“Na, thanks.” He popped the top and took a sip. “That’s better. Now that the rain stopped it’s getting hot out there. So, you heard anything about the case?”
“I thought you had to stay off the case.”
“I’m not working the case. I’m just talking to my son-in-law.”
Carl’s face was frowning now. “Susan told you about how she felt a long time ago. What do you want to know now?”
“She was my flesh and blood. You know how you feel about Tyler. What happened between her mother and me wasn’t good. She wanted me gone. Completely gone. I needed to let her go. I paid alimony and child support until she was of age.”
Carl took a deep breath. “Susan had a mind of her own and she had a wild side that proved to be her downfall. I could understand her wanting some more excitement in her life. I didn’t like it, but I could understand it. But I wasn’t going to pay for illegitimate kids if she insisted on playing around. I couldn’t get that through her thick skull.”
“Okay.” Harris said looking Carl in the eye. “Why did you separate? For real?”
“I had it with her running around. I made it clear that she needed to make a decision. She did. And then I left like she asked.”
“So, you two were in a bad place when you saw her last?”
“I had been gone about a year. I came to see Tyler as often as I could, so I saw some of the transitions. She got desperate as the finances began to squeeze her. I wasn’t inclined, or able, to pay for her other kids. She thought that was me being disagreeable. I assumed she was not getting any help from Javier Trujillo. She had put herself in a difficult situation and was looking for an out. She wasn’t completely rational about her choices. She wanted her problems to go away and wasn’t willing to make any concessions to make that happen.”
“Concessions?”
“I loved her. I would have taken her back in a minute, but she would have to choose to be a mother and not a player. I would have to live with her. I couldn’t afford two houses. Like most families, we would need a budget. I’m talking about the kind of concessions that most families have to make with the world. She wasn’t in a place where she was willing to negotiate with me, and I suspect, with the rest of the world. That kind of inflexibility limits your choices. When you don’t like your choices, the world can start to look desperate and you make bad choices.”
Burt Harris looked at his watch. “I gotta get going. Say, you live in Miami?
“Yeah.”
“Thanks for the pop.”
“I gotta get going myself. I’m looking for Javier. I’d put my money on him for killing her and taking the kids,” Carl said, with conviction in his voice.
Harris nodded. “You could be right.” Burt stood. “Mind if I take this with me?”
“Take it. It’s getting hot out there.”
Harris started for the door then stopped and turned back towards Carl. “So where were you on the night of the murder?”
“You sound like a TV cop pulling a Columbo. I was home in Miami. I talked to Detective Sharkey. I was devastated when I heard. Stephanie drove down here with me.”
“I see. I was devastated myself when I found our Jane Doe was my murdered daughter.”
“Yeah, I could tell you were blindsided by Stephanie.”
Harris went back downstairs and carried the can carefully until he got outside then dumped the contents out and put the can in a paper bag. He called officer McCabe and asked if he could do him a favor.
* * *
Sharkey’s phone rang.
“Hi, Sharkey, it’s Amy. Burt needs you to call him. He’s at home. Preferably when you go out to lunch.”
“Okay, I can do that.”
“Thanks, bye.”
Sharkey looked at his watch and called dispatch to let them know he would be out of the office for a while.
Once in his car he called Harris on his personal cell.
“Harris, what up? You okay?”
“Good as I can be. Jordan McCabe has a package for you. Run the prints and check out Carl Abbott. Something about him gives me a bad feeling.”
“You talked to him?”
“He’s my son-in law. Anything wrong with a grieving father talking to the grieving husband of his daughter?”
Sharkey shook his head. “Harris, be careful.”
“I am. I remember that little bundle of joy. My little girl. I couldn’t be there for her, but I never stopped loving her. Now, I have to do the right thing and do everything I can to find her killer and her kids. I tell you, Sharkey, there’s something behind that concerned and grieving façade.”
“I take it that I’ll find his fingerprints on that pop can.”
“What pop can?” Harris said.
“I’ll check him out and see what comes up.”
“Cell phone records are good,” Harris said.
“Got it covered. Have Alex give me a call,” Sharkey said.
“Okay. Have a nice day, detective.”
* * *
Sharkey sent the pop can he received from Officer McCabe to the lab to check for fingerprints on Carl Abbott of Miami.
He then stopped to get a quick lunch. Just as he got to Goldman’s Deli a call came in from Alex.
“Alex, had lunch?” Sharkey asked. “Want to join me?”
“No lunch yet, where are you?”
“Goldman’s Deli, off Roosevelt near the station.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Alex found Sharkey’s table and sat down. There was a concerned look on Sharkey’s face. “How’s it going?” Alex asked.
“This is one hell of a case. No word on the kids and no word on Javier Trujillo,” Sharkey said. “It’s a hard nut to
