Paperwhite Narcissus by Cynthia Riggs

gun or his father’s.”
    “Is the boy all right?” Victoria asked. “Would you like a blueberry muffin?”
    “No, thanks. I’d love some coffee, though.”
    Elizabeth went into the kitchen and Casey sat at the cookroom table. “The kid is relieved, but still worried about the woman. I took his jacket to him.”
    “I suppose we won’t know what she was doing in the field until she can tell us,” Victoria said.
    Elizabeth set a mug of coffee in front of the chief. “Cream and two sugars, right?”
    “Thanks. I ought to cut back on the sugar.”
    “Are the state police still there?” Elizabeth asked.
    “They’ve cordoned off the hayfield and are searching for evidence. They’ve called the shooting attempted murder.” Casey finished her coffee. “I’ve gotta go, but I thought you’d want to know about the bullet.”
    “And the boy,” said Victoria.
    “Why would anyone shoot her?” Elizabeth asked, when Casey had gone. “I mean, nobody I know really liked Candy Keene, especially after she tore down that beautiful old house. But that’s no reason to shoot her.”
    “Someone must have known that the boy and his father practice
there on Thursdays and decided their shots would cover the sound of his.”
    “Everybody in West Tisbury knew they practiced shooting then.” Elizabeth passed the plate of sausages to her grandmother. “Another muffin, Gram?”
    “Please.”
    Elizabeth helped herself to another sausage. “You knew Ambler Fieldstone kept his boat in the Oak Bluffs Harbor, didn’t you?”
    Victoria shook her head.
    “An expensive sportfishing boat,” Elizabeth said. “When he took it out that last time, he told the dock stewards he’d be gone a couple of days. The harbormaster wasn’t concerned when he didn’t return.”
    “I need to talk to Domingo,” said Victoria. “Was he on duty that day?”
    “It was his day off. Just two dock stewards and me. Fieldstone had two young women with him when he went out.”
    “Really? Who were they?”
    “I’d never seen them before. From the way they were acting, they hadn’t been around boats much.”
    “Has anyone seen them since?”
    Elizabeth shook her head. “Not that I’ve heard.”
    Victoria started to butter the muffin, but set her knife down. “How old were they?”
    “Mid-teens,” Elizabeth answered.
    “What did they look like?”
    “Pretty. One dark-haired, one blond.”
    “I met two girls on the bus the other day who fit that description. They applied for jobs at the Enquirer .” Victoria picked up the muffin again and put it on the side of her plate. “Fieldstone wasn’t known as a rake, was he?”
    “‘Rake?’ That’s quaint, Gram. I don’t think he was hitting on them.”
    “And no one has reported them missing?”

    “Not that I know of.”
     
    “What could have happened to them?” Victoria picked up the muffin again, but still didn’t eat. “Two girls on an older man’s boat go for an outing. His body washes up on the beach several days later. Where were the girls when he was killed? Could Fieldstone run his boat by himself?”
    “Easily.”
    “We’ve got to locate those two.” Victoria picked up the muffin again. “Here you’ve made a nice breakfast and we’re discussing …”
    “Murder,” said Elizabeth. “You think Fieldstone was murdered, don’t you?”
    Victoria nodded and bit into her muffin.
     
    Victoria walked to the police station after lunch. “Murder and attempted murder. We’ve got to find those girls. And why did Candy Keene go to meet her killer?”
    “ We can’t do anything, Victoria. The boating death is in the hands of the Coast Guard. The shooting belongs to the state police and Candy Keene’s not dead. Colley’s got to take his obits to the Edgartown police. Not to me .”
    Victoria started to protest.
    Casey held up her hand. “It’s frustrating, Victoria, but that’s the way this Island’s law enforcement is.”
    Victoria’s face set. Casey sighed. “Do what