Page 26 of The Burnt
Charlie frowned.Wasn’t Milo the name Archie Whitcher said just before he died?
Simon must have noticed the change in his expression. “Is everything all right?”
Charlie nodded. “Yes. So when is the last time you saw your son?”
“It would have been about ten years ago, just shortly after my birthday, which is January the third.”
“Ten years ago? And you’re only looking for him now?” Charlie asked.
It was Simon’s turn to frown. “When Milo disappeared, I contacted the police. There was a full investigation by the RCMP, but it amounted to nothing. Then my assistant Tom conducted his own search with every resource I could provide. I even offered a reward, but it seemed Milo had simply disappeared. The police decided he was just another teen runaway. But I think he’s come back.”
Charlie looked up from his notes. “And why do you think that?”
“Because of this.”
Simon produced a piece of paper which he placed on the desk.
I’m watching you and I know what you did.
Milo
Charlie let out a low whistle. “And when did you receive this note?”
“It was at the house a few days ago.”
“I’m sorry to ask this, but why did you wait so long?”
Simon paused. “I was pondering if I should take it to the police, but decided I needed someone who could handle this with a bit more discretion. I don’t want my name in the papers.”
Charlie nodded. “And do you have any idea what this means? ‘I know what you did.’”
Simon shook his head and looked down at his hands. “I have no idea. You have to understand that Milo was a teenager when he disappeared. And we didn’t always see eye to eye on things. In fact, the last time I saw him, we’d had quite a bad argument, which is why the authorities initially thought he’d run away.”
“What was the argument about?” Charlie asked.
“I have a vault in my office at home where I keep things of great value. Milo knew he wasn’t supposed to go in there without my permission, but he had, and possibly had even removed something from inside. When I confronted him, he denied it. I was very angry and told him that if he didn’t behave, I might have to kick him out and he would be forced to live with his mother. He said he had a much better idea. He was thinking that maybe it was time for him to move out on his own.”
“How old was he at the time?” Charlie asked.
“Fifteen! I didn’t think he was serious.”
“And after he disappeared,” Charlie continued, “did you try and get in touch with his mother?”
“Of course I did, but that was another dead end. She hardly knew him at all. She left him with me when he was a baby and never came back. You see, Michelle was an actress and always put her career first.” The colour rose in Simon’s face and he gripped the arms of the chair, his knuckles turning white.
“When I contacted her, she claimed she hadn’t seen Milo. Still, I wondered if he might have thought going to her place would give him a more glamorous life with that B-grade film producer husband of hers. No, wait—that was the previous one. This one was a writer. That’s it, a writer. And not even a literary one. Thisone churned out pop-lit trash at the rate a normal person would throw out their garbage, which was pretty much the same thing.”
This wasn’t going the way Charlie had hoped.What would Declan do?
“Would you like a glass of water?” He glanced around the room and saw the bottle of scotch on the credenza. “Or perhaps something stronger?”
Simon loosened the grip on his chair. “Perhaps something stronger would help.”
“How about a scotch?”
Simon nodded his approval.
Charlie poured a healthy two fingers into a crystal glass and handed it to Simon
