Page 17 of Nightshade
“And probation.”
“Good to know. Thanks.”
Stilwell disconnected and thought about Gaston. The conviction on his record was too old to have a probation tail, but he knew it could still be useful in dealing with Gaston the following week, when Stilwell was sure he would come in to make a deal.
He walked down the dock, surveying the harbor. All four mooring lanes appeared to be at capacity now. He saw several parties already beginning on the decks of the smaller boats and in the salons of the yachts. The holiday weekend was underway.
The harbormaster’s tower was at the end of the pier, its upper-level windows lit from within. Stilwell could see Tash up there at the control desk. At the door, he punched in the numbers on the combination lock and entered.
He went up one flight to the control room, which was octagonal,with windows all around giving views of all mooring lanes and slips as well as the pier and the mountains that ringed the harbor. Tash was standing at the control counter holding a radio mic to her mouth.
“Sorry,Delilah,we’re full up,” she said. “All rental and owner moorings are spoken for at this time. I can offer you a mooring at Descanso or Hamilton until something opens up in the harbor.”
Stilwell knew she was talking about the mooring lines available outside the protection of the harbor. He also knew that the capacity of the inner harbor was 360 boats of various sizes. When they were all taken, the town was full and busy. Shopkeepers, restaurateurs, and hoteliers were pleased, Mayor Allen was happy, and all was well.
Supposedly.
Stilwell waited while Tash radioed instructions to the harbor patrol boat to leadDelilahto a mooring off Descanso Beach. When she was finished, he approached the desk.
“Tash.”
“Hey. Any news on the body?”
She whispered the wordbodyas though saying it louder might create a panic in the harbor.
“Nothing yet. You thought of anybody with a purple streak in her hair?”
“No, not yet.”
“I know you’re super-busy, but how long would it take to pull together a list of what boats were in the harbor last weekend through Tuesday?”
“Why?”
“I’m guessing that body was in the water four or five days. That would take us back to last weekend. I’d like to know who was in the harbor then and the next few days after.”
“I thought the investigation was being handled by the overtown sheriffs.”
“It is, yeah, but they’re going to need all the help they can get. Do you want me to talk to Dennis about getting records?”
Dennis Lafferty was the harbormaster and her boss. He was probably down in his office under the control room.
“No, I can do it. Just that today is busy. Maybe in the morning when people are still in their bunks?”
“That would be fine. Thanks.”
“I’ll do my best to pull it together. I feel so bad about that girl. It’s horrible.”
“Yeah. It is.”
“I could see them from up here when they pulled her out. She was already in a body bag.”
“Yeah, they do that when the recovery is in a public place with people watching.”
“Did you ever do it that way?”
“On the dive team? Yeah. A few times. Oddly, there’s something peaceful about it. When you’re underwater, I mean.”
Tash said nothing in response and Stilwell wondered if he had said something weird. She didn’t know much about his time on the sheriff’s dive team. It wasn’t something he liked to talk about.
