On a Killer's Trail (18 page)

“W
e’ll owe Kate big-time if we can get Burton this morning,” Connor said as they sped down Congress Street in Neil’s pickup. “Roberta Palmer’s finally got the picture that she and Jim Burton are not going to retire together.”

“Is the district attorney going to cut her a deal?” Neil asked, keeping an eye on Tony’s Mustang in his rearview mirror.

“Sounds like it. When I told her we managed to keep Burton from getting the building fund money he had transferred and spelled out her options for her, she told me how they planned this thing.”

“Even the murders?” Neil asked.

“Yeah. She wanted to make sure we knew she didn’t pull the trigger. She heard Ted telling Edna something was wrong, and that he thought Mr. Burton was a bad apple.”

“Just a vague suspicion?”

“No, apparently Ted had heard Burton say something incriminating. Roberta wasn’t exactly sure how much he knew, but she insists he knew about their plans. He looked daggers at her all morning, and she eavesdropped on him and Edna while they were bathing the puppies. She heard Ted say the Society had better not trust Burton, and that he thought he had his eye on the building fund. That was on Christmas Eve. Roberta went straight to Jim. They tried to come up with some way to stop the two from telling anyone else. Jim wasn’t sure what they could do, but he improvised a way to get their house keys. Roberta told them that the parking lot was going to be
plowed, and she’d move their cars for them. They both handed over their key rings. She went and moved their cars to the other side of the lot, and Jim went out and took the keys from her. She avoided Edna and Ted for an hour or so, and Jim brought the keys back. Then she went in all apologetic and returned them. Made an excuse, like she’d had to run to the bank or something.”

“That’s why the houses were locked when the bodies were discovered,” Neil said. “He made copies of their house keys.”

“Yes. He didn’t really need to go to all that trouble. Both volunteers would probably have let him in anyway, but he wanted to get inside without alerting their families, I guess.”

“Except Ted Hepburn lived alone.”

“Right. Just him and the four cats. Roberta insists she didn’t know Burton was going to kill Ted and Edna, didn’t even think he planned to do it. Just a spur-of-the-moment thing, she said.”

“Oh, I’ve heard that one before,” Neil said. “‘Please, Mr. Detective, I didn’t mean to do it. I just took my gun along to scare him with it.’ Give me a break.”

“Yeah, well, it might work for one murder, but not two,” said Connor. “And you don’t have your victim’s house keys copied if you only intend to scare him a little. Roberta said he told her afterward that he couldn’t think of any other solution. Roberta said she was appalled.”

“Naturally.” Neil shook his head. “So appalled she ran right to the police and told them her boyfriend, with whom she was planning to steal upward of a million dollars, had just killed two people.”

“That’s my take, too,” said Connor. “At least she’s ready to testify against him now.”

“What if he says she did it?” Neil asked. He’d seen a murder case like that, where two people blamed each other, and they both walked.

“I think we’ve got him,” Connor said. “Stephen saw him cleaning the gun, and he got Roberta to mail him the cash. He
personally emptied the building fund accounts. We’ve got enough to keep him in jail a long, long time.”

“Well, I hope we can make the murder charges stick.” Neil drove in the front entrance of the pancake house’s parking lot as Tony gunned his Mustang in the side entrance.

“Green car,” Neil said to Connor. “Where is it?”

Connor scanned the lot, gritting his teeth. “Not here. We’ve lost them.”

On the other side of the lot, Tony eased along the row of cars.

“Stop!” Connor clawed at his seat belt.

“What?”

“That’s Kate’s car.” He jerked his chin toward a red compact sedan.

Neil looked. A wave of sickness tossed his stomach. Connor threw off the belt and yanked his door open. Neil slammed the gearshift into Park and jumped out. Connor was already opening the driver’s door of Kate’s car.

Tony pulled up and lowered his window. “I thought you said it was a green car.”

“That’s Kate’s car,” Neil told him. “She didn’t leave when I told her to. Check in the restaurant and see if she’s inside.”

Tony bounded from his seat, leaving his treasured Mustang idling in the traffic lane of the parking lot.

Connor straightened and shut the car door. “The passenger door is locked, but this one wasn’t.”

“She got out on her own.” Neil managed a half smile. “Hey, she’s probably close by.”

Connor shook his head. “This was on the floor near the gas pedal.”

He held up Kate’s phone.

Kate huddled against the door in the backseat of Jim Burton’s car, as far away from him as she could get. Burton sat beside her, pointing the gun at her midsection while his son drove.

“Too bad you had to be so nosy,” Burton said. “When Stephen
told me you were watching us, I couldn’t just drive off and leave you there. You would go to the police. I can’t have that happen until we tie up a few loose ends.”

“Until you get your money, you mean? I know they blocked your foreign bank account, Mr. Burton. There’s no way you’ll get that building fund money. Ever.”

He scowled. “Stephen told me you were asking him all kinds of questions about me Friday. He thought he didn’t spill anything important, but I guess he was wrong. Have you been following him, or did he tell you where I was?”

“Neither.”

“Right.”

“It’s true. I took a different route to work this morning, and I just happened to be driving past the pancake house when Stephen got out of your car.”

“As if I’d believe that.”

Kate clamped her lips together and looked out the window. Stephen turned onto Forest Avenue, and she wondered where they were going. Not Jim and Claire Burton’s home.

A few minutes later, Stephen parked on a side street.

“We’ll wait here,” Burton said, still holding the gun on Kate.

“You know they won’t give it to me,” Stephen said. “They wouldn’t give it to Sean.”

“That was Saturday. There’ll be a different clerk on today. Wait until there are several people in line. When it’s busy. You just never know.”

Stephen got out of the car. Kate watched him cross the street. They waited nearly ten minutes in silence. She wondered if Burton would shoot if she opened the door and ran.
Lord, give me wisdom.
Her heart sank as she saw Stephen walking down the sidewalk empty-handed.

He opened the car door and slid into the driver’s seat. “They won’t give it to me. They asked for ID.”

“Did you show them any?”

“No. I said my father would come and get the package.”

Burton swore. “Did you see any cops?”

“No. But there are a lot of cars in the front parking lot.”

“I guess it’s the only way.” Burton raised the gun a couple of inches, drawing Kate’s attention to it. “Miss Richards, I’ll have this in my pocket, pointed at you every second. Walk slightly ahead of me and go in the side entrance of the post office. Get in the shortest line. And don’t even think about yelling or trying to run. I won’t hesitate to shoot.”

Kate began to tremble. “Can’t I stay here with Stephen?”

“No. I need a guarantee that I’ll leave the post office alive. You are my insurance. Now get out on the sidewalk, and remember—I’m right behind you.”

Tony ran out of the restaurant. “She’s not in there.”

“You sure?” Neil called.

“Positive. Ask the ladies in the restroom how I know.”

Connor was already on his radio with the dispatcher. “Send four units to Jim and Claire Burton’s house.” He gave the address. “And we’ve got to watch the interstate south.”

“You think he’s back with the wife?” Tony asked.

Neil shrugged. “He’s got both his boys running errands for him. And Mrs. B was in deep denial about the murders last week. Maybe he’s convinced her Roberta did it and set him up.”

Connor yelled, “Come on, let’s move.”

Tony opened the door of his Mustang. “Burton’s house?”

“I don’t know where else to look,” Connor said. “You think we should send a unit to the animal shelter?”

“The post office,” Neil said. “They were getting breakfast while they waited for the window to open at the post office.”

Connor met his gaze and slowly nodded. “Right. Emily is back on duty this morning. Let’s go.”

Neil jumped into his truck. Tony slapped a blue light on the top of his Mustang and roared out of the parking lot.

They were halfway to the post office when the dispatcher called Connor. His features tightened as he took the call.

“All right, send as many uniforms as you can. Now.” He turned to Neil. “Emily just notified dispatch. Jim Burton is at the post office wearing the Parlin disguise, and there’s a woman with him. He handed in the card for the package, and Emily’s stalling him.”

Neil flipped on his flashing blue light and siren. Connor grimaced and clapped his hands over his ears, but didn’t complain.

Kate stood beside Burton before the post office counter, trying to keep her face impassive. Burton’s occasional nudge in her side and his stony expression kept her pulse thundering.

“Here you go, Mr. Parlin,” said the clerk, setting a white box on the counter. “Sorry about the delay. Just sign right here, please.”

“What for?”

“This package was insured.”

Burton hesitated. That must not have been in the plan, Kate thought. He scrawled something on the form the clerk handed him and tossed down the pen.

“Thanks.” He tucked the package under his arm and nodded to Kate. She turned toward the door, her mind racing. Now, if ever, was the time to act, while he was distracted and had the package to deal with. He’d gone to a lot of trouble to get it, and she was pretty sure he wouldn’t want to let go of that, no matter what.

When she opened the post office door, she heard sirens in the distance and hesitated. Burton swore. He stepped close to her and put his arm around her.

“My gun is right under your rib, darling. Don’t try anything. Just walk quickly with me to the car.” As they reached the curb, there was a slight break in traffic. “Go now.”

Kate’s breath came in shallow gasps as she hastened across the street. A few more steps, and she could see the green car, parked around the corner. The volume of the sirens surged, and a dark car pulled in next to the sidewalk, a few feet ahead of
them. Burton stopped, and Kate darted another glance toward the car they had arrived in. Stephen started the green car moving, just as a red Mustang turned the corner and swung in front of it. She winced as metal crunched metal.

Burton’s arm clamped her hard against his side, and he swung her around. The siren volume was painful now. A black pickup drove toward them with a blue strobe flashing on the dashboard. She recognized Neil and Connor as the truck jumped the curb and hit the sidewalk. She opened her mouth to scream. He would never stop in time on the snowy sidewalk.

Burton jumped back, pulling her with him, and Kate shoved him hard. They both went down into the snowbank that edged the sidewalk. She thrust herself away from him and struggled to stand.

Strong hands seized her from behind and lifted her.

“Put you hands up, Burton.”

She saw Connor reach down and retrieve Burton’s handgun from the snow.

“Kate, are you all right?”

She whirled around and realized Neil was the one who had pulled her away from Jim Burton. She stared into his face for a moment, unable to form words. He hauled her in against the front of his jacket and wrapped his arms around her.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.”

She closed her eyes and leaned against him, shaking.

“Come sit in the truck,” Neil said.

Her knees quivered uncontrollably as they went the few steps, and he opened the door for her.

“In you go.” He dashed to the driver’s side, got in, killed the siren and turned the heater up as high as it would go.

Kate drew in a deep breath and tried to stop her lips from trembling. “I’m surprised you’re still speaking to me.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Kate, how can you—”

“You said I was stubborn, and you were right.”

Comprehension dawned in his eyes. “Did I say stubborn?
I meant tenacious.” He reached for her and pulled her against his shoulder.

She closed her eyes and squeezed him. “Do you need to be out there?”

“We’ve got at least twenty cops on it. I think Connor would want me to keep an eye on you.”

She opened her eyes and sat up, squinting out at the sun-on-snow glare. Burton was handcuffed, and two uniformed officers held him while Connor read him his rights. Tony Carlisle was frisking Stephen, who stood with his hands on top of his father’s car. The Mustang’s front left fender was melded to that of the green sedan.