Page 76 of The Burnt
“Simon’s in the living room,” Tom said, as he led Declan and Charlie inside.
“So, you must be the famous Declan Hunt. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Simon said, standing and reaching out to shake Declan’s hand.
“Mr Griffin,” Declan acknowledged.
“Please, take a seat. May I offer you a coffee or tea? My housekeeper Jasmine is off for the day, but I’m sure I can figure out how to use that fancy silver machine in the kitchen.Or, if it’s not too early for you, I could offer you a real drink.”
“I think we’re fine,” Declan answered for both of them as he and Charlie sat side by side on a wide leather couch at the side of the room.
Simon sat down on a chair to their right. Tom sat in a chair opposite Simon.
He wants to keep an eye on all of us,Declan thought.
Simon broke the ice. “So what is this all about?”
Charlie started. “Simon, we’ve found Milo, but the news isn’t good. And we think that you may be at risk from the person who wrote the note.”
Simon sat back in his chair. “From the way you worded that, I assume the person who wrote the notewasn’tMilo?”
Charlie said, “No, it wasn’t.” He glanced at Declan before he continued, “When your son disappeared, you said that he was seeing a young man, and you said you didn’t know his name. Have you ever heard of a person by the name of Freddy Whitcher, or his father Archie?”
Simon’s brow furrowed. “The name sounds vaguely familiar. Now why would I know that name?”
“Well,” Charlie replied, “Freddy Whitcher was the boy who was seeing your son when he disappeared.”
“Oh. I see,” Simon said.
“And Archie Whitcher might sound familiar because it was reported in the Calgary papers that he was murdered just over a week ago.”
“That’s probably it. But what does all of this have to do with Milo?”
Charlie cleared his throat. “Well, it seems that around ten years ago, the newspapers reported that the boy your son was seeing, Freddy Whitcher, died in a fire. But we know now that the boy that died in the fire wasn’t Freddy… It was Milo.”
Simon’s face remained emotionless. “So, you’re saying my son is dead?”
“Yes,” Charlie replied.
“And do you have proof?” Simon asked.
Declan reached into the bag he’d brought, and pulled out the photograph of the two boys—the one he’d borrowed from Katherine O’Grady. He passed it to Simon. “Have you ever seen this photo of your son and Freddy?”
Simon looked at the picture closely. “I haven’t seenthispicture. But it’s interesting…the boy on the right, when I was at your office, there was a picture of him on the credenza, wasn’t there?”
“Yes. I was with the Calgary Police at the time. I was the one who found what remained of a boy’s body. All that was clearly identifiable was a leg with a tattoo.”
“And you kept his picture?” Tom interjected. “Rather macabre.”
Declan turned to him. “That case impacted me deeply and I kept the boy’s picture to remind myself why the work I do is important…to help the young and defenceless.” He turned back to Simon. “The boy was identified by his father based on the tattoo on his leg, but it wasn’t the right tattoo. If you look closely at this photo you’ll see that the tattoos on their legs are similar, but not identical. The tattoo of the boy burnt in the fire matches the one on Milo’s leg.”
Simon frowned. “So who sent the threatening note then?”
A sound behind them indicated that someone had just entered the room.
“That would be me.”
“And who the hell are you?” Simon yelled.
“Freddy Whitcher,” Declan said.
