On a Killer's Trail

by Susan Page Davis

  “They seemed to get along. Talked cheerfully while they tended the animals.”

  “Do you know if they saw each other outside the shelter?”

  “You mean, like dating?”

  “No, I mean…well, anything. Is there anything else they had in common?”

  “Just cats, so far as I know. Ted would help with the dogs, but he was really fascinated by the cats.” She looked at Neil anxiously. “Do you know what’s happened to his cats?”

  “His sister took them home with her.”

  “Oh, good, I’m so glad someone is taking care of them.”

  They talked for a few more minutes, during which the noise from the kennel area increased.

  “The animals are hungry,” she said. Neil thanked her, and he and Kate went outside.

  “I think I’ll go see Gerald Riley,” Neil said, “and then I want to talk to the detectives on the Burton case.”

  Kate stayed in the pickup when they reached the Riley house. Mr. Riley came to the door in his bathrobe, and Neil apologized for arriving so early. When he said he had some information about the case, Mr. Riley eagerly showed him into the family room. Neil glanced into the living room as they passed the archway and saw that the Christmas tree was still up, but the packages and the stained rug were gone.

  When they were seated, he took out his notebook. “Sir, I understand your wife was a volunteer at the animal shelter.”

  “Yes, she loved to go there. She left them some money, you know.”

  “Yes, sir. Did you read this morning’s paper about Mr. Burton running off with the shelter’s building fund?”

  “Wicked,” he said, shaking his head.

  “Yes. Did Mrs. Riley know Mr. Burton?”

  “She knew him. Didn’t like him much. She didn’t usually see him when she went to the shelter, but once in a while she did.”

  “How do you know she didn’t like him?”

  “She said things about him, like he thought more of his position than he did the animals. Edna loved the animals.”

  “Did you know a man named Theodore Hepburn?”

  “Hmm…don’t think so. Was he the fella got killed Sunday night?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I saw on the news that you were investigating that murder. I also saw where you were looking for a boy who shot at a cat.”

  “Yes, we still are.”

  “The paper says they’re connected. Detective, does that cat have something to do with Edna?”

  “Sir?”

  “Well, you were investigating these two murders, and then you start in on this cat thing. You’re too important to go chasing someone who shot at a cat and missed.”

  Neil smiled. “Mr. Riley, your wife worked at the animal shelter with Theodore Hepburn. He was another volunteer there.”

  Riley stared at him in disbelief. His voice croaked a little when he said, “Ted? That was Ted from the shelter? I didn’t connect it.”

  “Yes, sir. Did you know him?”

  “Never met him, but on Fridays, Edna always came home with stories about Ted. He would flea-dip the dogs and things like that.” He rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “Yes. She did say…last Friday…Christmas Eve, that is…”

  “Yes, sir? What did she say?”

  Riley looked him in the eye. “Ted was upset that day. His daughter wanted him to go to her house over Christmas, and he didn’t want to go. But there was something else. He told Edna something wasn’t right. She came home and told me, ‘Ted says something shady’s going on at the shelter.’ Like that.”

  “Do you think she was referring to the finances?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think she knew. Just that Ted was uneasy. I didn’t pay much attention. This Ted was like a character in a book. I heard about him on Fridays. The rest of the week I never thought about him. But I guess Ted knew what he was talking about.”

  When he was in the vehicle again, Neil quickly told Kate what he had learned. “Joey Bolduc and Emily Rood are the detectives investigating the animal shelter embezzlement. I suppose I should back off and see what they can do with this case.”

  “But the murders,” Kate said.

  “Yes. We’re right on the verge of connecting this Burton character to our two murders. It’s looking like one big case.” Neil sighed. “I’m supposed to be off-duty this weekend. I guess I should let them do some legwork. They’re trying to run Burton down and recover the money.”

  “Will they be able to do it?” Kate asked.

  Neil grimaced. Privately, his opinion of Joey Bolduc wasn’t stellar. Joey was temperamental and occasionally sloppy in his work.

  “They’ll keep an eye on the airport, I suppose,” Kate said.

  “But Burton probably got in his car Friday and drove south before anyone even knew he’d emptied the society’s bank account.”

  “In which case, you can’t do much about it,” Kate pointed out. “I don’t intend to work this weekend unless something incredible happens. But on Monday, I’d like to do another follow-up on this case.”

  Neil nodded. “I can’t let you put it in print that we think Burton is mixed up in this. If he’s out there, we don’t want him to know we consider him a murder suspect.”

  “That’s what I figured.”

  “But a lot can change by Monday.” Neil started his truck.

  On Sunday, Neil again sat with Kate in church. She noticed the looks other women sent their way. She found it mildly amusing and wondered if she was dashing half the female parishioners’ hopes.

  Adrienne had stayed home with the baby, but extended a lunch invitation to Neil through Connor. Kate realized she was becoming very comfortable around Neil again, and she still wasn’t sure that was a good thing. She still wanted to focus on her career. Even if Neil’s reformation was genuine, did she want to get serious about a police detective? Neil was as passionate about his work as she was hers. She had to admit, the attraction was still there. Was his faith real? Would he make a good husband and father? And did she want a husband and potential father for her children at this stage in her life? She hadn’t settled those questions yet. Seeing him hold Matthew on his lap during the sermon didn’t help matters. He looked perfectly at ease, and Matthew snuggled into the crook of his arm as readily as he did with Connor. Neil looked…paternal…confident…content…great.

  Adrienne put Matthew and Hailey down for a nap after lunch, and Connor stretched out on the living room sofa with the Sunday paper. Kate took Neil into the study and pulled up the Animal Protection Society’s Web site on Adrienne’s computer.

  “Here’s a picture and profile of Jim Burton. I’ll print it for you.”

  Neil studied Burton’s thin face: a rather unremarkable man in his middle forties, with light, thinning hair, blue eyes and glasses.

  “Family man,” Neil mused as he skimmed the bio. “Wife, Claire, and three children, ages twenty-two, nineteen and fifteen. Came here three years ago from New Jersey, where he’d run a nonprofit organization for two years. Before that he was a management consultant.” He looked up at Kate. “Why did he take off last Friday? Why didn’t he wait another week or two until after the big fund-raiser?”

  “Maybe he did intend to wait, but some old people who hung around the shelter got wise to his scheme,” said Kate.

  “Edna and Ted. You may be right.”

  Kate leaned back in her chair and watched him. “Do you find weekends annoying?”

  Neil looked up at her, his dark eyes wide with curiosity. “I love weekends.”

  “Sometimes I wish I could work every day.”

  His lips skewed a little. “I don’t know, Kate. That can be dangerous. You need to relax, you know.”

  “I guess.”

  “You’re excited about your new job. After a while, the novelty will wear off. I know sometimes it’s hard to leave it at the office. Like this case we’re working on. It started on a weekend—and Christmas Day, to boot—and we seem to keep learning stuff on weekends. B
ut you can’t push yourself all the time.”

  Kate wondered about that. It was true that she wanted more than anything right now to excel at her job. Her early successes had fanned the flames of that desire. She knew that no reporter could have a front-page story every day. Yet, if she were totally honest, she wanted that. She squeezed her lips together, thinking about it. “Do you think I’m selfish?”

  Neil raised his head and looked at her keenly. “Well…aren’t we all? Especially at—what, twenty-three?”

  “Twenty-four,” Kate replied. “I’m wondering how other people see me.”

  “I can tell you that. They see that you’re smart, savvy, good-looking and you have a great job that you’re good at. I’m sure a lot of people would say you’ve got it all together.”

  “That’s what I want them to think.”

  “Don’t you feel that way inside?”

  She looked down at her hands. “Not really. I’m scared to death every day that I can’t live up to what I did last week. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I love it that the boss is happy with my work and everyone at the office is congratulating me and telling me what a great reporter I am. But the truth is, I was in the right place at the right time. And if I weren’t a detective captain’s sister-in-law, I wouldn’t have had the success I’ve enjoyed the past eight days.”

  Neil nodded. “I can understand that. People have expectations that you’re afraid you’ll never meet. You make one clever move and they think you’re a genius. You’re born with good looks, and they assume you’re a social mastermind.” He added quickly, “Oh, not you. I’m talking about myself. But you must have noticed how that works. The cute little girls get away with a whole lot more than the ones who aren’t as cute. I know I was spoiled—the oldest, the only boy. And now I’m twenty-eight, and I know my folks are disappointed.”

  “How are they disappointed in you?” Kate asked. His words surprised her, but she could tell he was serious about wanting to please his parents.

  Neil sighed and shook his head slightly. “I should be married and own a house and have two-point-five kids by now. I should be on a fast track to becoming police chief—”

  “Aren’t you?” Kate asked.

  He smiled at that. “And my faith. My parents were stunned when I became a Christian. That is—when I accepted what Christ did on the cross. They think all Alexanders are Christians because they’re ‘good people.’ But I wasn’t, and I don’t think they are, either. They get all defensive when I bring it up, and it’s gotten so that if I even mention Christ now, they shut down on me.”

  “Wow.” Kate sat still. Her own immediate family members were all believers. Neil must agonize over his loved ones.

  After half a minute of silence, he said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to depress you.”

  “That’s okay. I think the Lord wanted me to hear that. Neil, I’ve been so wrapped up in this job, I haven’t been thinking about other people. I’ve told myself it was only to give my employer what he’s paying for, and to do my best—you know, work ethic and all that. But…” She didn’t like what she felt at that moment. Had she become a self-absorbed blob of ambition? When was the last time she’d shared her faith with another person?

  “Tell you what…” Neil reached over and took her hand in his. “Let’s forget about the murders and my folks and the newspaper for today. When Matthew gets up from his nap, let’s take him sledding in the park.”

  As she watched him, a spark lit in Kate’s heart. His animation and boyish enthusiasm caught hold of her. “You have a sled?”

  “No, but Connor and Adrienne have a toboggan.”

  “That sounds great. And, Neil?” Kate’s eyes locked with his. “Thank you.”

  Joey Bolduc staggered off the elevator and into the Priority Unit Monday morning. “Man, this better be good, calling me in an hour early.”

  “Sit down, Joey. New Year’s Day was Saturday,” Connor said mildly.

  “Yeah, well, I missed New Year’s Eve thanks to this lousy case, so Roxanne and I made up for it last night.” He flopped down in the chair Neil pulled over from Tony’s desk. “What do you need?”

  “Where’s Burton?” Neil asked.

  “Not in Maine.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Come on, he stole more than a mil. His wife is distraught. She can’t believe he ran out on her and the kids.”

  Neil raised his hands in exasperation. “Did you find out anything at all this weekend? Did he take a plane?”

  “Not under his own name. Why?”

  Neil slowly laid out the convoluted path of the Priority Unit’s investigations into the Riley and Hepburn murders.

  “So you’re thinking Burton had something to do with these two kitten huggers being whacked?” Joey asked.

  “Makes sense to me,” said Neil. “We’re thinking that maybe one or both of the victims knew something about his plans. If Burton found out they knew, he may have pushed up his timetable a little. There was going to be a big fund-raising event at the shelter on January fourteenth. If he’d waited that long, he might have gotten away with a lot more.”

  “But he didn’t. He acted on New Year’s Eve,” said Joey.

  “Correction,” Neil said. “He started acting on Christmas Day.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Burton planned to liquidate the building fund and take it along with the receipts from the big Fur Ball on the fourteenth. Probably he was planning to abscond with the money that night.”

  “Abscond?” asked Joey.

  “Look it up,” said Connor. He winked at Neil.

  Neil continued. “But then, along about Christmas Eve, he realized someone was onto his plans. Two old people. He could either shut them up or take off earlier than planned. He chose to shut them up that weekend. It was worth another quarter of a mil if he waited for the proceeds from the ball.”

  Joey seemed to try hard to make his brain function. “So he bumped off your two victims….”

  “Yep,” Neil said.

  “And took a potshot at a cat.”

  Neil gritted his teeth. That didn’t fit in with his scenario. He shrugged. “Well, anyway, with the two witnesses out of the way, he thought he’d be safe until the Fur Ball. But then something else made him panic. He had to make his move early or never. So he did it. He had the bank transfer funds to another bank, and then had that one transfer them somewhere offshore. And he took off Friday.”

  “Thursday,” said Joey. “His wife reported him missing Friday, but she said he didn’t come home Thursday. And the people at the shelter said he left there at noon Thursday and didn’t come back.”

  “So what have you and Emily been doing to try to find him?” Connor asked.

  “Checking with all his friends and associates, checking transportation outlets.”

  “His car isn’t missing?” Neil asked.

  “No, it was found in the parking lot at the restaurant he lunched at on Thursday.”

  “So you know where he ate lunch?”

  “Well, none of the staff actually remembers him eating there, but they were very busy.”

  Neil said, “You’d think the waitress would remember if you showed her his picture.”

  “Nobody remembered,” said Joey.

  “So maybe he just ditched his car there and hopped a cab to…where?” Neil asked.

  “We’ve checked all the cab companies in town,” said Joey. “Nothing. Ditto the airport and bus station.”

  Connor turned his chair a little and tapped his fingers on his desk. “Someone picked him up.”

  “Does this guy have a girlfriend?” Neil asked.

  “No, he’s married.”

  “I know, I know. But does he have a girlfriend?”

  Joey looked blank.

  “Find out,” said Connor. “Ask his wife—”

  “You think his wife would know?” Joey asked, incredulous.

  “Stranger things have happened. Ask his wife, all the people at the shelter,
the guys he had two-martini lunches with, the Rotarians and the Lions.”

  “Rotarians?”

  “He belonged to the Rotary and the Lions Club,” Connor said. “Haven’t you done a profile on this guy? You should have done a superdeluxe background check.”

  Joey looked embarrassed. “We—I figured he got away and there wasn’t any point in doing all that. I put out an alert on the national database, but I really don’t expect to hear anything.”

  “Well, that’s where you’re wrong,” said Connor. “We are going to find this guy.” He picked up his telephone receiver and punched in an extension number. “Ron? Connor Larson. I learned this weekend that my two homicides are connected to the animal shelter embezzlement case. Detective Bolduc is telling me they have no leads on this Burton who took the money. I’d like my unit to take a crack at it. Would you be okay with my asking the chief to transfer the Burton case to Priority? I think we can do something with it.” He listened for a minute, then said, “Yeah, well, I’m positive. Both our victims volunteered at the shelter. I think they were onto Burton, and he went after them. Uh-huh. Yes, I do. Okay.”

  He hung up and dialed again. Neil just sat and watched him in action.

  “Chief? Good morning!” Connor quickly briefed Mike on his unit’s discoveries and his conversation with Ron Legere, the detective sergeant.

  From the corner of his eye, Neil could see that Joey was sweating it, but trying to act nonchalant.

  Connor hung up smiling. “Joey,” he said thoughtfully, “you got a break. The Burton case is now ours. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

  “Good riddance.” Joey stood up. “Don’t know why you’re so happy about it. They’re not going to send you to the Bahamas to find that guy.” He sauntered to the elevator and punched in the security code.

  “What now?” Neil asked.

  “I’m headed to church to thank the Lord for answering our prayers and giving us a break. We’re going to get this guy.”

  “Let’s be thankful you didn’t pick Joey for the Priority Unit, too,” Neil said with a grin, and the two men headed out of the station.