by Jenn Vakey
Burton’s face twisted as he thought it over before quickly lighting up. “Yeah,” he said, pulling his own phone out. “I searched for the number online to see if I could find out who it belonged to. It should still be in my search history.”
After a few moments of searching, he sat the phone on the table and spun it around toward her. Sure enough, the number on the screen was a local one.
Rilynne jotted it down before she and Perez walked out, leaving Mr. Burton sitting alone in the small room. For the first time, the nervousness that had been hanging around him was gone.
“I’ll call and have the number run to see if we can get a name for the man,” Ben said, taking the note from Rilynne. He had apparently been standing outside of the door, listening to the whole interview.
“You can’t actually be taking any of this serious,” Perez declared. “For all we know, he could have either made up the entire thing or got the second phone himself and sent messages just to back up his story and give us someone else to focus on.”
“So you think we should just ignore it all together and put all of our focus on him?” Rilynne asked. She was shocked he was still holding on so tightly to his beliefs. She could feel anger building within her as she went on. “His lawyer is a pretty solid alibi. If I had to guess, I would also say that he informed his attorney of the affair before she was actually killed. Unless the entire thing was an elaborate scheme from the beginning to kill her, I think it’s time to stop fighting this. We can look into the possibility he was working with someone else, but our best bet is to start looking elsewhere. That includes looking into everything that we come across, even if you see it as a waste of time. If it pleases you, feel free to search into the husband. I’m going to start looking into what might have happened to the phone since we didn’t find it in her house. It’s possible she had it on her when she was attacked and the killer took it, or it could have been taken when her house was broken into. If her death was related to an affair she was having, it could have been taken to cover up any evidence of it.”
She didn’t wait for him to argue, knowing it would likely go on if she allowed it. Instead, she grabbed the file off the desk and opened the door to the second interview room before calling Ashton Lunieski back.
“Did he kill my mother?” Ashton asked as she walked up to her. Without waiting for an answer, she stepped past Rilynne and took a seat at the small table. To her surprise, Sergeant Perez also joined them. “I told her it was a big mistake to marry him. Is that what got her killed?”
“As of right now, it doesn’t look that way,” Rilynne said softly. “Mr. Burton was already back in California when she was killed. We will continue to look into the possibility he might have conspired with someone else to commit the act, but we have started considering other avenues. Did your mother mention anything to you about any problems she might have been having with anyone?”
“No,” Ashton replied without needing to give it any thought. “From what she told me, everyone here was very accommodating. In the past she had ended up butting heads with the occasional client, but this job was going very smoothly. She also really liked the island. She said everyone was very friendly.”
“Was there maybe anyone back home who might have had a problem with her?” Rilynne asked. “What about her business partner? Or someone on a past job?”
Ashton shook her head and wiped a tear from her cheek. “The business was going really well,” she stated. “Mom and Paul, he’s her partner, practically grew up together. He’s been like an uncle to me. He would never do anything to hurt her. The truth is, the business would fall apart without her. Paul is a great people person, and he’s fantastic at bringing in business. He doesn’t really have to knowledge to actually oversee the restorations. He was a business major; mom was the historian. He’ll be the first to tell you they wouldn’t have anything without her. And as for past jobs, I can’t think of anyone who would have actually been angry enough to do this. Definitely not anyone who would make the effort to go to a different country just to kill her.”
“Mr. Burton has mentioned the possibility that your mother might have met someone after arriving in Spicer Island,” Rilynne said, careful to choose her words.
Ashton looked discomposed by the question. Rilynne was on the verge of apologizing and explaining when she surprised her and nodded.
“My mother wasn’t a perfect woman,” she said after letting out a deep breath. “She never actually outright said anything before, but I’d gotten the impression several times over the years that she was seeing someone outside of her marriage. I’m pretty sure it’s what actually ended her second and fourth marriages. If John suspected that she might be having an affair, it could be possible. Have you been able to identify who it was?”
“Not yet,” Rilynne stated. Her eyes shifted quickly to Perez. He mumbled something under his breath. Rilynne couldn’t make it out, but the sour look on his face said enough. “Did she ever mention anyone to you? Maybe someone she was spending time with?”
Ashton shook her head again. “She didn’t talk about anyone specifically. But I did get an unexpected email from her early last week. We never really emailed. It was strange; I couldn’t make any sense of what she was actually saying. It had been sent in the middle of the night, though, so I just thought she’d been drinking before she sent it.”
“Do you still have the email?” Perez jumped in.
“No,” she replied. “I was gibberish, so I erased it.”
“Do you remember what it said?” Rilynne asked.
“It was nothing,” she insisted. “She said something about sending me to cooking school like I always wanted to do and something about Paris and Spain. Every time she had a little too much to drink she would start fantasizing about what she would do if she won the lottery or something. That’s all it really looked like to me. I’ve received similar messages in the past. She never even usually remembered sending them after, so I didn’t think much of it at them time. I think there was something in there about shedding unwanted persons and moving on to better things. She could have been talking about another man, I guess.”
“What can you tell us about your mother’s relationship with her husband?” Perez asked. Rilynne glanced back toward him, but he didn’t meet her gaze. It was obvious that even with the daughter’s confirmation that it was likely she was having an affair, he still wasn’t willing to move past John Burton.
Ashton rolled her eyes and started twisting the tissue in her hands. “She only married him to make herself feel young again,” she stated. There was a bite of annoyance in her tone. “I knew things with them were spiraling, and they had been for months. Everything he did seemed to annoy her. I almost felt bad for him. Even the things he did in an attempt to be sweet she would mock him for. It wasn’t even like she would talk about him just behind his back. She would tear him down in front of him, and to anyone who would listen. Are you sure he didn’t have anything to do with this? There is only so much a man like him can take before he snaps. She was definitely flirting with that line.”
Rilynne pushed her chair back and stood up. “We’ll keep looking into it. Let us know if there’s anything else you can think of.”
Ashton nodded as she reached up and brushed a tear off of her cheek.
“I’ll see you out,” Perez said. “Would you like a ride to where you’re staying?”
Ashton reached for her purse and let him help her to her feet. “Just to the dock, please. I have to get back home to my daughter. I didn’t want to bring her down here to see all of this, but I don’t have anyone to watch her. My neighbor is leaving town tomorrow, so I have to get back and pick her up. Will you call me the moment you find out anything, though?”
Rilynne sat down on the edge of the desk Ben was still using while Perez walked Ashton out the front door.
“What are you thinking?” Ben asked as soon as the door shut behind them. “Were you able to get anything off of either of them?”
>
Rilynne watched through the front window as Perez pulled the car door open for Ashton. “I didn’t see anything more than John Burton angrily leaving the house after their fight. As far as what I could make of the two of them, the daughter doesn’t seem to have anything to do with it. The husband’s angry. If she really was having an affair, it would have definitely given him reason to want to hurt her. If we can verify it, he has a pretty solid alibi. And if he was telling the truth about her second cell phone, I think it might have something to do with her death. From what I can tell, it was the only thing missing from the stuff in her purse. If her keys or wallet had been gone also, I would have considered the possibility it might have just been on her when she was killed,” she stated. As the car disappeared down the road, she turned and looked back at Ben. “Were you able to find anything?”
“I can’t have Summers try to trace it unless we have a phone number. I’m having her finances searched to see if there’s anything for a phone in them. You might try talking to any of the local stores that sell phones. She could have either signed up for a new phone or bought one of those prepaid ones. I don’t imagine there are too many of those sell out here, so even if it is a disposable one, we might still be able to get a number for it. As for the number that Mr. Burton gave you, I haven’t been able to find anything. It looks like it was activated about four months ago, but it was disconnected on Monday after the victim’s body was found. We’re trying to have the history run on it to get the victim’s number, but Summers is having some difficulty.”
“So it’s likely that the owner shut it off so he wouldn’t be able to be connected to her,” she added.
Wanting to avoid any drama, Rilynne sent Burton on his way before Perez returned. Although they had no reason to keep him, she knew he would try.
Perez didn’t say a word when he walked back in five minutes later. Rilynne grabbed the stack of papers Ben had printed up and walked over to join him at his desk.
“What do we know about her partner?” Rilynne asked, flipping through the pages in her hands. “Paul Herrera. Do you know if he’s been out here at all since the victim arrived?”
“Well, why don’t you just ask him?” Perez said abruptly.
“People lie,” she replied. “I would also rather know as much as I could before interviewing him. Catching someone in a lie as it’s happening is better than finding out afterward. It gives them less time to come up with another one, so it’s easier to actually get the truth. Maybe he’s the man she was having an affair with.”
Perez groaned and leaned back in his seat. “I can’t believe you are still buying that story,” he stated. “For someone who’s supposed to be good at investigating things, I would have thought you could see past when someone is pulling your chain. It’s clear the husband was involved. With her so unhappy in the marriage, he had the motive. We’re just wasting time dragging this out. I should be out arresting him instead of sitting here looking over all of this again.”
“Careful, Perez,” Rilynne stated, not looking up from the report in her hands. “Keep talking like that and people will start to think you’re more concerned with protecting your citizens than actually finding the person responsible for this. Especially since the victim’s own daughter confirmed that it wasn’t unlikely that the victim was engaged in an extramarital affair. I can pretty much guarantee that’s the claim any good defense attorney would make if you arrest a tourist without adequate evidence.”
“Don’t fool yourself, girl,” he responded sharply. “The only reason the mayor has the two of you assisting me with this is to eliminate any possibility of that. I’m not going to sit on my hands for long, though. As soon as I can prove he wasn’t where he said he was, I’m arresting him and charging him with this murder. The people of Spicer Island don’t need to wait any longer than they have to for assurances that the island is safe again. I’m not going to let you keep them from that.”
Rilynne opened her mouth to counter, but closed it again without a word. There wasn’t any point. Whether he truly believed John Burton was guilty or not, he was dead set on pinning this on him. Nothing she could say, aside from identifying the person actually responsible, was going to change his mind.
“She has a name,” Ben said. His tone startled her as she looked up at him. He was still holding the file he had been reading with one hand, but this other was dragging roughly along his chin as he looked across the desk to Perez. His tone was cold, which confused her. She was about to ask if he had come across something in the file when he continued. “And I would appreciate you using it instead of addressing her as ‘girl’.”
It took another couple seconds before Rilynne realized what had just happened. She had completely overlooked Perez’s comment, but apparently her husband had not. There was a look of fury in his eyes that she hadn’t seen in a while. When her gaze shot to Perez, he seemed to find nothing but amusement in Ben’s statement. That was a mistake on his part. Ben might come off as timid or relaxed the majority of the time, but Rilynne knew better. In the time since they first met, Ben had been involved in several altercations when it came to defending her honor. The first had even resulted in him striking a police officer. It wouldn’t have surprised her a bit to see it happen again.
Although amused, Perez looked shocked by Ben’s statement, but nothing about his demeanor led her to believe he was even considering apologizing for it. On the contrary. From the look of joy in his eye, she would have bet all the money they had that he was planning on pushing this newly discovered button as frequently as he could. Rilynne braced herself, ready to step in to hold Ben back, but it didn’t come to that. His eyes stayed on Perez for several long moments, the look of determination never leaving his face, before he shifted his gaze back to the reports. Had their involvement in the case not hinged on the rapport with the locals, she was sure he would have pushed it further. As good as it made her feel when he stood up for her, it just wasn’t the time or place.
“The partner’s daughter still hasn’t had her child, so I’m scheduled to video conference with him in five minutes,” Perez said, not acknowledging Ben’s statement. “You can find out anything you want to know then.”
* * *
The interview with the victim’s partner, Paul Herrera, was far from enlightening. Although he hadn’t been to the country himself, he was in contact with her regularly during her time in Spicer Island, and he wasn’t aware of any confrontations she had been in with anyone. Like her daughter, he said the victim had actually found everyone on the island to be very hospitable. He also wasn’t aware of any affair she might have been having. Unlike Ashton, Herrera wasn’t forthcoming about her past affairs. While insisting that he didn’t have knowledge of one she might have been recently involved in, he unconvincingly stated that he didn’t know anything about the reasons behind her past divorces. Despite Rilynne statement that her daughter had already filled them in, he still refused to acknowledge them.
After ending the call, Perez grumbled a short goodbye and walked out. Rilynne glanced over to Max, who had been sitting quietly at his desk by the door throughout the entire process. He shrugged in an amused sort of way. Rilynne decided to take Perez’s lead and motioned for Ben to follow. After saying bye to Max, she pushed the front door open.
“Well, what do you want to do the rest of the day?” Ben asked.
Rilynne thought about it for a moment before answering. “Let’s go get lost.” She grinned at his bemusement. “Let’s just walk around and not really pay attention to where we go. Maybe we’ll find ourselves somewhere interesting.”
Chapter Eight
“We haven’t done this in a while,” Ben stated as they stood at a fork in a small dirt road. He pulled a coin out of his pocket and flipped it before heading left. “In fact, I think the last time we were trying to get lost from other people instead of just for fun. I think I like this one a little better. I won’t lie, though; I do have a few fond memories of that adventure. I still ca
n’t believe I didn’t ruin the surprise when I took you to the house. I thought you’d surely recognize it, or maybe you’d see something that told you what it was. I guess it was a little lucky you sliced your leg open on the second day. Between the initial shock of being on the run and drinking so you could stitch your thigh up, your senses were probably dulled.”
“I’m actually surprised I didn’t realize it too,” she admitted. “When I look back, I can’t see how I didn’t figure it out. If the spiral staircase in the master had been installed, I’m sure I would have. Although it was pretty hard to tell what anything was going to be with only half the walls put in. I can’t wait to get everything in there and start to unpack. I’m glad mom is going to come down and stay with us for a little while so we can get it all situated. Between the two of you, I don’t think we will have any difficulty getting it nicely decorated.”
“Do you think she’s still entertaining the idea of permanently moving to Addison Valley?” he asked. The tone she would expect to hear from most men when talking about the idea of his mother-in-law moving nearby was absent in his voice. To her enjoyment, Ben was perhaps even more sold on the idea than she was, which said a lot.
“Just say the word and I will have the plans put together for a guesthouse. She can even design it if she wants,” he offered. “I can have it ready for her to move in in just a few months if you want. The team I used to build our house I’ve actually been working with for years. They can build quickly but still with the quality you’d want in a home.”
“What else have you had them build for you?” she asked curiously. It had only been a few months since she learned her husband wasn’t just an everyday working man. In fact, she still didn’t know if she knew about all of the properties he owned. He’d offered to go over everything with her, but at the moment she knew just as much as she needed to. With the task of re-planning their wedding after the first was delayed, she already had enough on her plate to focus on without adding to it. She decided that she would wait until after their honeymoon before actually becoming acquainted with everything that he now called theirs.