The Whitaker gossip chain was working at full speed and Maddie didn’t like it. “Did Ben tell you about that, too?”

“Some of the ferry workers did.” Sylvia looked at one of the tickets a waitress handed her and loaded a Danish on a small plate to be delivered to one of the tables. “You’re not exactly subtle.”

Maddie closed her eyes and wished for this day to end. “Great.”

“If it helps, on Whitaker that behavior isn’t considered weird.” Sylvia made another run for the coffeepot and refilled Connor’s mug.

Connor signaled for her to stop when it was half full. “Thanks, but that can’t be true.”

Maddie didn’t appreciate the shot of sarcasm or the eye roll he sent her way. “You’re the one who caused a scene at the ferry.”

He scoffed. “How is any of this my fault?”

Sylvia held up a hand as if trying to referee the ridiculous argument. “Not to worry you, but my guess is she also goes to Stark’s Marina to check on the water taxis.”

He glared at Maddie. “What water taxis?”

Sylvia waved to a few newcomers who walked into the dining room, but never missed a beat in the conversation. “The ferry only comes twice a week but there is a taxi service that brings people back and forth—for a steep price—from some of the smaller islands nearby.”

There were only a few ways on and off Whitaker, and all except for private plane required water. No bridges or tunnels, only boats. That made her job of watching over how people got on the island and how long they stayed much easier. “Dom tells me who is coming and going.”

Sylvia frowned. “I doubt that. Talk about lying.”

“What does that mean?” Connor asked.

“He thinks it’s his job to prevent Whitaker from being overrun by tourists, so he tells tales. He tries to throw people off the truth.” Sylvia lowered her voice as a group of customers walked by . . . very slowly. “He once told me the taxi sank. I found out later that he lied because he thought too many people arrived on the ferry that week and the lie was his form of crowd control.”

Connor shook his head and his expression said he wanted to comment on the oddities of Whitaker residents. “What would make him act like that?”

“Rumor is he used to work for NASA. So, I guess the answer is he’s an actual rocket scientist. Maybe they’re cranky by nature.” Sylvia shrugged. “Don’t know.”

Maddie had been listening and stammering and trying to think of a good way to respond to this new information. She gave up and went with the one response that summed up her thinking. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Sounds consistent with the rest of Whitaker,” Connor said as he took another sip of coffee.

Sylvia smiled. “Right?”