On a Killer's Trail

by Susan Page Davis

  “No, ma’am, I’m not. It’s just that we have to consider these things.”

  “Well, he didn’t.”

  “You never wondered?”

  “Well, sure, I wondered.” She was no longer adamant. “Doesn’t every wife wonder?”

  Neil hoped his wife never would, when he had one, and that he never gave her reason to wonder, but he didn’t say that.

  “So, when was the most recent time you…wondered?”

  She crumpled the tissue in her hand and threw it toward a wastebasket. Another tear started down her cheek, and she pulled out a new tissue. “Last fall, I guess.”

  “Was there someone in particular that made you think…”

  “It was just a remote possibility. They had the Fun for Pets day at the shelter, and I thought…”

  “What, Mrs. Burton?”

  “Nothing, really, but he watched her. She had a Samoyed husky, and it really was gorgeous. He placed high on the obstacle course, and Jim went over to congratulate her. But he always speaks to as many people as he can at events for the shelter, makes himself very charming. He raises a great deal of money for them.”

  “I’m sure he does.” She still wasn’t getting it. He was raising money for himself. “Does she have a name?”

  “Natalie something. She adopted the dog from the shelter, I think. Maybe Roberta Palmer could tell you. But Jim wasn’t—” She stopped, shook her head and wiped away more tears.

  Neil pulled into the police department parking garage at lunchtime. Connor was getting into his Explorer. Neil walked over quickly, opened the passenger door and stuck his head in.

  “You got something?” Connor asked.

  “Maybe.”

  “Hop in. We’ll feed you lunch.”

  On the way to Connor’s house, Neil told him about the woman with the Samoyed. “Roberta Palmer looked up the dog adoption for me. Her name is Natalie DeWitt. Roberta says she’s very pretty, very chic.”

  “Hmm. I wonder if she’s single, and if she has a job.”

  “I can find out after lunch.” Neil tried to fish something out of the back of his mind, without success.

  “Good,” said Connor. “Find out if she’s been in her usual territory since Thursday. That’s another thing. Check all the recent missing persons cases.”

  “You think if a woman took off with him, her family would report her missing?”

  “If she didn’t give a pretty good excuse for dropping off the face of the earth.”

  “I’ll do it.”

  “So, what about the family? Any brothers that died young?”

  “Nope.”

  “Cousins?” Connor asked.

  “Mrs. B wasn’t sure, but I have phone numbers for three aunts who may enlighten us.”

  “All right. Tony got a fake driver’s license this morning and arrested Patrick. I had Tony tell him that if he can deliver useful information on Burton, we’ll cut him a deal.”

  “How about Lance’s forger?”

  “Nope, that guy’s either clean or really good at covering his tracks.” Connor pulled into his driveway. “You’ll all be busy this afternoon, I guess. There are enough leads to last all week.”

  To Kate’s surprise, Neil came home with Connor for lunch. His eyes widened when he saw her setting the table, and he gave her that heart-stopping smile. In that moment, she was very glad she had become part of the Larson household.

  “They sent us home early because of the weather,” she explained as she got out an extra set of silverware. “I’m working on a story from here, and I’ll e-mail it to the editor, but I’m almost done with it.”

  Connor told Adrienne how boring things were at the office. She could see right through him.

  “Oh, sure. You like nothing better than untangling the knots in a tough case.” Adrienne tied a bib around Matthew’s neck. Dark patches beneath her eyes revealed her fatigue.

  At that moment a faint wail came from somewhere in the house. Adrienne turned toward the sound.

  “Let me get her,” Kate said. She hurried to the bedroom and lifted Hailey from her bassinette. “Aw, you are such a cutie! Come on, let Auntie Kate change you.” When she reentered the kitchen, the baby was once more screaming, even though she now had a clean diaper and sleeper suit. “Hey, Hailey,” Kate cooed, “don’t cry. Uncle Neil is here to see you.”

  She stooped so Neil could see the baby’s face. Hailey actually paused and stared at Neil for a second, then opened her mouth in a loud wail.

  “Cute kid,” Neil said to Connor over the noise as Kate passed the baby to Adrienne.

  “Say that at 2:00 a.m.” Connor pulled out his wife’s chair.

  “No, I’d better go feed her,” Adrienne said. “You guys go ahead.”

  It was very quiet when she and Hailey exited.

  “Wow. Are you two getting any sleep?” Neil asked.

  “Not enough,” Connor admitted. “Adri’s worn-out.” They all sat down, and Connor asked the blessing. When they finished eating, he said, “Excuse us if we eat and run, Kate. I’ll just go and say goodbye to Adri.”

  A thought that had been forming in Kate’s mind leaped to her lips. This was the perfect opportunity to get another close look at the investigation. “Hey, I don’t suppose you’d take me along this afternoon? I could bring my laptop and work at your office. Then if anything exciting happened, I’d be right there.”

  Connor smiled and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s such a great idea, Kate. But I give you points for being the most ambitious reporter I’ve ever met. We don’t let civilians hang around the office without a very good reason.”

  She regretted speaking up. Here she was, wheedling for a favor that might cause problems for him. “I’m sorry. I’ve tried not to be so me-oriented lately, but that was pretty selfish, wasn’t it? I should stay here this afternoon anyway, so Adri can have a nap.”

  He shrugged. “I admire people who push hard to excel. And it’s not totally against regulations. To be honest, the police department is in low gear today. Most of the on-duty officers are out on traffic duty because of all the accidents. I told our unit’s secretary to go home after lunch. But…”

  “It’s okay. Really. And thanks for being honest with me.”

  Connor winked at her. “Thanks for taking it so well.”

  She settled down to work in the living room, where she could hear either Matthew or Hailey if they stirred from their naps. Stillness covered the house, except for the clicking of her computer keys.

  Shortly after three o’clock, Matthew came down the stairs, still sleepy-eyed. Kate took him to the kitchen for a snack and had just sat down with him for milk and cookies when the phone rang.

  “Kate, it’s Connor. Sorry to bother you. I think I left my PDA there. I thought I could get along without it, but I can’t.”

  “Where is it?” she asked.

  “Either on the kitchen table or the dresser in the bedroom.”

  “Hold on.” She smiled at Matthew. “I’ll be right back.” She went through the sunroom and tapped on Adrienne’s bedroom door.

  “Yeah? I’m awake.”

  Kate pushed the door open. Adrienne sat on the edge of the bed, putting on her slippers.

  “Sorry. Connor thinks he forgot his PDA.” Kate scanned the dresser top and spotted the fancy cell phone and organizer. She picked it up and went back to the kitchen.

  “Found it,” she told Connor.

  “Great. Uh…”

  “Adri’s getting up. I could bring this in to you.” She added quickly, “I won’t stay—just drop it off for you.”

  “Could you? That would save me some time.”

  “Sure.”

  “Thanks, Kate. And drive carefully. The streets are awful.”

  Adrienne assured her she’d be fine with the children, and Kate escaped into the icy world outside. Always a cautious driver, she took extra pains today and arrived at the police station unscathed. When she entered the Priority Unit’s office,
Neil was working at his desk to the left. He looked up with a smile and a wave. Connor rose from his desk in a corner to her right.

  “Hi, Kate. Thanks for bringing that.” He took the phone from her. “How was the driving?”

  “A little scary.”

  “Why don’t you have a cup of coffee before you go?” He looked over at Neil. “Could you get Kate a cuppa?”

  “Sure.” Neil left the room, and Connor gestured toward an extra chair near his desk. “How’s Adri doing?”

  “She and the kids had a nice nap right after lunch.”

  “Great.”

  Tony Carlisle came in from the stairway, stopped in the middle of the office and grinned. “All right! Kate’s here. What can we show you today? The AFIS system, maybe?”

  Kate smiled at him, but Connor growled, “Get to work, Carlisle.” He turned to Kate. “Neil has been making some calls to Jim Burton’s aunts.”

  “His aunts?” She frowned at him, puzzled. “I don’t get it. You think his aunts would know where he is?”

  “Not exactly. I’ll let Neil explain it to you.”

  Neil came back with two cups of coffee and handed her one. “You want some, Captain?”

  “No, thanks. Tell Kate what you’re doing, but this is off the record. No way do we want Burton to know what we’re thinking.”

  She nodded. “Sure. Thanks.”

  Neil led her to his desk and removed several file folders from a chair so she could sit down. “We’re trying to find out if Burton has built a false identity. One of the easiest ways to do that is to use the vital statistics of a relative. So I’m contacting his aunts to ask if any baby boys in their family of Jim Burton’s generation have died.”

  Kate thought about that for a moment. “So…if a baby died, he could use the birth certificate?”

  “Yes. And if the relative died at a later age, he might have other useful documents, like a Social Security number. Plus, Jim might have been able to find copies of his signature to forge.”

  “Wow. I never would have thought of that.”

  “Well, Aunt Number One was kind of upset that her nephew is being accused of criminal activity. She wouldn’t give me any information at first, but after we chatted for a while, she gave me a list of Jim’s cousins on his father’s side. All seventeen of them.”

  “Are they all still living?” Kate asked.

  “No, Stephanie died when she was seven. The rest are still alive.”

  “Hmm. I guess a girl cousin won’t help you.”

  “Right. The aunt said the only one on that side who died as an infant would be her brother Thomas’s wife’s miscarriage.”

  Kate made a face. “That won’t help, either.”

  “Nope. On to Aunt Number Two—Aunt Esther.” He picked up his phone.

  Apparently, Aunt Esther didn’t even want to talk to him.

  “No, ma’am,” Neil said hastily into the receiver. “I assure you I am not a con artist.” He stared at the receiver in disbelief. “She hung up on me.”

  Kate couldn’t help laughing. “Sorry.”

  “She said anyone could say he was a policeman. Of course, she’s right, but she didn’t have to slam the phone down so hard.”

  Kate’s private opinion was that if he’d gone to visit Aunt Esther in person, she wouldn’t have been able to resist his adorable brown eyes—but she wasn’t going there. Or was she? She shook her head to clear it. “Anyone left on your list?”

  “There’s Aunt Phyllis, Jim Burton’s mother’s sister. Only eight cousins on that side, so far as we know.” He began dialing while Kate sipped her coffee.

  “And are they all living?” Neil asked his contact. “Yes, ma’am, I’d like the dead ones, too. Yes, ma’am, the longer they’ve been dead, the better.” Kate made a face at him, and Neil quickly amended his statement. “I’m sorry. That didn’t come out right. What I’m looking for is a boy who was about Jim Burton’s age, who has passed on.”

  This time he ended the conversation smiling. “Guess what, Kate.”

  “What?”

  “Aunt Phyllis’s son Joseph died twenty years ago. He’d just gotten out of medical school, and he had a car crash. It was a terrible blow and a huge disappointment to the whole family. So tragic. He was the most promising of all the boys.”

  Connor had lifted his head and was listening, too. “What’s his name, Neil?”

  “Joseph Parlin.”

  “Birth date?”

  “He was two months older than Jim,” Neil told him. “And you’ll love this. His mother still has his birth certificate. She’s faxing me a copy.”

  The fax machine next to the secretary’s desk began to hum. Neil and Connor both jumped up and walked over to watch the document print.

  “Okay,” Connor said. “So he was old enough to have a driver’s license and a Social Security card. Let’s check it out.”

  Kate followed them to Connor’s desk. Even though she couldn’t write this story today, she might be able to use it later.

  “Connor’s trying to get into the DMV records in Augusta to see if anyone with the name Joseph Parlin has a current Maine driver’s license,” Neil explained. “But it seems their computer system is down. The ice storm knocked the power out in most of the capital early this morning. If the electrical service isn’t restored by morning, all the state government offices will be closed tomorrow.”

  “Call the nearest Social Security office and see if they’re still open,” Connor said. “We may be able to bypass Augusta to get the information we want.”

  Neil went to his desk and made a quick call. “They’re open.”

  “Go get ’em, Tiger. I’ll get back to chasing the bank records.”

  Kate shrank back toward the secretary’s desk, stifling the urge to beg them for another favor.

  Neil glanced at her, then back at his captain. “Uh, Connor?”

  “What?” Connor glanced at him, then focused on Kate. “Look, Neil can’t take you along, kiddo, but I know you’re dying to go.”

  “I’m sorry. I won’t—”

  “If a reporter happens to show up at a venue where a cop is working, that’s one thing. Expecting special treatment is another.”

  “I know.” She started to apologize, but stopped and eyed him carefully. “Are you…Uh, I might just have some business down at the Social Security office….”

  “Imagine that.” Connor slid his reading glasses on and turned back to his computer. Neil grinned at Kate and headed for the stairway. She hurried down the stairs behind him.

  NINE

  They sat in the waiting area at the Social Security office for half an hour.

  “I should have called ahead and talked to the supervisor.” Neil rose and began to pace. After another fifteen minutes, his name was called. They were led to a cubicle where a clerk whose name tag read “S. Martin” asked Neil how she could help him. They stood for ten minutes while she searched on her computer for a file under the name of Joseph Parlin.

  Neil began to fidget. Finally, the clerk looked up with a smile. “It seems Joseph Parlin’s number is active.”

  “Is there a question?” Neil asked.

  “Well, twenty years ago we were notified that he was deceased, and his account was canceled. But recently we received an affidavit saying Joseph Parlin was alive. Apparently, he’d been MIA or something. Some ghoulish mistake, I guess. Anyway, the number was reactivated in…July.”

  “July.” Neil looked at Kate. “He’s been planning this since July. Now, tell me, miss, who submitted that affidavit? Because I just talked to Joseph Parlin’s mother, and she says he’s still dead.”

  More time on the computer. The clerk moved slowly, hitting a key, then waiting, then hitting another. “His cousin,” she said at last.

  “James M. Burton?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “All right,” said Neil, “can you give me Parlin’s current address?”

  “Do you have authorization from Mr. Parlin
?” the clerk asked. “Because I’m not supposed to give out that infor—”

  “Mr. Parlin is dead,” Neil said patiently. “How am I supposed to get his authorization?”

  “I’m sure I don’t know, sir.”

  “I am a police detective,” he said carefully, one word at a time. “This is a murder investigation. Isn’t that authorization enough?”

  She looked confused. “Perhaps you should speak to my supervisor. He’s over there.” She gestured toward a man in a three-piece suit at a desk noticeably larger than any of the others in the room.

  “Good idea, but don’t lose your place in that computer, because I’ll be right back for that data.”

  Kate followed Neil to the supervisor’s desk. Neil explained the situation and how James Burton, who was now a fugitive, had sworn his dead cousin Joseph Parlin was alive.

  “We think Mr. Burton may have assumed his cousin’s identity as a way to escape undetected after killing two people and stealing a million dollars from the Animal Protection Society,” Neil said.

  “I see.” The supervisor took off his glasses and started wiping them with a tissue. “A very interesting story.”

  “Sir,” Neil said with his most persuasive smile, “we need to get the current address for Joseph Parlin, that is, the man using the name Joseph Parlin. You need to authorize your clerk to release that information to me.”

  “Highly irregular,” he said skeptically.

  “Maybe so, but this is a murder investigation. Do I need a warrant?”

  The supervisor eyed him for a moment, put his glasses back on, stood and walked over to the clerk’s desk.

  “Miss Martin, you may give this gentleman the information he’s requested. Just type it out and print three copies. Give them one and place one in the box for—”

  Neil gritted his teeth and pulled a small notebook from his breast pocket. “Could you just tell me the address, miss, and then you can type it up after? We really need to get going.”

  “Seventy-four Hitchings Road, Westbrook,” she said.

  Neil smiled, wrote down the address and walked out the door.

  As soon as they were outside, Kate burst into laughter. “So that’s how you get information out of a brick wall. Do you really think Jim Burton is hiding out in Westbrook?”