Stuart Woods: Hothouse Orchid

Holly awoke early the next morning, fed Daisy and herself, then took them both for a walk on the beach. Daisy ran freely among the dunes, as she always did, looking for just the right spot, then she returned to Holly with a stick of driftwood in her mouth, demanding that Holly throw it. Holly obliged, and Daisy dutifully retrieved the stick and returned it to Holly, wanting more. They made progress up the beach as Daisy retrieved, then Holly threw it once more, and Daisy stopped after a few feet and sat down on the sand.

“What’s the matter?” Holly asked, catching up with her. “You tired already? You haven’t even worn me out yet.”

Daisy made an urgent rumbling noise in her throat, then got up and began to walk up the beach, this time very slowly. Holly watched her, mystified. In their time together she had never seen Daisy behave this way. She followed the dog at her pace, and after another hundred yards Holly saw something in the surf ahead.

Daisy trotted ahead a few yards, sniffed at what seemed to be a lump on the sand, then sat down beside it and barked. Holly began to jog toward her. She was ten feet away when she recognized the lump. It was a body, female, naked, with long blond hair, lying face down in the sand. One ankle had a length of rope tied around it. Holly stopped, called Daisy back, then reached for her cell phone.

The sun was well up now, and a small knot of people was gathered inside a taped-off area on the beach. Holly sat on a dune with Daisy, watching them, thinking. She heard a car door slam behind her, and she turned to see James Bruno trudging through the dunes toward the taped-off area. He joined the group inspecting the body, chatted with them for a few minutes, then turned back toward his car. Then he spotted Holly.

He walked slowly toward her, as if to ascertain her identity, then he stopped a few steps away. Daisy was already on her feet in a guarding stance.

“Good morning, Holly,” Bruno said.

“Is it?”

“Will your dog attack?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

Bruno thought about that and decided to stay where he was. “I understand you found the body.”

“My dog did. I never got closer than ten feet to the woman.”

“Do you know her?”

“She was face down in the sand.”

He nodded. “If you’ve formed any opinions, I’d appreciate hearing them.”

Holly stared toward where the body was being loaded into the coroner’s wagon. “White female, mid- to late twenties, five-five or -six, a hundred and thirty pounds. No deterioration, just some puffiness associated with being in the water, so she was probably put into the sea last night from a small boat with an outboard engine and with a weight tied to her ankle. Her killer was clumsy, and his outboard cut the rope. She came ashore with the tide, and when it went out, it left her there.”

“That’s very good,” Bruno said.

Holly didn’t reply, just stared out to sea.

“Cause of death?”

“Unless there were wounds on the front of the torso, strangulation. There was a faint mark on the back of her neck. You’d be wise to order a tox screen from the state lab. Hurd Wallace could hurry it up for you, if you call him.”

“Why a tox screen?”

“You’ve probably heard that a serial rapist has been operating locally over the last six weeks.”

“Yes, but he hasn’t killed anybody.”

“Maybe he’s graduated to bigger, more satisfying acts,” she replied. “Maybe rape isn’t doing it for him anymore; maybe he’s decided to become a serial killer.”

He was quiet for a moment. “I understand you’ve had some communication with some of my female officers. I don’t appreciate that.”

“You think I care what you don’t appreciate? What did you expect me to do? Get you dates?” She looked at him and saw him go red.

“Good morning,” he said finally, then he started across the dunes toward his car.

Holly thought of siccing Daisy on him, just for the fun of it, but she didn’t. She got up, dusted off the sand and went back to the house. She found Hurd Wallace’s number and phoned him.

“Captain Wallace.”

“Morning, Hurd. It’s Holly.”

“Good morning, Holly.”

“I thought you ought to know, about an hour and a half ago Daisy and I discovered the body of a woman washed up on the beach, not far from my house.”

“Who’s investigating?”

“Orchid Beach. Jim Bruno turned up an hour late and asked for my impressions.”

“Which were?”

She repeated the assessment she had given Bruno. “I also think that if you search the garbage cans at the nearest marinas you might find her clothing and handbag.”

“Did you tell Bruno that?”

“No, I thought it would be more fun for someone else to discover what he had overlooked.”

“Is this the first time you’ve seen him since…”

“Yes. He’s lucky I wasn’t armed.”

“I understand. By the way, I had a talk with Lauren Cade late yesterday afternoon. I’m going to offer her a job. It’s good that she’s already on the state patrol; it will just take a transfer, not all the rigamarole that would be involved if I were hiring her off the street. I’m grateful for your recommendation.”

“You’re welcome, Hurd.”

“Thanks for the tip about the murder. I’ll get somebody on it.” He said goodbye and hung up.

Holly tried to remember if she had told Hurd that James Bruno had raped Lauren Cade. Probably not; it wasn’t relevant.

Holly had just hung up after talking with Hurd Wallace when her phone rang. “Hello?”

“Good morning, it’s Josh,” he said.

“Good morning.”

“I’m coming back for more; would you like to go out to dinner tonight?”

“Yes, I would,” she replied without hesitation.

“Where would you like to go?”

“You choose; I’m easy.”

“I hope so,” he said, laughing. “I’ll come and get you at seven.”

“That’s good,” she said.

“See you then.” He hung up.

He appeared at her door on time, and she let him in. “Would you like a drink before we go?” she asked.

“I’m hungry; let’s have a drink at the restaurant.”

“Okay by me.” She patted Daisy on the head. “Guard the place with your life, and you can sleep on the bed while we’re gone.”

Daisy turned and trotted upstairs. Holly secured the house and left with Josh, who was driving a newish Mercedes convertible, top down.

“Nice car,” she said, when they had cleared the gates. “How do you afford it on a public hospital salary?”

“The money isn’t all that bad, really,” Josh said, “especially if you don’t have to buy a wife a car, too. It isn’t as good as my general-surgery practice, but then I don’t have to support an office and a staff. How does the CIA pay?”

“It’s civil service pay, but I’ve been operating at a fairly high grade, and now that I’ve been promoted to the executive level, I’ll do even better. To tell the truth, I was afraid to ask how much better. I’ll find out when I get back to work. Where are we dining?”

“At the Ocean Grill in Vero Beach,” he replied. “Do you know it?”

“One of my favorites,” she said, “and I’m in the mood for seafood.”

They were halfway through their first drink when he changed the subject.

“I got your tox screen back,” he said.

“I thought that could take weeks,” Holly said.

“Not if you have a friend in the lab and not if you ask for a specific test.”

“And?”

“It was a benzodiazepine, trade name Rohypnol.”

“I know about that,” she said. “It’s a date-rape drug. But doesn’t it take fifteen or twenty minutes to take effect?”