“We chitchatted while I walked him back and waited for Holly. He was an interest
ing man. Just from our brief conversation you could tell he was highly educated and had traveled extensively. I had mentioned wanting to take a trip to South Africa and he told me places to stay and things to do while I was there.”
“Did he ever say why he wanted to talk to Holly?” said Robie.
“He was a friend, I think he said. I can’t remember if he said he was her friend or a friend of a friend.”
“But let’s say he was a friend of a friend,” said Robie. “Why would Holly have agreed to talk to him if she didn’t know him personally?”
“Oh, I see what you mean. He would have had to say what the connection was, or else why would Holly want to see him?”
“Right,” said Robie.
“Well, come to think of it, he did say he was a friend of a friend.”
“And did he name the friend?” asked Reel.
“Just give me a second, it’ll come to me.”
They watched as she thought it over.
“That’s right, I remember now. He said that he and Holly had a mutual friend. When I told Holly the name she said that she’d meet with Walton.”
“Don’t keep us in suspense,” said Reel sharply.
“His name was JC Parry.”
Chapter
22
“WE SHOULD HAVE known that from the start,” said Robie angrily as they drove back to Grand.
“Known what?” asked Reel.
“That there was something fishy with this Parry guy.”
“Why?”
“Because he told Malloy that he was at Blue Man’s cabin to act as a guide when he found him missing.”
It took Reel a second to get his meaning. “And at least two people have told us that Blue Man didn’t need a guide because he knew the area so well.”
“And Zeke Donovan was one of them, and since he’s a guide you’d think he’d know. That’s the inconsistency I was talking about before. So why did Parry lie about being Blue Man’s guide and why did he want him to visit Holly Malloy.”
“We need to find Parry and ask him.”
Robie picked up his phone and called Malloy. “We need to talk to JC Parry. Where does he live?”
“But did you find out anything at the rehab facility?”
“Can you just give me the address?”
She did so and Robie clicked off.
Reel looked at him. “I sense you want to wall off the good sheriff from our investigation.”
“Right now, I want to wall off everyone except you and me. Things are way too convoluted to know whom to trust.”
“Let’s hope that Parry can enlighten us. But I doubt we can trust him, either. Why do you think he was at Blue Man’s cabin?”
“Maybe to check on him.”
“So if he discovered that Blue Man had gone missing?” said Reel.
“He’s going to be scared for himself.”
They reached Parry’s home about forty-five minutes later. It was, like all the homes around there, isolated and hard to get to.
As they cleared a slight rise in the ground the house came into view. It looked like it had been built from odds and ends and scraps of secondhand wood. There were several outbuildings, some chickens clucking behind fencing, and they were greeted by a mutt of a dog that came out from a crevice underneath the front porch.
A dusty pickup truck sat under a lean-to.
Robie put the Yukon in park and they climbed out.
The dog started to growl menacingly.
Robie put a hand on his gun but Reel dropped to one knee and beckoned the dog to her. It approached cautiously, and then, sensing that Reel was showing neither aggression nor fear, it ambled over and let her scratch its ear and stroke its head.
“What’s your name, cutie? Huh? Does that feel good?”
Robie watched in amazement as arguably the most lethal person of his acquaintance gently made friends with the beast.
She stroked its flanks and looked at its muzzle.
Then she looked up at Robie. “This dog hasn’t eaten in a while, Robie. You see its ribs showing. And you see how it’s swallowing and panting like that? No water.”
She looked around, spotted a dog bowl next to an outdoor tap, and filled the bowl up and put it down for the dog, which instantly started gulping water. Reel picked the bowl up before the dog was finished. “Don’t want it to get sick. We need to find its food.”
“We need to find JC Parry,” he reminded her.
“That’s sort of my point. The dog’s fur is well maintained and it otherwise looks healthy. I don’t think Parry is the sort to mistreat animals. He’s got water bowls for it and you see that dog bed over on the porch.”
Robie looked around. “So you’re saying Parry hasn’t been around to take care of his dog.”
“Right.”
“Didn’t know you were such an animal lover.”
She glared at him. “I had dogs growing up. They were my only friends. You know the rest of that story.”
“Let’s hit the outbuildings first and then the house.”
He touched the hood of the pickup truck perched under the lean-to. “Cold. You think he has another vehicle?”
“I think it unlikely. This doesn’t look like a two-vehicle sort of residence.”
They searched the three outbuildings and found lots of junk, hunting and fishing gear, and no sign of Parry.
They entered the front door of the house, which was unlocked.
Now they both had their weapons out.
Reel had left the dog outside.
The house was only one story. The front room was cluttered but the furniture, while worn, was in good shape. There was a blackened-face fireplace. Beyond that was a small kitchen that was neat and clean.
“No plates or cups in the sink,” said Robie.
The bathroom was tiny.
“No used towels, toothpaste, wet washcloths,” noted Reel.
“That leaves the bedroom,” observed Robie.
They approached the door down the short hall. Robie motioned to his left and Reel took up position there and crouched with her gun pointed at the door. She nodded.
Robie touched the doorknob with his hand and then withdrew it.
He nodded at Reel, slammed his foot against the door, and it flew open.
They swarmed into the room, with Reel clearing the area left and Robie the right and their guns meeting up in the center.
The room was empty and the bed made.