“Two. Gilbert and Mark. Gilbert’s a captain, Mark’s a friend of his. Sometimes we go without Mark. Lately, David’s preferred to handle the boat as much as possible. I might be able to stop him from taking the guys. David’s pretty competent on the water.”

“No,” Matt said. “We need at least Gilbert present. Remember, you’re going to lure David onto the deck in the middle of the night in the middle of the ocean. You want to get David out of bed if possible. The more disoriented he is the better. Someone else must be piloting the boat back to L.A.”

“But Gilbert will see us.”

“Gilbert might see you and that’s a problem. How many levels is this boat?”

“There are three levels on top, two below.”

“Gilbert steers from the top level?”

“Yes.”

“Good. It won’t take long to get David in the water. The best place to push him overboard is at the rear. The roar of the engines should drown out his cries, particularly if he’s drunk and stoned. He might just go under and not come up.”

“But where will you be when I get David on deck?”

“Around. I’ll have to examine this boat ahead of time. When can I do that?”

“Tomorrow. We can go to the marina together.”

“We will not go together. You’ll go ahead of me and unlock everything. I’ll sneak aboard later. What’s the name?”

“The Stardust. I’ll find out exactly where it’s docked.”

“Do that. But be careful how you ask the question. Be casual.”

“Don’t worry about that. I like this plan.”

“This plan is far from perfect. It needs work. If Gilbert even sees you on deck with David, and David’s later found missing, it will look suspicious. Before you bring David on deck, you have to check and make sure Gilbert is concentrating on what he’s doing. He must have his eyes on L.A.”

“He usually does. He’s a no-nonsense kind of guy.”

Matt continued. “Let’s back up a second. We need to get Gilbert off the boat on Catalina while I sneak onto it. Is it possible he would accompany you and David and Carl to the club?”

“No. Carl and David are real class conscious. They like Gilbert but he’s still a hired hand. They would never go drinking and dancing with him. But I can figure out a way to get Gilbert off the boat.”

“How?”

“I can send him on an errand. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”

“I do worry. The way to make this work is to worry about every detail. I can’t just turn over a part of the plan to you.”

“You don’t have to get snotty.”