.”

“But last I checked, being cozy cousins wasn’t a crime. So you go about your business and I’ll go about mine.”

“Okay, okay. I was just making conversation.”

They were near the entrance to the pier. Stilwell saw Lampley and Ramirez on the four-seat UTV driving on Crescent toward the sub. A man he assumed was Duncan Forbes was in the second row, his hands cuffed to the bar that ran behind the front seats.

“I gotta go now, Lionel,” he said.

“Sure,” McKey said. “But one last thing. Anything new on the mutilation case? I heard you went across last night. Was wondering if that had anything to do with—”

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