She looked impressed that he knew about those. “That’s right. Travers never picked his up. I mean, if he did slip past me, why didn’t he go to the event? That was the whole point of coming, right? I mean, if you want to visit Garrett Island, you can do it anytime. You don’t have to wait for some press conference to get a lift over.”

Joe nodded in agreement.

“The other possibility,” he ventured, “is that he got off the ferry before it left the mainland. Changed his mind about going. Maybe he got a call, family emergency, something like that, and he disembarked without you seeing him.”

Annabelle shook her head adamantly. “No, that’s not what happened. I saw him on the boat.” She screwed up her face, as if she might have committed some kind of sin. “Is it okay to call a ferry a boat? Or is that insulting or something? I guess it’s a bit big to call it a boat.”

Joe smiled. “Call it anything you want. But you say you saw him during the crossing.”

“Yeah, a couple of times. Once at the buffet table. And I was doing a quick walk around on one of the lower decks—I was trying to find a washroom that wasn’t occupied—and saw him talking to one of the other attendees.”

“Oh,” Joe said. “Who would that be?”

She closed her eyes briefly. “I can picture him, but I can’t think of his name. When he got on he made a joke about his passport photo looking like a picture the police give out when they’re trying to identify a body.”

“Okay,” Joe Bridgeman said.

“I think it was Ben something. Ben Stapleton, that was it. They were talking, but then I had to be someplace else.”

“Well, I guess I can have a chat with Mr. Stapleton,” the chief said. A thought occurred to him. “You must have contact details for all the members of the media who are here today?”

Annabelle nodded.

“Has anyone tried calling Travers?”

“Yeah, I called, and there was no answer. Went right to voice mail.”

Joe sighed. “Okay, well, I guess I’ve got my work cut out for me, then.”

Annabelle shook her head. “I’m to stay here, greet everyone for the return trip.” She looked at the black-and-white Arrival that had been outfitted for the chief’s office. “How do you like it?”

“Takes all the fun out of police chases,” he said.

The woman’s face turned serious as she looked out over the ocean in the direction of the mainland. “What if he was depressed?” she asked.

“Sorry?”

“Like, what if he jumped?”

“Off the ferry?”

She nodded.

“Did he seem depressed?”