Page 15 of The Burnt
Declan’s thoughts swirled.None of this makes sense. This isn’t the Archie Whitcher I met.
Declan needed to refocus his thoughts. “Did you notice anybody strange hanging around the house lately? Maybe even the day he was attacked?”
“I saw a stranger comin’ down the street this mornin’. He stopped in front of my house and might’ve been lookin’ toward Archie’s place. I already told the police about him.”
Declan nodded. “Had you ever seen him before? Was he one of the people who hid out at Archie’s in the past?” he asked.
“No. Never. Those guys weren’t that fancy.”
“What do you mean by fancy?” Declan pushed.
“He had one of those expensive, long, light-brown coats. And a hat. He looked like a stylish gangster. Want a refill?” she asked, picking up the liqueur bottle.
“Thanks, but I’d better not. I’m driving.”
She refilled her own glass.
“What was Freddy like?” Declan asked.
“He was a bit quiet unless he was havin’ a fight with his dad. I remember the day Archie found out about Freddy’s tattoo. He went ballistic. Archie told me he felt his son was no better than a prison butt-boy. That’s a—”
“Yeah, I know what that means. Did you ever see the tattoo?”
“I never saw it, but Archie said it looked like it was done with a large safety pin and a ballpoint pen. He said it was a heart with the initials of Freddy and the boy he was seein’.”
Interesting.
“What do you know about him—the other boy?”
“Not much. I saw them together once, down at the Tim Hortons. They were clustered together in the corner, gigglin’ away about somethin’.”
“You didn’t happen to catch a name, did you? Could it have been Milo?”
“No idea. The other boy was a cute kid. Looked a bit older than Freddy, but at that age, you really can’t tell, can you?”
“No, I guess you can’t. One of the joys of puberty.”
Katherine laughed.
“One thing I did notice about him,” she continued, “he came from money.”
“Oh?”
“Those clothes he was wearin’ did not come cheap.”
“I know it was a long time ago, but do you remember if you mentioned this other boy when the police were looking into Freddy’s death?” Declan asked.
“I told you—the police didn’t bother to interview me.”
“Right. You did say that.” Declan looked at his watch. “Well, Katherine, I really must be going. If you think of anything else, give me a call.”
He gave her one of his cards and made his way out of the house.
As he walked back to his van, Declan could feel her eyes on him. He got into the vehicle, pulled out his cell phone and called his old partner again. The call went directly to voice mail.
“You’ve reached Gary Sawchuck. You know what to do.”Beeeep.
“Gary. Declan here. Look, I’ve been thinking about Archie’s murder case and that last thing he said to you—I’m wondering if it might have something to do with Freddy’s death. Is there any way I could have a look at Freddy’s file? And maybe Archie’s past record. Give me a call back.”
