“Phil,” Ned said abruptly. “You handle the boats. You’re the one who helped us dock when we got here.”

Norton gave a start and shook his head. “It wasn’t me! I don’t . . . the trapper! He must have come back.”

Bebe said, “Ned’s right. It’s Norton who should have checked them. Maybe he did.” She pivoted to face the caretaker. “Maybe you’re the one who let them go.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Camilla. “Philip would never do such a thing. How could you even suggest it?”

“You heard them,” said Bebe. “Someone in this room is a killer, and I refuse to believe it’s a Sinclair. My God, we’re not animals.”

“I’ve got a dead body that suggests otherwise,” I said.

Bebe ignored me. “How can you defend him, Nana? Philip’s not even family!”

Camilla’s eyes flashed. “He’s family to me.”

A violent flush crept up Norton’s bare neck. “I swear it, to all of you. It wasn’t me.”

I was inclined to believe him, but there was no denying Norton was in a unique position on the island. He had the freedom to wander off without anyone batting an eye. It was his job to be invisible, to live on the fringe of this miniature society, and he spent more time alone than any of them. He wasn’t part of the family in the same way as the others, regardless of his relationship with Camilla. Norton had no reason I could see for wanting to hurt Jasper or Abella. That didn’t make him innocent.

“Ned’s not family either,” Miles pointed out.

“Neither are you, Miles,” said Ned.

“Ned and Abby were friends. Ned and Jasper, too,” said Bebe, keen to protect her lover. “If someone let the boats go that means someone wants us stranded here. But why?”

Flynn began to laugh. It started as a chortle, the intensity building until his voice boomed through the room. When he was done he wiped his eyes and tapped the ashes from his cigarette onto the coffee table. “Guilty,” he said with a shrug. “It was me. I let the boats go free.”

Tim and I swapped glances. We hadn’t been back to the boathouse all day. The boats could have disappeared hours ago. Other than Norton, Flynn alone hadn’t come to the parlor when Tim asked him to that morning. He could have slipped outside while I conducted my search of the house. He had plenty of time to make it to the boats and back.

“Care to explain?” Tim said.

“It’s simple. My boyfriend was threatening to leave me,” Flynn said. “He abandoned me in the city yesterday morning, and when I finally caught up with him here, he completely blew me off. I knew the next time Ned went somewhere without me he wasn’t coming back, and I had a hunch it wasn’t going to be all snuggles by the fire this weekend. Obviously, I was right—and it worked out perfectly, because now there’s plenty of time to explain why he’s fucking my sister.”