“Any luck on the guy he fought with at Louie’s last night?” Stone asked.

Tommy nodded. “Guy name of Billy Guy.” He jerked a thumb behind him, toward the row of charter fishing boats. “He skippers a fisherman parked over there. My guy Daryl is talking to him now.”

“That’s quick work,” Stone said.

“It’s Key West; nobody who lives here can go into a restaurant or bar without being seen by somebody who knows him. It makes life simpler when you want to find a guy.”

“Any news on what the fight was about?”

“Daryl will bring us up to date after he pumps Billy. He’s already talked to a couple of witnesses; you’re next.”

“Sounds like he won’t need me,” Stone said.

“You could be right,” Tommy replied, turning the page of his newspaper.

“Anything worth reading in there?” Dino asked.

“Nothing about Charley Boggs,” Tommy said. “He was found only a couple of hours ago.”

“Do a lot of people in Key West get shot in the back of the head?”

Stone asked.

“Remarkably few compared to, say, New Orleans or Chicago. Last execution-style killing I can remember here was year before last. This one is the first gunshot killing of any kind this year. Hope it’s the last.”

Daryl appeared on the gangplank. “Permission to come aboard, skipper?”

“Get your ass aboard,” Tommy called back.

Daryl, clad in jeans and a splashy shirt with a lot of tropical fruit on it, came onto the rear deck and seated himself on the railing, since all the chairs were occupied by his elders.

“So?” Tommy asked. “Are we charging Billy Guy with Charley’s murder?”

“Probably not,” Daryl said.

“What was the fi ght about?”

“Charley made an unkind comment about Billy’s girl. Billy took exception and put a fist in Charley’s face.”

“I got sort of a sideways look at that,” Stone said. “The management separated them before it got any farther.”

“Was Charley’s remark unkind enough to make Billy want to kill him?” Tommy asked.

“Nah,” Daryl replied, “and his girl wasn’t even along. She was back on his boat with PMS. He got home about nine and stuck.”

“Is that just Billy’s story, or did she confi rm it?”

“She confirmed.”

“It’s not very far from over there to over here,” Tommy pointed out.

“I know Billy,” Daryl said. “I don’t think he has a murderous streak.”

“If you say so, Daryl,” Tommy said.

A Boston Whaler putted by with Charley Boggs’s corpse covered and strapped to a stretcher.

“You have a decent medical examiner down here?” Stone asked.

“Yeah, but he ain’t going to find anything, except a bullet in Charley’s brain. This one ain’t rocket science.”

“Then somebody tell me who offed Charley Boggs,” Stone said.

“And tell me if Evan Keating had anything to do with it.”