Found: A Matt Royal Mystery by H. Terrell Griffin Read Free Book Online Page A

back then, but somebody would have to go to a lot of trouble to figure that out.”
    “Maybe not, if the person was still friendly with Katie.”
    “Why would somebody go to all that trouble to send me that picture? It doesn’t make sense.”
    “I agree. We need to know a lot more than we do now.”
    “Matt, would you be up to doing me a big favor?”
    “Of course.”
    “Would you go to Orlando tomorrow and meet with Katie’s parents? I’ve got too much on my plate with this murder to be going out of town, and I want to get to the bottom of this thing with Katie. If that picture wasn’t just somebody’s bad idea of a joke, she needs me.”
    “I’ll be glad to go. You ready for bed?”
    “Yes. You need a good night’s sleep.”
    “Well, that, too.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    The drive to Orlando on Wednesday morning was boring, mile after mile of interstate highway. J.D. had called Katie’s parents, George and Betty Bass, before I left. They were expecting me shortly after lunch.
    Orlando traffic is a testament to poor planning. Interstate 4 winds through several sharp curves as it approaches the city, the result of politicians’ insistence fifty years before that the highway come through downtown. The curves slow traffic between the giant attractions such as Disney World and Universal Studios and the city center. Add fifty-two million tourists every year to the mix of harried commuters and you get chaos. I timed my trip to miss the worst of it and pulled into downtown Orlando two hours after leaving Longboat Key.
    I ate a quick lunch at the Wall Street Cantina, a restaurant I had frequented when I practiced law in the city, and then headed for the upscale suburb of Winter Park. The Basses lived on a tree-shaded brick street near the Rollins College campus in an old house that had been refurbished and modernized. The neighborhood was expensive and quiet and exuded an air of gentility.
    I was greeted at the door by a tall, thin man with gray hair, a large Adam’s apple and a patrician nose. He appeared to be in his mid-sixties and had kept in good shape. He invited me in, and I followed him to the back of the house to a room that that was mostly glass. It was shaded by the overhanging oak trees and looked out over a garden filled with azalea bushes. They would bloom soon and bring, for a short time, a blast of color that would overwhelm the senses.
    Betty Bass was sitting on a sofa, sipping from a glass of iced tea. She stood and shook my hand. She was a petite woman with a pretty face justdeveloping the lines that would soon give away her age. She had dark hair going to gray that she wore just short of shoulder length. “May I get you a glass of tea, Mr. Royal?” she asked. I declined and took a seat in a chair facing the sofa. George sat beside his wife.
    I smiled. “I guess you’re wondering why I’m here.”
    Betty returned the smile. “When J.D. called this morning, she said you were a lawyer and a friend of hers and that you were looking into Katie’s case.”
    George said, “I don’t think we ever met, Mr. Royal, but I knew you by reputation. I was a stockbroker in Winter Park before my retirement.”
    “I don’t know if that’s good or bad, Mr. Bass,” I said. “My reputation, that is.”
    He laughed. “Your reputation was sterling. An outstanding trial lawyer and an honorable man.”
    “Thank you for that,” I said.
    “Mr. Royal,” George said, “Betty and I only had one child. Katie was the light of our lives. When she disappeared, I didn’t think we would survive. We have, but it’s been tough. I think it’d be easier if we knew she was dead, if we could find a body and put her to rest. We’ve given up on finding her alive.”
    “Mr. Bass,” I said, “I don’t want to give you any false hope. I don’t have any idea that Katie is alive. Since J.D. joined the Longboat Key Police Department, she is perhaps in a better position to investigate Katie’s case. She’s in the area