Orchid Blues (Holly Barker 2)

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, I feel kind of embarrassed about this."

"About what?"

"About my assessment of a certain person at our meeting the other day."

"Which person is that?"

"Franklin Morris."

"The loan officer?"

"That's the one."

"What about him?"

"Well, he didn't show up at church on Sunday, which is unusual. I can't ever remember his missing a service."

"Do you think something may be wrong with him? Ill, maybe?"

"Ill, no; wrong, yes."

"Tell me."

"Well, he didn't show up for work this morning, either, and he's usually here by eight. I called his home, and there was no answer."

"Did you send someone to his house?"

"I went myself."

"And what did you find?"

"I didn't find anything."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand, Joy."

"I mean, there wasn't anything to find. Nobody answered the door, and when I looked through a window, the house was empty."

"You mean there was nobody home?"

"There was nothing there-no people, no furniture, no nothing."

"You mean, he has decamped?"

"I think that's the perfect word, 'decamped.' I checked with his immediate supervisor and the other people on the platform, and none of them had heard a word from him."

"As I recall, you said he had come from your Miami branch?"

"No, I said he had come from Miami. We don't have a branch in Miami."

"I must have misunderstood," Holly said. "Did he come from another bank?"

"Yes, he had previously been at South Beach Bank. When he applied here, he said he wanted to get his family away from the big city and into a smaller, friendlier town."

"Did you check his employment there?"

"Yes, I faxed them and asked about him. I got a faxed reply the same day from the president of the bank. He said he understood Franklin's reasons far wanting to leave Miami, and he gave him the highest recommendation."