Orchid Beach (Holly Barker 1)

“My father was so alone,” Eleanor said. “We couldn’t get him to move to Atlanta, and I could tell from his letters that he was drinking a lot.”

“The coronor confirmed that in the postmortem examination. Hank’s liver was pretty bad, and the doctor thought he wouldn’t have lived more than a few months in any case. I know that’s no consolation.”

“It sounds as if you knew Daddy,” Eleanor said. “Did you?”

“No, I’ve only been in town for a few days, but Hank and my father, Hamilton Barker, served together in the army; they were in Vietnam together, so I knew about him. And your dad wasn’t that alone. He and Chet Marley were very close friends, spent a lot of time together. Chet hired me to come down here and be his deputy.”

Holly pulled into Hank Doherty’s driveway and stopped. As they got out of the car a black woman left the house by the front door.

“You must be Mr. and Mrs. Warner,” she said.

“Yes, we are,” Eleanor replied. “Are you Mary White?”

“Yes, ma’am. I took care of your daddy for a long time. He was a good man, and I’m going to miss him.”

“Mary, will you stay with us a little longer? You could show us around the house.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’d be glad to.”

Holly followed the three into the house, which was much more presentable than when she had last seen it. The bloodstains had been scrubbed from the floor and walls. The Warners were taken through each room, and Eleanor packed some family photographs and some other things into boxes with Mary’s help. When they had finished, they went back into Hank’s office.

“Mary,” Eleanor said, “there’s a lot of stuff in this house, and if there’s any of it you want, I’d like you to have it. We don’t plan to take much back to Atlanta, so we’d just have to sell it anyway.”

“Well, thank you,” Mary said. “There’s a lot I could use, and I expect my church could sell the rest at a tag sale they’ve got coming up this weekend.”

“Fine, we’ll pick out what we want, then you can have the rest.” She turned to Holly. “Chief, is there anything here that you could make use of?”

“Thank you, Eleanor, but I live in a trailer, and it’s pretty full.” She looked at the computer on Hank’s desk, a new-looking laptop with a compact printer next to it. “I wonder, would you like to sell the computer? That might fit into my place.”

“Please let me give it to you,” Eleanor said. “We’ve got a houseful of computer stuff, and we won’t have any use for any more.”

“I’d feel more comfortable if you’d let me buy it.”

“All right, I’ll sell it to you for a hundred dollars, not a penny more.”

“Thank you. I’ve got to get back to work. Tell you what, why don’t I loan you my car? I have a police vehicle at my disposal, and you could just leave the Jeep at the airport when you go.”

“That’s very, very kind of you,” Eleanor said. “I think that we can remove what we want from here and put the house on the market right away. I have to make some arrangements for the cremation, but we ought to be able to fly home tomorrow night.”

“Fine, keep it as long as you like.” Holly called the station and asked Jimmy Weathers to come and get her. She helped the Warners pack things until he arrived. “Well, I’ll be getting along,” she said. “Please call me before you go, and let me know if there’s anything I can do for you while you’re here.” She held out Daisy’s leash to Eleanor Warner. To her surprise, her throat was tightening, and she was blinking a lot.

Eleanor shrank from taking the leash. “Oh, no, we can’t take Daisy back to Atlanta. We’ve got four kids from seven to fifteen, two Labrador retrievers and a cat. Another dog wouldn’t work at all. Do you know anyone who’d give her a good home? Perhaps yourself?”

“Eleanor, Daisy seems to be a very special dog. I’m sure she’s quite valuable.”

“I know all about Daisy,” Eleanor said. “Daddy wrote me lots of letters with all sorts of details about her. But he also said that

she wasn’t good with kids, and that she was a one-man dog. Looks to me like she’s become a one-woman dog. It would be a great relief to me if someone who likes her would take her.”

Holly didn’t have to think long about that. “If you’ll let me buy her,” she said.

“A hundred dollars, and not a penny more.” Eleanor wrote her address on a slip of paper and gave it to Holly. “You can send me a check for Daisy and the computer at your leisure. I’ll send you a bill of sale.”

Holly felt an enormous sense of relief. Jimmy arrived and put the computer, the printer and the operator’s manuals in the trunk of the police car, and after warm handshakes, Holly drove away, leaving her car with the Warners.

“Are they taking Daisy back to Atlanta with them?” Jimmy asked.

“Nope,” Holly said, scratching Daisy behind the ear. “Daisy’s staying with me. I bought her from them, along with Hank’s computer.”