21st Birthday by Patterson, James (ebook reader screen .TXT) 📕

“I had twelve years of therapy working to convince myself that my father couldn’t be a killer. But there’s one connection I can’t shake. My father has always been drawn to the water. He always had boats. I’ve done research and now it seems obvious. Women disappeared in Catalina where we lived. Women disappeared in Isla Vista near the campus of UC Santa Barbara. Women’s bodies have been found in coastal areas.

“I can’t say that he killed them all, but many of those murders were never solved and often the bodies weren’t found. My father is smooth. And charming. And sly. And he likes to kill women. And maybe because he wants me to both suffer and bear witness. That’s why he made sure that Tara and Lorrie died in the water.”

Lucas Burke seemed parched and worn out from his speech, but Parisi was unmoved. Same for Brady.

Parisi said, “Mr. Gardner. Mr. Burke. This is your defense? ‘The other dude did it? And he’s my father?’”

Gardner said, “My client can provide the names of possible victims, approximate dates when they disappeared. With fresh information and good police work, I’m confident proof exists that Evan Burke, not Lucas, killed Tara and Lorrie Burke.”

I adjusted my chair so that I was right in Burke’s face and questioned him.

“What’s your father’s full name?”

“Evan Richard Burke.”

“When did you speak with him last?”

“When Tara and I got married. Three years ago. But before that? Maybe three times after my mother and sister disappeared.”

“Where does he live?”

“I got a birthday card from him on my fortieth. The return address was somewhere in Marin County. If I look at a map, I might remember. But logic tells me that he may have a place near where I live now. So that he could watch me, follow people in my life and kill other people to muddy the picture. Look. This man is a high genius. You have to be prepared —”

I interrupted, “You have a picture of him? You have anything with his DNA? That birthday card for instance. The flap of the envelope?”

“I threw it out. Took it down to the trash. But,” said Burke, “talk to the police in Marin County. He was arrested when Mom and my baby sister disappeared. They’ll have a mug shot, won’t they?”

This was Lucas’s recollection. Police records might well show otherwise.

Katie knocked on the office door, opened it, and said, “Mr. Parisi, you have a meeting with the mayor in five minutes. After you see him, you have a meeting with the victims’ families.”

“Thanks, Katie. Yuki, you want to add anything?”

“I do,” said Yuki. “If Mr. Burke didn’t kill his wife and child, he and Mr. Gardner can tell the judge at arraignment.”

“Okay, then,” said Parisi. “Mr. Burke, we’ll investigate your claim, as far-fetched as it is. I suggest you and Mr. Gardner prepare for court. Sergeant Boxer, if you will be so kind, take Mr. Burke back to his cell.”

CHAPTER 54

THE TASK FORCE GATHERED once again in Swanson’s empty office at the end of our floor.

I ran the story for those who hadn’t heard it.

Brady stood with his back to the whiteboard and said, “Show of hands, who believes Lucas Burke is innocent?”

No hands went up. And then, as if it had its own mind, my right hand lifted from the table.

“Boxer?”

“I’ve spent a lot of time with Burke. I don’t like him. But I find his emotional distress, over the baby, over Misty, real. When I’m with him, I believe him. Otherwise?” I threw up my hands. “I’ve struggled with this, you know that, lieu. So, it’s either that he’s a dirty old man who has positioned himself to date underage girls, end of statement. Or all of that plus he’s a gifted liar and a stealthy killer. Or all of the above and his psycho killer father is setting him up for a fall. Count me on the fence.”

Brady held me in his ice-blue stare a beat too long, and then said, “I’m going to meet with the mayor. Boxer, you’re in charge. But this is how I see it. What Gardner said is true. We have only circumstantial evidence. So, if Lucas Burke is telling the truth, we need to find Evan Burke, bring him in and question the hell out of him. We do impeccable police work. Determine whether Burke Senior has a California residence. Check out his movements over the last week, down to the minute. What we don’t want to do is send the DA into court to arraign the wrong man.”

Brady left the room and I took the floor.

I divvied up the manpower, six teams and me, and assigned them to NCIC, ViCAP, and other databases we had at hand. Until we found Evan Burke, we would scrutinize every unsolved murder of every female going back fifteen years.

The state of California had produced a lot of data.

We hit the keys.

A simple search for “Evan Burke” turned up sixty men with that name in California alone. We halved the list to men in their sixties, but that wasn’t enough.

I reached out to Captain Geoffrey Brevoort, Marin County PD. Although Breevort quickly confirmed Corinne and Jodie Burke’s disappearance, Lucas’s memory of his father’s arrest didn’t match the records. Breevort had nothing on Evan Burke; no mug shots, no prints or DNA. He’d been questioned, yes. But his alibis had held up and the man not only cooperated, he was an emotional wreck.

While I was on the phone with Brevoort, Conklin found a dozen Evan Burkes in the DMV so now we had addresses, birth dates, and best of all, photos of several dozen Evan Burkes in California. None of them resembled Lucas.

And then, Alvarez found a California boating license for an E. R. Burke in Sausalito, six nautical miles off the coast of San Francisco. There was no photo attached to the file, no prints, but