Sign Off (Caught Dead In Wyoming, Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Burrell's lawyer hadn't liked the idea of his client talking to the media, but he'd agreed to ask. The word came back "yes."

Mike had been patient while we waited for the lawyer to arrive to make sure his client didn't say anything incriminating to the media. He'd even put up with the lawyer's suspicious questions about hidden microphones.

I was the one pacing.

The lawyer, James Longbaugh, glared at me and rubbed his temples as I passed for the third time.

Mike, seated opposite the lawyer at the rectangular table in the center of the bare room, said "What makes you think he'll tell us anything now when he wouldn't before?"

The creak of the door opening provided instrumentation for the last part of his speech, and I spun around to face Thomas David Burrell, handcuffed and accompanied by a thin, balding deputy. The deputy muttered something apologetic about not taking off the handcuffs, attached in front this time, and being right outside the door, then left Burrell standing just inside the door, watching me.

I broke the silence, answering Mike by addressing Burrell. "Because there's no reason now not to tell us everything. Is there, Tom?"

He looked like a man who'd come through a terrible storm-exhausted, battered by forces greater them himself, but relieved. "No, there's no reason not to tell you everything now."

Without releasing my look, he took two steps to the empty chair near where I stood and pulled it back. I sat. His handcuffs clinked as he pushed the chair in. He went around the table and sat across from me and next to his lawyer.

"Ask your questions, E.M. Danniher."

"Let's start with an easy one. Why do you think Mona was at your office?"

One side of his mouth lifted slightly. "You want my thoughts, or the sheriff's theory that she went there expressly to be killed by me?"

"Your thoughts."

"Passports."

"Tom! Don't say anymo-"

Burrell stopped his lawyer's protest by raising one large hand, palm out. "It's like she said, James. There's no longer any reason not to tell everything."

"Even though it gives you a stronger motive?" I asked.

"You're a little late there, E.M. Danniher. The sheriff's already added that motive to his collection." This time both sides of his mouth lifted. "There's not a soul who passes through Sherman Supermarket who doesn't know Mona'd made noises about leaving town and taking Tamantha. And Widcuff tells me the passports were out of the office safe."

I nodded. "Okay. What was your real reason for telling Redus to stay away from Mona and Tamantha?"

"Tamantha saw Redus hit Mona. He'd told them both he'd beat Tamantha if she told anyone, but she told me. I tried to get Mona to press charges, but she wouldn't. He'd done it before, but she said he'd promised not to hit her again, and she swore she'd never let him hurt Tamantha. I told Mona if she kept seeing Redus, I'd go for sole custody, and I'd use his abuse as cause."

"Tom, I don't think-"

Burrell waved off the lawyer. He already knew he was describing a stronger motive for murder than any the sheriff's department had so far.

"So, Mona told Redus, and he came to your ranch to confront you."

He confirmed my supposition with a nod. "I'd counted on that. I told him to his face what I thought of a man who beat on a woman and threatened a child. That's when he swung. Everything else happened the way I said."

"And when Redus disappeared, you thought Mona had made good on her oath not to let him hurt Tamantha."

"Mona?" The shocked word came from Mike on my left, and I heard a sound from the lawyer.

Burrell met my look and nodded. "Tamantha let it slip the next day that her mother had been gone several hours that night. But after it came out that Redus was missing, I couldn't get her to talk about it. Not about that night or Redus or any of it. Mona must have told her not to talk about it, and Tamantha was being loyal to her mother. It was the only way it figured."

"And you thought that meant Mona had killed Redus." I watched him closely as I added, "But it could also figure that Mona was busy accusing you of involvement in Redus' disappearance, and it was loyalty to her father, not her mother, that kept Tamantha quiet."

He didn't look startled at the thought. I wondered if it had occurred to him before Mona's murder, or if a night in jail had done the trick.

"Maybe." His tone implied he meant to find out.

If Tamantha decided she didn't want to tell him, I would buy a ticket to that battle of wills.

"Why didn't you tell the authorities you thought Mona killed Redus?" demanded Longbaugh. "Or me, when you were charged last winter?"

Tom flicked a look at the lawyer, not quite apologetic. "I didn't have proof."

"You had this information about Redus abusing Mona, and his threats."

"I didn't know Redus hadn't just lit out for bright lights somewhere. He talked about it often enough. Besides . . ." For the first time, his eyes dropped, apparently focusing on his folded and handcuffed hands.

"Besides," I picked up, "you didn't want your daughter's mother convicted of murder."

Silence confirmed my words.

"But what if you'd been convicted?" objected Mike.

"I couldn't see how they could convict me as long as they didn't have a body. When they found him . . ." He shifted, and I figured that was probably as close to an admission as we'd get that Tom had wondered if he'd made the right decision.

"Did you have any other reason for thinking Mona might have been involved in Redus' disappearance?" I asked.

"Yes." Something too dry to be called a grin tugged at Burrell's mouth. "Why don't you just say it, E.M. Danniher? This isn't Jeopardy, you don't have to make everything a question."

"Okay. Redus' disappearance so soon after he'd had a fight with you seemed to point to your involvement. Presuming you weren't involved, it was either planned that way or a very convenient coincidence. Convenient coincidences aside for the moment, to plan it someone had to know Redus was going to confront you, and probably know why."

"That's how I figured it," Burrell confirmed.

"You didn't tell anybody about Redus hitting Mona?"

"No."

"Who could Mona have told?"

He sat still and calm, returning my look with his dark eyes knowing, slightly sad, but understanding. It could have been simply a smart move on his part to pick up on my theory and indicate it had been his motive all along. Someone who murdered two people sure wouldn't balk at a little opportunism.

Did I think the man looking back at me could have done that? I didn't know, did I?

"I don't know who Mona could have told," he said. "I have wondered."

"Have you asked Tamantha?"

"No." His full-force glower returned. "And I don't want you asking-"

"Don't tell me not to ask questions, Burrell." I met his look. After a few seconds, the hardness in his eyes eased slightly. "I won't scare her," I promised, trying to keep the thought that I probably couldn't scare Tamantha Burrell from showing. Maybe he saw it anyhow, because his eyes lightened.

"I'd like to see you try," he murmured.