chat area. I have Room 303 reserved and open on my computer. I’ll be studying here all day, so if you can help just pop in.
Elizabeth.
Dillon composed the e-mail from “Elizabeth Rimes” and sent it off to Scout’s public e-mail account through the MyJournal server.
“Smart kid,” Patrick said.
“Smart enough to not use her real name and to realize Scout was obsessing over her.”
Dillon had spoken to Elizabeth-real name Bethany Eggers-over the phone, and she had told him she’d stopped responding to Scout’s e-mails when she found out he’d lied about his cat dying. She’d found three other messages on the MyJournal board from him talking about “Felix” dying. “It was downright creepy,” she said. “When you’re done with my account, just close it down.”
Because Elizabeth had never responded to the cat message, Dillon composed it in a way to encourage interaction. He had the chat room window open, and Patrick had a mirror of the site on his computer screen.
“Now what?” Dillon asked.
“We wait.”
“How long?”
“As long as it takes.”
Dillon let out a sigh. “I’m a patient man, Patrick, but this tests even my resolve.”
“I’m going to call Carina and tell her we’ve set the trap and to be on alert.”
“Tell her to be careful, too.”
“I always do.”
Carina and Nick arrived at the Sand Shack after the dinner rush. Kyle Burns didn’t look particularly pleased to see them, but he approached and said, “What can I help you with, Detectives?”
“We’d like to talk to you about your father.”
Carina gauged his reaction, surprised at the intense anger that flashed across his face.
“I don’t want to talk about him.” Burns realized he’d spoken too loudly and looked around. Several of the waitstaff looked away. “Let’s go to my office,” he said through clenched teeth.
Carina and Nick followed him back. She assessed the situation. Kyle didn’t appear to be armed, but she wasn’t going to be crammed into that little office of his where he might be able to turn the tables on them.
“Mr. Burns-” Carina began.
“I don’t want to talk about my father,” he said again. “I have nothing to do with him.”
“Well then, maybe you’ll listen. We know that Mitchell Burns was a convicted rapist who disappeared eight years ago while under suspicion for rape. Have you seen or heard from him since?”
“No.”
“What about your mother?”
He gave a half-laugh. “She can have him. She’s no better than he is.”
“Are you saying that your mother may have had contact with her husband?”
Kyle rubbed both hands over his face. “No, he never contacted her.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“She would have told me.”
“You’re close?”
“No, but if she saw Mitch she would have told me.”
“What about your brother?”
“What about him?”
“Do you think he may have had contact with Mitch Burns?”
“No, never.”
“You sound certain.”
“Brandon would have told me.” Kyle shook his head. “Ask him yourself. He’s busing tables right now.”
Carina was surprised. “You didn’t give us any employee records about your brother.”
“He just helps out sometimes after school and on the weekends.” He sighed. “Look, I pay him under the table, okay? Is that a crime?”
“Actually, yes.”
Kyle frowned. “It’s just that-”
Carina put her hand up. “I’m not going to arrest you for IRS problems. But I’d like to talk to your brother. Maybe your father has contacted him.”
“You don’t understand what it was like. I was twelve when he went to jail. I sat in the courtroom during the trial and listened to what he’d done. Listened to my own mother lie for him.” Kyle grimaced. “And then the prosecutor didn’t go after her for perjury because he felt sorry for her. What a joke. She was pathetic. We were all better off without him.”
The amiable man they’d interviewed earlier in the week was gone, replaced by a bitter, angry son.
“But he was released.”
“Four years. Only four years for raping two women. He probably raped more, but they didn’t come forward. Why?” He looked at Carina. “Why don’t they come forward? He would have gotten more time.”
Carina said, “They’re scared. They don’t think the police will believe them. They think it’s their fault. There are lots of reasons.”
Kyle’s face fell. “All stupid reasons.”
“What happened when your father was released?”
“My mother took him back. Can you believe it?”
Carina had seen it many times. Either the women were blind or stupid, scared or complicit. Or all of the above.
“The police said he disappeared. According to the interview with Regina Burns, he left after dinner on April eight, eight years ago, and never returned.”
“That’s true.”
“That was the same night as the last rape.”
“I don’t know if I knew that at the time. When the police came, my mother sent us out of the room. I was eavesdropping but didn’t catch everything. And my mother never said anything when I asked.”
“Your brother was there as well?”
“Yeah. He’s now in high school. Amazing considering he still lives with that woman.”
“That woman?”
“Our mother.”
“Do you own a computer?” Carina asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah, why?”
“Would you object to having someone from the department come down and look at it?”
He tensed. “Why?”
“We believe Angie’s killer frequented her online journal several times before her murder.”
“I didn’t even know she had one…wait. You don’t think I-”
Kyle jumped up, irate. “Just because my father was a damn rapist, you think I could have done that?”
“Calm down-”
“I’ve lived with the guilt of what my father did for years! I hated him. I’m glad he’s gone. I hope he’s in Hell where he belongs.”
He stormed out of the kitchen.
“Well, that certainly was interesting,” Carina said.
“Maybe it’s in the blood,” Nick said. “Shall we go talk to Mrs. Regina Burns?”
“Absolutely. She sounds like a real winner. But you know what? I think I’d like to wait until Brandon Burns gets off work, chat him up a bit.”
“He’s seventeen.”
“If he says he doesn’t want to talk, I won’t push it. Maybe we’ll see him later tonight when we talk to his
