“Oh, really,” said Gabe. “How did he explain it?”

The captain hesitated.

“Our daughter is missing, Chief Kittery,” said Michelle. “How did Ridley Drake explain being at our home?”

“He said he thought you were here,” said Lt. Braga. “But when no one answered, he left.”

“He said he thought I was here?” asked Michelle.

“Yes.”

“That’s bullshit. He had zero reason to think that.”

“Look,” said the chief. “I don’t really want to get into the middle of what is clearly a complicated situation…”

“You need to ask Ridley Drake about my daughter,” said Michelle. “I realize that most of your so-called work here consists of golfing and cocktails but you are supposed to be a police officer. You have a witness in your custody who says that Ridley Drake stole his phone—a phone that had evidence of a crime on it. You now have a copy of that evidence—of Ridley’s son committing a crime against my daughter. My daughter who hasn’t been at school, hasn’t communicated with her friends or family, and hasn’t been on social media in almost two weeks. We believe she is in danger. She was seen with a ticket to Woods Hole last weekend and the boy you have in custody says she was planning to come to the island. Do your job and look for her.”

“The airport has no record of her flying in,” offered Lt. Braga. “We have officers looking at footage from the ferry. If she was here, we’ll find out.”

“But until then,” said the chief, “I’m sure you understand that I can’t just force citizens to answer questions based on speculation.”

“Nobody’s asking you to force anyone,” said Nathan. “They’re asking you to try. If you actually wanted to find Claudia you’d try. Unless you’re afraid, for some reason.”

“Afraid?”

Nathan shrugged his shoulders. “Ridley Drake is a big shit, right? ‘Prominent lawyer.’”

“He’s got something on everybody,” said Edie. It was something he’d told her that summer: Information is just as valuable as money. More, sometimes. You want to know which judge has a secret kid; which one is a pothead; which ADA has a daughter with a shoplifting issue. Which one is having an affair with a hot teenager. He’d laughed. And she’d laughed, too. She’d been flattered. An affair. “What’s he got on you?”

“I think we’re done here,” said the chief. “I understand you’re concerned…”

“You’re a piece of shit,” spat Michelle.