“You also keep calling him inmate,” Max said.
“That’s what he is.”
“Yeah, but you know him, right? He’s David to you, no? You and his father are old buddies. Your son here—the so-far-silent Adam—grew up with him, am I right?”
A flash of surprise hit the warden’s face, but he recovered fast. “That’s true,” Mackenzie said, standing up a little straighter. “I’m not denying it.”
“So cooperative,” Sarah said.
“Isn’t he though?”
“And that’s why—” Philip began.
“Wait, don’t tell me. That’s why Burroughs was able to get close enough to get a gun your secretary swears you never wear—”
“Or load,” Sarah added.
“Or load. Thanks, Sarah. Yet somehow Burroughs was still able to reach into your jacket, unsnap your holster, and pull the loaded gun free while the two of you stood and did nothing. That pretty much it, Warden?”
Adam spoke for the first time. “That’s exactly what happened.”
“Whoa, it speaks, Sarah.”
“Maybe he shouldn’t, Max.”
“Agree. Let me ask you another question, Warden, if you don’t mind. Why did you visit David Burroughs’s father yesterday?”
Philip Mackenzie looked stunned.
“Sarah, do you want to fill the warden in?”
“Sure, Max.” She turned toward Philip. “You took the eight-fifteen flight on American Eagle to Boston yesterday morning. Flight three-oh-two, in case you’re interested.”
Silence.
“I can see the gears a-whirring in his head, Sarah.”
“Can you, Max?”
Max nodded. “He’s wondering: Should I admit I visited my old buddy Lenny Burroughs—or should I claim I was in Boston for another reason? He wants to do the latter, of course, but the problem is—and you know this, Warden—if you lie about it, you have to wonder if Sarah here will be able to track down the Uber or taxi you took from Logan to the Burroughses’ house in Revere.”
“Or vice versa, Max,” Sarah added.
“Right, Sarah, or vice versa. The taxi you took back to the airport. And before you answer, let me just warn you: Sarah is damn good.”
“Thanks, Max.”
“No, Sarah, I mean it. You’re the best.”
“You’re making me blush, Max.”
“It looks good on you, Sarah.” Max shrugged his shoulders and turned toward the Mackenzies. “It’s a tough choice, Warden. I don’t know what I’d do.”
Philip cleared his throat. “I was in Boston visiting a sick friend. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Max took out his wallet and smiled. “Dang, Sarah, you were right.”
She put out her palm. “Five bucks.”
“I only have a ten.”
“I’ll give you change later.”
Max handed her a ten-dollar bill.
Philip Mackenzie plowed ahead. “You’re right, of course. I’m close to David. And he’s been acting irrationally lately. So yes, I wanted to speak to his father about it. Like you said, Lenny and I, we go way back—”
“Wait, let me guess.” Max held up his hand. “You brought your son here today for that very reason. Because Adam and David were close, and David was acting so irrationally.”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
Max grinned and held out his palm. Sarah frowned and handed him back the ten-dollar bill.
“Do you two think you’re funny?” Philip snapped.
“We’re not called the FBI Desi and Lucy for nothing, are we, Sarah?”
“Mostly we’re called that because I’m a redhead, Max, not because we’re funny.”
Max frowned. “Seriously, Sarah? But I’ve been working on a modern rendition of ‘Babalu.’”
There was a knock on the door. The meaty prison executive and Semsey stepped into the room. The executive said, “David Burroughs had only one visitor during his entire incarceration. His sister-in-law. Her name is Rachel Anderson. She was here yesterday and the day before.”
“Wait, Burroughs’s only visitor came yesterday and the day before?” Max put his hand to his chest. “Gasp. Oh. Gasp. Another coincidence, Sarah.”
“The world is full of them, Max.”
“It’s full of something, Sarah. What say you, Warden?”
This time, Philip Mackenzie stayed quiet.
Max turned back to the meaty guy. “Do you know where the sister-in-law is staying?”
“Probably the Briggs Motor Lodge. The majority of our visitors stay there.”
Max looked toward Semsey. Semsey said, “I’m on it.”
Meaty Exec added, “She might also have stayed at the Hyatt by the factory outlets.”
“Whoa.”
Max’s head spun around like someone had pulled it on a string. He did his jitterbug step back to the map. The room fell silent. Max studied the route. Then he jumped back to the computer monitor.
“Bingo, Sarah.”
“What, Max?”
“Semsey?”
The detective stepped forward. “I’m right here.”
“You said Burroughs was on the phone call right before they entered the tunnel, right?”
“Yes.”
“And Burroughs initiated that call?”
“Yes. He asked for five minutes and called me back.”
“What time was that? Exactly? Check your phone.”
“Eight fifty.”
“So the car would have been…” Max found it. “Here. On Green Street. Which would have been right before they hit the mall’s underground parking lot.” He turned to Philip Mackenzie. “Why did you drive through that underground garage, Warden?”
Philip glared at him. “Because the inmate told me to. At gunpoint.”
Max leapt back toward the map. He pointed at the Lamy Outlet Center and traced over the nearby vicinity. “Sarah, you see what I’m seeing?”
“The train station, Max.”
Max nodded. “Semsey?”
“What?”
“Stop the trains. And if any pulled out after eight fifty, I want them boarded. Let’s get every cop we can over to that mall.”
“Roger that.”
Chapter
15
At the Payne Museum of Art in Newport, Rhode Island, Gertrude Payne, the eighty-two-year-old matriarch of the New England branch of the Payne family fortune, watched her grandson Hayden take to the podium. Hayden was thirty-seven years old and while most expected him to have a genteel or patrician bearing, he looked more like his great-great-great-grandfather Randall Payne, the gritty man who founded Payne Kentucky Bourbon in 1868, thus creating the Payne family dynasty.
“On behalf of my family,” Hayden began, “especially my grandmother Pixie…”
Gertrude was Pixie. That was the nickname given to her by her own father, though no one really understood why. Hayden turned and smiled at her. She smiled back.
Hayden continued: “…we are thrilled to see so many of you at our annual fundraising luncheon. All proceeds from today’s event will go into the ‘Paint with Payne’ art development charity, which will continue to provide classes and materials for underserved youth in the Providence area. Thank you so much for your generosity.”