Orchid Blues

"You seem young to have retired."

"Medical disability; I took a bullet in a knee."

Holly nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Barrington; you've been a very big help."

"Please call me Stone."

"Stone it is."

"There's something else."

"What?"

"There was something familiar about the robbery."

7

Holly's pulse quickened. "Familiar? How so?"

Stone wrinkled his brow. "It was six or eight years ago, when I was still on the force. My partner at the time, Dino Bacchetti, and I had lunch with an old acquaintance of his who was with the New York State Police. There was a bank in some little town in the Hudson River Valley that had two or three local industries that had the same payday for their workers each week. It was hit by a group who worked with almost military precision, wearing identical outfits and masks. That's about all I remember about it."

Holly turned to Hurd. "You know about this payday thing? Was the bank especially cash-rich today?"

Hurd stood up. "I'll find out." He left the room.

Holly turned back to Stone. "Can you remember anything else about this robbery in New York?"

Stone shook his head. "Not really; it was a long time ago, but when I saw these people this morning, I remembered that much."

"Could you have a word with your state cop friend and see if he has any other details?"

"I don't even remember his name, but Dino will; I'll call him tonight. He's out of the office today."

"I'd appreciate that." She gave him her card and wrote her home number on the back. "You said you were buying an airplane from Piper?"

"That's right, a Malibu Mirage."

"Big single, six places, pressurized, right?"

"That's right."

" Jackson loved that airplane. I think he might have gone for one in a year or two."

"I'm on the step-up program for the new Meridian, which has a single turboprop engine."

"When will you get that?"

"Another year. I'm pretty far down the delivery schedule."

Hurd returned. "I talked to the bank. Three of the big citrus growers had today as payday. The bank ordered extra cash for the workers who come in to cash their checks."

"Inside job," Stone said.

"Sounds that way," Holly agreed. "Hurd, I want you to set up interviews with every single employee of that branch; start with the people on the floor today. Figure out exactly how many of them knew about the big cash order, who's new on the job, and we'll go from there."

Hurd nodded and jotted something in his notebook.

"And I need somebody to run me over to the bank; Jackson 's car is still there."

"If you're finished with me here," Stone said, "I'll give you a ride. I've got to get back to Piper and give them a whole lot of money."

"Thanks," she said. "Scratch that, Hurd; I'll go with Stone."

Hurd nodded and left the office.

"I think we're done here, if you're ready," she said.

"My rent-a-car is out back."

Holly went to her office and got Daisy. She introduced her to Stone.

"Beautiful dog," Stone said, scratching her behind the ears.

"She's my best friend," Holly said.

They walked out to the parking lot and got into his car. Stone drove slowly, following her directions.

"You said you practice law?"

"That's right. I have an independent practice, and I'm of counsel to a big firm, Woodman and Weld."

"I've heard of them," she said. " Jackson loved his small practice. He just had one partner, and he liked being in charge of himself."

I can understand that," Stone said. "I enjoy the independence, too."

"How much longer are you here?"

"Just a couple of days. I take delivery of the airplane this afternoon, then I have to get some dual instruction time in before my insurance company will let me fly it back to New York."

"I can imagine," she said.

They drove along in silence for a couple of minutes. "Holly," Stone said at last, "forgive me for mentioning this, but you seem to be operating pretty well for someone who has just suffered a great personal loss."

"It's something I learned when I was in the army," she said.

"You were in the army?"

"Twenty years. I was an MP; finished up commanding an MP company. I learned to concentrate on the task at hand and forget about everything else. I'm in that mode now, but tonight, I'll probably come apart."

Stone nodded. At the bank, he pulled into the parking lot.

"Let's go inside," Holly said. "I want to see where it happened."

Stone led her inside. "There was a carpet here," he said, pointing. "We were standing right there."

Holly looked around. Everything seemed perfectly normal, except that they had taken the carpet away to have Jackson 's blood cleaned from it. She nodded. "Let's get out of here."

Stone walked her out to the parking lot to where Jackson 's convertible was parked. "Do you have his keys?"

"I have my own," Holly said, taking the key from her pocket. "Hop in, Daisy."

Daisy cleared the top of the door with room to spare and settled into the passenger seat.

Holly leaned over and took an envelope from the front seat of the car and opened it. Then it hit her. "Oh, God," she said. " Paris." She began to sob. "He was taking me to Paris for our honeymoon."

Stone took her in his arms, and she sagged against him. They stood there for a minute or two, and she gradually got control of herself. He handed her his handkerchief.

"Thank you," she said, blowing her nose and dabbing at her eyes. "And thank God none of my people saw that."

"Don't they know you're human?" Stone asked.

"No, they don't, and they're not going to find out anytime soon, if I can help it."

"Let me drive you home."

"No, it's all right. I'm back in my detached mode again. Sorry about your handkerchief; I'll return it to you."

"No need. It's one of many." He gave her his card. "Here are all my numbers, though, should you need to get in touch with me. I'll be glad to testify, when you've arrested the robbers."

"That's exactly what I'm going to do," Holly said, getting into the car. "I'll see you later, Stone, and thanks."

As she drove away, she saw him standing in the parking lot, looking after her. "What a nice man," she said aloud.

She drove back to the house and put the car into the garage. She managed to get upstairs and undressed before she collapsed on the bed and began crying again.

Daisy hopped onto the bed and laid her head in Holly's lap, making small whimpering noises.

Finally, Holly was able to get up and feed Daisy and take her for her walk on the beach. She passed the evening staring blankly at the TV set, letting the answering machine pick up the phone calls. Finally, exhausted, she struggled upstairs and fell into bed.

In the middle of the night, she rolled over, stretching out a hand for Jackson. Then she sat straight up in bed. She spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling.