Page 33 of The Burnt (The Declan Hunt Mysteries #3)

Declan pulled the van in front of Mrs. Keough’s at a little after seven in the morning. He pointed to the electrical cord neatly wrapped beside the house. It wasn’t attached to anything. “Car’s gone.”

He knocked loudly on the front door as Charlie stepped into the covered porch. Mrs Keough answered the door. She was fully dressed.

“Do you know where Freddy is?” Declan asked.

“Freddy? Who’s that?”

“The young man that was staying here,” Declan replied.

“Oh, there must be some confusion. There’s no Freddy here. My tenant’s name is Milo.”

She started to close the door but Declan put his hand in the way. “Please, Mrs Keough, this is urgent. We need to speak to him right now.”

“Look—I heard him bustling about early this morning. He’s probably gone in for an early shift at the restaurant.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Declan said. “Your car’s gone, and I doubt he’s taken it to work. Do you mind if we have a look at his room? It might give us a clue as to where he’s gone. He’s in big trouble and we want to help him.”

She stared at Declan intently. “Maybe he’s still up there. I’ll go check his room, but I’m sure everything’s okay.” She turned and headed up the stairs.

Declan and Charlie stepped into the front hall, closing the door behind them.

Without waiting to be asked they kicked off their boots and followed her.

She reached the attic at the top of the stairs and knocked on the door.

“Milo, are you in there? There are some gentlemen here who say they need to talk to you.”

There was no response. She tried the door but it was locked.

“Do you have a key?” Charlie asked.

“Just a minute.” She scuttled back down the stairs and returned shortly. Mrs Keough inserted a key into the lock and opened the door. There was nobody there except for an orange-haired cat that gave a low growl as they entered the room.

Declan turned to Mrs Keough. “Is there anything missing or out of place?”

She walked around the small space and opened the cupboard in the corner. “His clothes are all gone.”

She moved to the kitchen table and picked up an envelope that had been left behind. “It’s addressed to me.”

She opened it and pulled out a folded piece of paper which she read out loud.

Dear Mrs Keough,

I want you to know just how much I appreciate everything you’ve done since you found me all those years ago. You helped me start a new life. One a lot better than I had.

I think the time has come for me to move on. Since I’m not sure when, or where, I’ll be settling down next, I don’t think it would be fair to Minx to take her along with me. I know she loves you, and I hope you will take care of her.

Years ago I deposited $6000 in a chequing account. I’ve left a cheque here for you in that amount. I hope it’s enough to buy you a new used car, because I’ve had to borrow yours again. Kind of permanently.

Something has come up and I’ve realised that if I want to be able to live with myself, I have to fix the past.

Please don’t call the police and report me missing.

Tons of love,

Milo.

She looked in the envelope again and pulled out a second piece of paper. It was the cheque.

She reread the letter. “What do you think he means when he says he has to fix the past if he wants to live with himself?”

Declan scowled. “It means we have to stop him from doing something stupid.”

“May I see the letter?” Charlie asked. She passed it to him. He studied the note and thrust it toward Declan. “See the weird way the capital I is written? It’s the same as on the note Simon received. I’m sure of it.”

“So he’s probably headed to The Paddock,” Declan said.

Declan quickly ran down the stairs with Charlie close on his heels. They jumped into the van leaving behind a bewildered Mrs Keough.

“What do we do now?” Charlie asked.

“See if you can get Simon Griffin on the phone and tell him not to let anyone into the house except for us.”

* * * *

The sun was starting to peek over the mountains as Freddy made his way south on the Icefields Parkway.

It was obvious that the maintenance staff had been out early as the road was freshly sanded.

At first, the signs of last year’s massive fire were everywhere, but as Freddy drove toward Banff, the evidence of the tragedy faded behind him.

It was a beautiful day, unlike the past two times he’d come this way.

The first time, nine days ago, the weather had been snowy and he’d had to drive slowly.

He hadn’t gotten to Banff until late in the afternoon.

By the time he had found parking and convinced a kid to deliver a note to Simon’s house, the sun had almost set.

After Freddy had watched the note being delivered, he’d gone back to the car and discovered that the engine wouldn’t turn over.

He had cursed himself for not bringing the battery jump-starter he’d given Mrs Keough.

It had been too late to drive back to Jasper anyway, and Mrs Keough wasn’t going to be back until next Tuesday, so he’d opted to leave the car parked on the street and stay overnight in Banff.

There was something delicious about being so close to The Paddock with Milo’s father not knowing he was there.

The following morning, Freddy had managed to find someone to give him a boost, but the weather was still cold and snowy.

Rather than taking the Icefields Parkway back, Freddy had opted to travel east to Calgary and take the safer route up Highway 2.

He didn’t have to be back to work until the following morning. He still had time.

As he’d made his way to the edge of Calgary, an impulse had taken a hold of him.

He’d wanted to see where it had all begun.

Freddy hadn’t been home since he’d first fled the city.

He had pictured the shock on his father’s face if he walked up to the front door, rang the doorbell and said, “Hey, guess what, Dad? I’m not dead.

How does that make you feel?” But he never got the chance.

He had managed to park on the street, but before he’d gotten out of the car, Freddy had seen a man in a long brown coat leave by the front door of Freddy’s old home.

The man was moving in a hurry. Then a woman had come out onto the street.

She was looking around, and Freddy had ducked to ensure she didn’t see him.

Something had seemed off. That was when he’d heard sirens.

It was too much. Freddy had gotten out of there as fast as he could and made his way back to Jasper.

It wasn’t until a few days later that Freddy had read in the Calgary Herald that there’d been a homicide. The newspaper had identified the victim as his father, Archie Whitcher. Freddy had thought about the man he’d seen leaving the house. He was pretty sure he knew who he was.

I bet you killed him, you psycho.

The man in the brown coat seemed very much like the man who had killed Milo. He had a distinctive build. It had to be the guy Milo had called Tom.

After Freddy had gotten back to Jasper, he’d realised that Mrs Keough wasn’t going to be back for a few more days, so he’d planned a second trip to Banff.

He’d called in sick to work, retrieved his gun and driven the Icefields Parkway once more, arriving in Banff near the dinner hour.

The drive had been fair, as a Chinook had been blowing that afternoon.

Freddy had sat in his car on the street and watched The Paddock as he’d tried to pluck up his courage to act.

He was trying to make up his mind what to do when Simon Griffin had driven out of the property, and headed east. Freddy had followed him to a restaurant fifteen minutes away, and luck was with him.

Tom had arrived and parked right beside Simon’s car.

Freddy had waited until they were both inside the restaurant.

He had taken great joy in putting a big scratch in Milo’s father’s Bentley, then left a note on both cars that was a little more threatening than the first. It was too public a place to try anything more.

Instead, he would come back on the day he had first planned, closer to the tenth anniversary of Milo’s death and bring this situation to an end. He would stick to his original plan.

He’d made the long drive home that night, arriving before Mrs. Keough got back to Jasper, in time for his morning shift.

And that brought him to today. It didn’t even matter that there were detectives asking questions.

Freddy took in the beautiful mountain scenery around him and smiled.

If it went badly at The Paddock, at least he would have this last glorious memory to hold onto.

Things had been put into action that could not be undone.