Page 7 of The Burnt (The Declan Hunt Mysteries #3)

“Do you know what sort of things he did?” he asked.

She stared at him.

Declan continued, “It might lead to a clue as to who killed him.”

Katherine gave him a cockeyed look. “Mainly petty theft, but sometimes he’d let people store things at his place.”

“Things?”

“Well, I’d sometimes see a truck back into his driveway and guys’d unload lots of boxes.

I assume they stored ‘em in his basement…and sometimes he’d have people stay at his house for a while.

Look, I know what he was doin’ probably wasn’t legal.

Archie really was an idiot, but he meant no real harm.

He had his faults, as you’ve probably guessed from what happened to Freddy. ”

Declan pulled out his notepad. “Do you mind if I take some notes?”

“Go ahead. Where was I?”

“You were talking about Freddy,” Declan said.

Katherine continued, “Archie wasn’t what you’d call open to new ideas, like havin’ a gay son.

Yeah, I knew all about Freddy, and I knew it didn’t sit well with his father that Freddy was gay.

Archie did have a short fuse, but as he got older and his health started to fail him, he mellowed. He was a faithful old dog.”

Are we talking about the same man?

“What about Freddy’s mother? Marsha, was it?” Declan asked.

“She died when he was ten. Just dropped dead. It turned out she was born with a bad heart. Freddy was devastated. Archie, he wasn’t built to raise a son on his own.”

Declan’s neck muscles tensed. “Not built to raise a son? From the police reports and the interviews they did with some of the people in the neighbourhood, it was indicated that Archie had beaten the boy. There wasn’t much left of him when they found Freddy, but what they did find showed signs of abuse. ”

Katherine leaned in toward Declan. “I don’t remember the police ever interviewing me back then, but I can tell you this—Archie truly missed his son after he died.

He really did. There wasn’t a birthday that went by that he didn’t acknowledge in some way.

He swore that one of these days, he was gonna find out who killed him and make them pay. ”

Declan looked up from his notebook. “Freddy’s death was ruled accidental, but you’re saying Archie thought someone killed him?”

She snorted. “Anyone who knew anythin’ about Freddy knew he wouldn’t have been dumb enough to build a shelter out of wood and light a fire in it.

The fact that the police wrote it off as accidental was an insult—not just to Freddy but to all of us.

Just because he didn’t come from money didn’t mean he was stupid. ”

She smacked her empty glass down on the table. “I bet if Archie had money, he could’ve afforded to prove it was murder. I don’t think the investigation went too deep.” She paused then cocked her head. “Wait a minute—you said you found Freddy. Weren’t you involved in the investigation?”

Declan stared her down. “I did find him, but it wasn’t my case. And the cop in charge deep-sixed it. You’re right—the rich get priority. The homeless, the poor, minorities—not so much. I want to make sure that doesn’t happen here.”

She nodded.

Declan continued. “So…do you know anyone who would want to kill Archie?”

She thought about it. “No one lately. Archie’s been clean for a while now.

Look, I know he was into a whole lotta stuff in the past, but that was then—before Freddy got burnt.

The truth is, he was really busted up when young Freddy died.

He gave up drinkin’ like he kinda wanted to make up for the way he’d treated the boy. ”

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.”