When she finished with the administrative stuff, the doc looked up. “Paul is okay.”

The relief sweeping through Maddie almost dropped her to her knees. She forced her lungs to inhale. “What happened?”

“A serious contusion. Looks like someone hit him in the head.”

Connor shot Maddie an unreadable look.

“Paul took a harder whack than you did, Connor. He has a concussion. He’ll be staying.” She tucked her pen in the pocket of her coat. “Has anyone gotten in touch with Winnie?”

“Captain Rogers is getting her,” Connor said.

“And Mr. Higginbotham?”

Maddie hadn’t even thought about the poor dog until Lela mentioned his name. The loyal pup’s bark had tipped them off to trouble. Paul could have been there for hours, at least until the sun came up and people started moving around, before anyone found him. Maddie didn’t want to think about that. She concentrated on Mr. Higginbotham instead. He deserved nonstop treats for life.

“Evan put him in Maddie’s house for now,” Ben said.

That was news to her. “My house?”

“The good news is the rest of you can go home and catch some sleep.” The doc looked at her watch. “But I’d hurry because people will be moving around soon. Once they do, they’ll want answers.”

“We don’t have many.”

She frowned at Connor over his comment. “Then you’re about to have a long morning.”

Watching Ben talk to the residents of Whitaker about possible danger was like watching a person walk into fire. He stood in the middle of the packed Lodge dining room and fielded questions about Paul and then about Owen. He never tied either to her, but Maddie felt the angry heat of every gaze in the room.

Lin, the island’s one reporter and the owner of the local newspaper, took notes. “Is there any connection between Owen Pritchard, the dead man, and anyone on the island?”

What felt like a hundred sets of eyes turned to her.

“We don’t have anything to share on that at this time. We’re still collecting information, but we do have a few leads,” Ben said, then quickly moved on to the next person when Lin tried to follow up.

Maddie watched the whole thing while holding her breath. Having Connor right behind her helped. His hand on the small of her back kept her standing. She feared she’d turn into a big pile of useless goo without his support.

Evan hovered in the background and Jenna stood with Sylvia behind the bar. The addition of those two was a lot of new people for a small, insular island. The room was awash with head-shaking and harsh whispering.