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shirt as they passed. “I’d like to talk to you.”
    “Sure.” Butz rested his elbow on the top of the car. “What’s up?”
    “I was wondering if you found out anything about Tay’s whereabouts.”
    The sheriff shrugged, his eyes slowly going over Paavo. “Well, I’ll tell you,” he said. “The more I look at it, the more convinced I am that the fellow just took off.”
    “Why?”
    “Well, one of these people here said they saw him talking with the hot tub boys by their car.”
    Paavo was surprised. “Who was that?”
    “It was that big blond guy. The one with the muscles. Jeffers, his name was.”
    “Jeffers.” Paavo wondered why this Jeffers hadn’t mentioned that fact to Moira or Angie earlier.
    The sheriff leaned his backside against the door of the car. Sparks shut off the engine. “In fact,” Butz said, “Deputy Sparks thought he saw Finley Tay riding through town this very morning. Ain’t that right, Sparks?”
    “Sure, Sheriff.”
    This was a new one, Paavo thought. “He’s sure of that?”
    “Let’s say he saw a skinny guy with long brown hair worn in a ponytail.”
    Paavo nodded, then spoke quietly, stating the obvious to Butz, but not letting his own suspicions show. “This area is a mecca for aging, displaced hippies. How many of them fit that description?”
    “Plenty.” Butz pulled out a Tiparillo and lit it. “That’s why marijuana’s the second biggest crop in the area. Right after lumber. Hell, these days with what’s happened to the timber industry, maybe it’s the first biggest crop. But that’s exactly why the folks in this town wouldn’t care what happened to someone like Tay. We don’t want his type here. These dope-smokers killed our livelihood, and with the spikes they put in trees, they’ve even killed some of our neighbors when their saws hit the spikes. They say earth first. We say home and family first.”
    “That’s why you’re not doing anything to find Tay,” Paavo said.
    “Well, goddamn, Inspector, I resent that. I do. Does this look like I ain’t doing anything?” Butz spread his arms wide, taking in the whole of Hill Haven Inn and the promontory it stood on. “I spent damn near an hour here. Only to learn that even these so-called investors—like that gray-haired boozer—don’t think Tay’s hurt at all. All he talked about was Tay’s money troubles.”
    “Which one was that?”
    “Hell, I don’t know. Bayman, I think. Martin Bayman. In fact, he said he lent Tay a lot of money for the inn, and he’ll lose it if the inn doesn’t open. He wondered if Tay might have taken them all for a ride.”
    “A con?” Paavo asked.
    “Could be. Anyway,” the sheriff continued, “when I get back to the office, I’ll contact his bank and credit card companies. If anyone tries to get at any of his accounts, we’ll learn about it right away, then track him down.”
    “What about doing a search out here in the meantime?” Paavo asked.
    Butz’s eyes narrowed. “After forty-eight hours someone can file a missing person report if they want. Even then, I’d have to get some of the townspeople to help search an area this size. Right now, I’ll tell you frankly, I don’t think I’d be able to get three men to join me. If Finley Tay’s disappeared, the last thing anyone in this town would want to do is to find him. Second to last is to help anyone connected with this wacko group. If you’re smart, you and your lady will get into that fancy car of yours and go right back home. Like I’m doing. Big Pacific storm’s headed this way, and I want to get off this damn hill before the rains hit. That’s when this whole hilltop turns into one big water slide. Why else would a nobody like Finley Tay be able to afford this place?”
     
    “He wasn’t very helpful, was he?” Moira Tay was waiting in the foyer when Paavo entered the inn. The way her hands were clasped in front of her, her voice so serene and slow, and with her all-black, floor-length