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The turnpike took her to Florida City, and she headed down US 1, past the gas stations, one real restaurant and fast-food eateries to the eighteen-o and from there south and then west to Key West

They’d ins and crosses where those in a hurry had tried to pass, only to pay the ultie boat trailer, but she didn’ttilistened, the waves were gentle and cal land to widen the road and the stench of stagnant water overpowered the view, but the sight of a cor above the water seemed to lift the stench beyond her s, and then she was past it

A new overpass o a bit easier and faster, and it was still daylight when she arrived Key Largo was built up She assumed she’d see that all the way down the Keys

By six-thirty she had lost the daylight, and she had come to the middle Keys where there were still vast tracts that didn’t seem to have been built upcenter, but the lower Keys were still tiny and starkly populated She slowed at the signs warning that her speed needed to be minimal in honor of the little Key deer that roamed the area, and at last, in darkness, she reached Stock Island and then drove on to Key West Following North Roosevelt Boulevard around, she sought out the shopping plaza on the newer part of the island where the attorney had assured her he would leave the key to the Merlin house in a lockbox--a brand-new key because the police lieutenant had suggested new locks She found the shopping center easily enough, decided she’d just stop quickly for a sandwich at a small Cuban restaurant and went to procure the key As she punched in the nuiven her, the door to his office in the plaza opened

"Kelsey Kelsey Donovan! Young lady, you have grown up!"

Joe Richter was probably about fifty She reed at all His hair was snohite, and he had a full head of it He was lean, a gaunt ed to nity

"Joe, I remember you, of course," she said When she had called about Cutter’s death, he hadn’t reminded her that she knew him But she had been distracted when she called--still ing in guilt

"I was just about to leave--you just caughtof the will anytime you like You’re the only heir, so…Then," he added, clearing his throat, "we do need to ue, awaiting your plans"

"Thank you, Joe, for handling everything so far," Kelsey said

"He was h even I had barely seen him lately," Joe said

"When did you see hi? Was there any special reason you saw him then?"

Joe shook his head "No His will has remained the sa down on Front Street, so I took a ride out I told hi so I guess the house isn’t for everyone"

"No," Kelsey agreed, set so to need a lot of work" He hesitated "Can I do anything for you now? Would you rather stay soet you a reservation… Of course, you could have gotten your own reservation, if you had wanted," he added gently

"No, I think I need to get out to the house Everything is actually working, right? Electric, plu?"

"Oh, yeah, the police saw to it All I had to do was hire the locksmith--safety’s sake, you know?"

"Sure, thank you I’ll talk to you tomorrow," she told him

He nodded and watched her head out to her car She revved the engine and found herself looking around the plaza Shelot This portion of the island was fairly new, created by dredging salt ponds, digging so others Once she headed down Roosevelt toward Old Town, things changed Hospitals, restaurants, tourist shops and bars were interspersed arand dahts The Hard Rock Cafe was located in one of the old Curry mansions--in fact, it was "haunted," of course Robert Curry, unable to sustain the family fortune due to ill health and a lack of business smarts, had killed himself there Also on Duval was St Paul’s Episcopal Church, rebuilt and rebuilt again--and still the haunt of a sea captain and a group of children tragically killed in a fire Key West jealously guarded her ghosts, just as she did her bizarre history and all her citizens who had coh, turning to take Si onto the private road that led out to Cutter Merlin’s house

Her house