It was like eating in the middle of a flock of geese. Jenna winced as a woman sitting at the next table screamed with laughter and almost spilled her glass of wine. It seemed the convention was two weeks of continuous celebration. She rolled her eyes at Kane. “They sure know how to party.”
“The ball on the last day is on my ‘not to be missed’ list that’s for sure, and I have a ticket.” Julie grinned. “I hope you’re coming.”
Jenna leaned back in her seat and sighed. “The ball is the last thing on my mind right now.”
“I hope we find the killer before the convention ends.” Rio eyed her over the rim of a glass of soda. “You’ll have one hell of a time keeping people locked up here once their stay is over. Do you figure the mayor will meet the costs of all these people if you insist they stay? The forecast is for clear skies after the next blizzard. They won’t believe the roads are blocked.”
Shaking her head, Jenna attacked her slice of Black Forest cake. Her appetite was ferocious of late. “If we can’t catch this killer in the next ten days, when he is locked up right under our noses, I’m quitting.” She glanced around the table. “I called Bobby Kalo before and he has nothing on Paul Tate after he left foster care. He is checking other states, but unless he has priors, we’ll never find him.”
“He could have changed his name.” Kane added cream to his cherry pie. “Has Kalo looked into that angle?”
Jenna swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, but
there are a ton of men by that name in the States.”
“What if he didn’t change his name… as in legally.” Julie’s eyes twinkled with excitement. “We’re at an author’s conference. What if he’s using a pen name? Many of the authors here are using their pen names. Kitty Pandora’s real name is Doris Slaughter. She’s married to an IT company director by the name of Ed Slaughter.”
Jenna stared long and hard at Kane and then moved her attention to Rio. “I have two of the most intelligent deputies in the state, and you didn’t think about checking out people’s pen names? Really? What’s happening here?”
“I was concentrating on the crimes and trying to link them to the suspects.” Rio looked taken aback. “I’m doing my best. I’ve never seen such diversity in crime scenes before—what we’re dealing with here is one of a kind.”
“They’re all one-of-a-kind murders in Black Rock Falls.” Kane continued to eat. “We’re constantly having to look outside the box to catch a killer.” He slid his attention to Jenna. “I’m aware some of the authors here are under pen names. That is why I made a point of asking the suspects if they knew Paul Tate. I’d expect some kind of reaction if it was their real name. I also asked Mr. Brightway to check for the name in his records. If anyone is using a credit card under that name, he’ll let us know.”
Jenna raised both eyebrows. “And you decided not to inform me about this part of the investigation?”
“It was a fail-safe, Jenna.” Kane pushed his plate away. “Paul Tate isn’t a suspect in the homicides here as far as we’re aware. The cops had no reason to believe he was involved in the deaths of his mom and the two men twenty years ago. They have him staying with a friend around the times of all the murders. From what I read from the files, he often spent the entire weekend at his friend Peter Burrows’s home, going there after school and not returning home until the following Monday. From the report, Mrs. Burrows believed Paul’s homelife with a single mother wasn’t very nice and welcomed him to her home.” He shrugged. “It’s all in the files, if you get time to read them.” He held up his hand as the waitress walked by and ordered a pot of coffee.
“I’ve read the files, but I was searching for a clue to link him to one of our suspects.” Jenna pushed both hands through her hair. “I’ll leave you and Rio to handle the last two interviews. I’m going to hunt down Peter Burrows and his parents and see if he can shed any light on Paul Tate.”
“Sure, but Burrows doesn’t know where Paul is. Kalo already called him to find out Paul Tate’s last known address.” Kane refilled his cup from the pot the waitress had placed on the table and added cream and sugar. “Kalo has Burrows’s details. Do you want me to call him?”
Jenna pulled out her phone. “No, I’ll send him a message.”
The reply came back in seconds and Jenna glanced at Kane. “I’ll call Mr. Burrows soon. He’ll be at work and he’s an accountant. With luck, he might have time to speak to me.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Kane sipped his coffee.
“Now you two have stopped bickering.” Emily rolled her eyes at Jenna. “When this is all over, the killer is behind bars, and the blizzard is a bad memory, I hope you’ll come shopping for a ballgown with me and Julie.” She grinned. “Now dad has a chopper, he said if the weather was clear, he’d fly us to Helena for the day. He has business there next Friday… something about a medical examiners’ meeting or something. Come on, Jenna, live a little. You wear jeans all year round. It will be fun to get our hair styled and dress up for a change.”
Unable to stop smiling at Emily’s infectious giggle, she nodded. “Okay, but so far we don’t have a clue who is murdering people. We could be still chasing him down at Easter.”
After lunch, Jenna sent the others on their way and went back to her room. She needed a quiet place to speak to Peter Burrows. She made the call and after stating her business had the usual obligatory wait as the receptionist kept her on hold for fifteen minutes. When Burrows came on the line, he seemed to be pleased to speak to her. “Good afternoon, Mr. Burrows. I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m contacting you after so many years about the murders out of Black Ridge.”
“At the time, nobody listened to me.” Burrows’s concern came through the tone in his voice. “I was just a kid. I’m a little younger than Paul. I was nine at the time his mom died.”
Jenna made notes. “Did he stay at your home often?”
“Yeah, as often as his mom would allow him.” Burrows sighed. “At the time, I didn’t understand what was going on, but now I look back on it, all the signs were there.”
Intrigued, Jenna grabbed the recording device out of her kit and put her phone on speaker. “Signs of what exactly?”
“Abuse. Paul was a choirboy, he had the voice of an angel. He loved to sing and then suddenly he didn’t. He went from being excited about choir practice to running and hiding in the woods to avoid going.” Burrows cleared his throat. “I was at his house one time and his mother had a friend around. She’d been drinking. She sent me home and the man dragged Paul to his room. I figured at the time Paul was getting a whooping for misbehaving. He never said a word to me about anything, but looking back I’m convinced his mother allowed men to abuse him, including the local clergy.”
Appalled, Jenna sucked in a breath, the question hovering on her lips. “Do you think he was capable of killing his mom?”
“I really can’t say.” Burrows cleared his throat. “It’s something that has played on my mind for years. I never knew what happened to Paul after the cops took him away. He never contacted me.”
“Okay.” Jenna chewed on her bottom lip. “How well do you recall the night his mom died?”