Page 79 of Nightshade

“It’s like LoJack for boats. A lot of these big boats get stolen and it’s like a hidden GPS so the boat can be tracked. Colbrink said he has it on this thing because it’s a custom-made one-of-a-kind boat. We’re thinking we might be able to pinpoint where the boat stopped when it went out into the bay and the body was dumped.”

Stilwell became fully alert.

“It’s that precise?” he asked.

“Supposedly it’s precise to a fifty-foot radius,” Sampedro said. “That’s a lot better than phone GPS.”

“How do we get the location?”

“I called the company down in San Diego. They need a search warrant. I’ll get going on it when I get back in.”

“Good deal. We get the spot and we probably get the murder weapon.”

“And maybe the phone.”

Stilwell was silent for a moment. He knew that search warrants took forever with cell service providers, and their datarevealed only numbers called or texted. The texts themselves were stored on the actual phone.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Sampedro said. “Salt water. I already talked to tech services. Fresh water, not a problem. But two weeks in salt water is going to make it a long shot.”

“Well, I guess we have to find it first.”

Stilwell was hopeful about Yacht Lock. It might cut a needle-in-a-haystack search down to a contained and viable target location.

“What’s going on out there?” Sampedro asked.

“I’ve got the search warrant for the club almost ready to go,” Stilwell said. “The judge comes over in the morning. And in an hour I’m interviewing a waitress who rented a room out here to Leigh-Anne Moss earlier this year. Until she apparently started staying with somebody else.”

“Do we know who?”

“That’s what I’m going to try to find out. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Let us know what you get.”

“You too. And one last thing. If the judge signs off on the warrant tomorrow, I could use some help out here with the search. There will be a lot of ground to cover in the club. Are you guys going to come out, or should I use some of my people here? I don’t think they have much investigative experience or have even served search warrants before. I could also use somebody from forensics in case we find biological evidence.”

“I’ll talk to Rex.”

“I could really use the help. It’s gotta be done right.”

“Tell you what, I’ll come out for sure and I’ll bring the tech we’ve got working on the boat. That way we have some continuity. Just let me know when you’ve got the warrant signed, sealed, and delivered.”

“Will do.”

Stilwell disconnected. He liked the cooperation he seemed to be getting from Sampedro. But he knew it was fragile. Ahearn was the senior partner and could change the level of openness at any time.

He had seen no one come or go from either the front or the side of the BMC during his short vigil. He suspected that the next day, when the weekenders started coming in, things would get busy. He turned the cart around on Crescent and headed back up to the golf course. The Sandtrap was nearly empty when he entered, and there was no sign of Leslie Sneed, but another server told him that she was in the break room and pointed him through the kitchen. Stilwell went through a swinging door and found Sneed at a table near the back. She was counting tips.

“How’d you do today?” he asked.

“Not bad for a Thursday,” she said. “But I need a big weekend.”

Stilwell pulled out another chair at the table and sat down. There was no one else in the break room.

“I thought you said we had to go down to the station,” Sneed said.

“We will,” Stilwell said. “But I wanted to ask you a few questions first.”

“Okay.”