‘You don’t think Patrick had anything to do with the theft of Lincoln’s body, do you? He’s such a lovely gentleman. The friendly giant, I used to call him.’
‘It’s too early to say. We’re just asking questions at this stage,’ Darnell excused, before making his way out of the office. ‘Much appreciated, Penelope!’
As they reached their cars, Vanessa’s phone pinged. It was her email inbox informing her of a new message. She scanned it and smiled.
‘Interesting,’ Vanessa said as she shut the passenger door beside her. Darnell glanced up with interest, withholding himself from turning on the ignition. ‘I’ve got the background check on Patrick Burns. It turns out he changed his name by deed poll. In fact, it’s amazing we hadn’t spotted the clue ourselves. Patrick Burns is an anagram!’
‘Oh my God, how did we miss this? It’s our prime suspect.’
‘It sure is. Let’s go and get Rick Spabrunt!’
Chapter 19
Rick Spabrunt appeared more confident than in his previous interview. His lawyer had already threatened to take them to the cleaners if they made one false move as their actions were bordering on harassment. However the detectives were equally confident. It was almost like Rick Spabrunt, or his original name of Patrick Burns, had been teasing them the whole time with his anagram choice of a name. After leaving Indiana the day before, they had a gruelling four-hour drive home and fell asleep as soon as they entered the house. As dawn approached the following day, they made their way to the Spabrunt residence and picked him up before twilight.
He’d already played into their hands as he had quit his job at Oak Ridge Cemetery; another role where he’d left suddenly after a few short weeks. This had been yet another job where his managers thought he had huge potential only to be let down once again, complimenting his keen interest in their security processes. While on this occasion it was the responsibility as a security guard at Oak Ridge; most of his peers and predecessors simply sat back in hope that nothing would disrupt their naps.
The detectives made numerous calls to his former employers across the different Lincoln sites under his former name of Patrick Burns and all had said the same thing; he was a wonderful employee who had an unwavering interest in Lincoln’s story but were all disappointed to learn of his sudden resignation. This guy was either flaky or he was sure as hell up to something.
‘Are you willing to talk to us this time?’ Vanessa asked the suspect. Before her, Spabrunt sat in a white shirt and beige trousers. His head had returned to the spiral-filled shaved scalp, which they had been presented with on their previous meeting, and no longer showcased the long locks they had spotted on the CCTV the day prior at the Lincoln Boyhood home in Indiana.
‘That depends if you have anything to ask my client. You better have some damn good evidence against him to hold him here for a second time,’ Spabrunt’s lawyer, Ms Turnbecker, replied whilst her client remained silent.
‘Mr Spabrunt, please can you confirm why you’ve worked at every single Lincoln site which has recently faced vandalism.’
Spabrunt’s eyes widened, which Vanessa and Darnell both clocked. They took out a list of employee files from across the varying sites, which they had visited in the Midwest over the previous days, and slid the details across the table in view of their suspect and his lawyer. The name Patrick Burns was circled on every one, except for the most recent one, where he had used his updated title of Rick Spabrunt at Oak Ridge Cemetery.
‘You must be confused, detectives. These files point to a Patrick Burns and my client is called Rick Spabrunt, as you’re well aware.’ Turnbecker lowered her glasses and shot a smug glance at the interrogators.
‘Has your client not told you that he changed his name by deed poll just days before starting work at Oak Ridge Cemetery? In fact he simply made an anagram of his former name to create his new one.’ Vanessa lifted out the final document; it enclosed a copy of Rick Spabrunt’s identity documents, which showed a change in name. She then wrote both names down on a blank piece of paper and jotted arrows to where each letter had moved to. The lawyer glared at her client, furious that he hadn’t told her about this vital part of the story.
‘I have an interest in Lincoln. Hence why I like visiting those sites and also why I enjoy working within them. By becoming an employee of these attractions you can spend longer there, visit areas which are off-limits to tourists, and, what’s even better is, you get paid for the pleasure of being there. Suddenly it doesn’t feel like work when you enjoy what you do. Is that a crime?’
‘How do you explain that every site you’ve worked in now has graffiti all over them?’
‘They’re popular tourist sites. Are you telling me the Lincoln Memorial in DC doesn’t get spray-painted now and again? Kids are kids.’
‘Why did you leave them all after just a few short weeks?’ Darnell grilled.
‘I wanted to move on and be closer to home. And now I am home here in Illinois, near my family. My mom hasn’t been well so I wanted to be closer to her.’
‘But now you’ve quit Oak Ridge. Why, when it’s so close to home?’
‘The hours aren’t great when you’re a full time carer with zero support,’ Spabrunt explained. ‘Also I had nightmares after being poisoned. There’s too many bad memories. I need a job where I’m not likely to be at risk of being harmed. You two certainly haven’t helped either. My reputation at work suddenly dwindled as soon as you established me as a suspect. I want to be as far
