I watched Kurtz carefully. He said nothing. Expressed no emotion whatsoever. He just stared at the corpse on the slab like he was looking at something a deep-sea trawler had dredged up from the ocean floor. Whatever this was, it didn’t concern him in the least.

That’s the kind of person who could stalk a young girl, grab her, strangle the life out of her, and bury her body.

And consider Kurtz’s advantages. He was mobile, thanks to the yacht. He was afforded the same protections as Jamie Halsey. Nothing ever blew back on the kid. And Kurtz could be confident he’d enjoy the same kind of immunity. After all, he was a virtual member of the family.

I’m convinced we’ve found our killer.

Chapter 28

QUINN

“Tell me about the last time you saw her,” Quinn asks.

Jamie Halsey is seated in a chair so that he’s facing Quinn directly. Behind Quinn: the corpse of the unknown woman. This arrangement is not accidental. Quinn will be watching his suspect’s eyes as much as listening to his words.

“I don’t really remember. I was kind of drunk myself.”

Quinn’s expression doesn’t change. “Try harder. This is your ass on the line, not mine.”

“Okay, okay.” He glances over at the corpse behind Quinn, who notes the movement of Halsey’s eyes. “I do remember her friends laughing like lunatics—they were really drunk. And I think Paige…Ms. Ryerson…was dancing with Jake.”

“Captain Kurtz,” Quinn says.

“Yeah. I struck out, so maybe he thought he’d give her a try. I do remember that she was really strange. Flirty one minute, then next, cold fish. You know?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Come on, man, don’t be that way. You know how these girls can be. They’re total teases. They come down here to party and get out of control, right up until the minute they decide they want to be good girls and go home.”

“Is that what made you angry? That Paige wanted to go home?”

“No, I’m just saying…”

“Is that why you trapped her on your boat? So that you could party?”

“Trapped? No, man, it wasn’t like that…wait, I remember now! Those crazy loud girls—they pulled Paige away from Jake. He held on to her hands, trying to convince her to stay, but her friends wouldn’t let her. They practically dragged her away.”

“And that’s the last time you saw her.”

Halsey glances behind Quinn. “Yeah, I swear.”

A short while later, Captain Jacob Kurtz is placed in the same seat while the others guard Halsey in another room. Kurtz doesn’t look behind Quinn. Not even once. No matter how many times Quinn says her name.

“The last time anyone saw Paige Ryerson alive,” Quinn says, “was when she was dancing with you. Why did you kill her?”

“That’s not true,” Kurtz says, “and you know it. Those Clee girls dragged her away. And anyway, I heard she was making out with some islander cop later that night. So why don’t you go talk to him and let us be on our way?”