Safe Room Ch. 02

Irwin handed me the red crowbar back, and Parker and I went back to I-1. "Sir," said Patrolman Hicks as we got to the anteroom, "the lawyer is angry and was shouting at us because you weren't right there when he was ready."

"Tough shit for him." I said. I went into I-1, with Parker behind.

"Where the hell were you?" snarled Berry. "You're wasting my client's time, and mine, and I don't appreciate it."

"And I don't give a shit." I said. "Your client is under arrest. His time is now at my mercy, as is everything else about him. He eats when I tell him. He sleeps when I tell him. And you... you're making your money by the hour, so quit whining. Okay, Mr. Burnham, are you ready to answer my questions?"

"We reserve the right to invoke at any time." said Berry.

"Mr. Burnham," I said, "how long have you been having a sexual affair with Tim Burris's wife Melissa?"

Burnham shrugged. "About two years, give or take?"

"Did Tim know you were banging his wife?" I asked.

"Watch your language, Troy." snarled Berry.

"It's English." I said. "And you ain't my mama, so you don't tell me what to do or say. One more time, Mr. Burnham: did Tim know you were fucking his wife?"

"He never said anything to me that he knew, or acted like he knew." said Burnham. "So I don't know."

"You and Tim were preppers?" I asked.

"Yes." said Burnham. Here we go again with the one-liners, I thought to myself.

"Did you know of his prepper facility behind his home?" I asked.

"Yeah, I knew about his underground tube." said Burnham. "He showed me around after it was completed."

"When was that?" I asked.

"Year and a half ago, maybe?" said Burnham.

"What was his prepper plan?" I asked. "And what would cause him to implement it?"

"Anything big." said Burnham. "War, civil unrest."

"Same for you?" I asked.

"Generally." said Burnham. "Except, as you've probably figured out, I was going to bug out in the RV."

"Where were you going to go?"

"North, into the mountains." said Burnham. "Lake Amengi-Nunagen, probably."

"What about Melissa?" I asked. "She going into the cave with Tim, or in the RV with you?"

"Before the divorce, I figured she'd go into the shelter with Tim." said Burnham. "But she was welcome to come with me if she wanted to."

"You and she dating?" I asked. "Planning to get together, or get married?"

"No." said Burnham. "She was just a piece of ass to me. And I was just a big cock to her."

"Why do you have $20,000 in cash hidden in your RV, Mr. Burnham?" I asked.

"Duh." said Burnham. "If the shit hits the fan, of course."

"What's going to happen?" I asked.

"One day the People are going to realize you cops and the Government are keeping us suppressed." said Burnham. "When that happens, it's going to get ugly. And I'm going to get out of the way while the cities and towns burn."

"Money won't be of any use if civilization collapses." I said.

"Maybe." said Burnham. At that point, the lawyer leaned over and whispered something to Burnham.

"I've instructed my client to speak no further on speculative matters." said Berry. "Stick to facts, Troy."

"I always do." I replied. "And the facts do not bode well for your client. He knew about hidden shelter, he's having an affair with the dead man's wife. Won't be long before we come up with some more facts. So if your client has anything he wishes to say, he'd better do so soon."

I got up to go. The lawyer had a smug look on his face; Burnham looked indifferent, and hateful of Police in general.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

7:00pm, Thursday, May 4th. I was sitting in my office, poring over the uploaded photos of Tim Burris's notebooks that were found in his shelter. I heard a knock, followed by Cindy peeking her head in.

"Come on in." I said. She did so, and sat down in a hot chair. "I'm just going over these logs of Tim Burris's times in his prepper shelter. I want to know the last time he gave it a full test."

"Because you'd know the systems weren't sabotaged then." said Cindy.

"That's part of it." I said. "But Mrs. Burris allegedly left Mr. Burris about a year ago. The divorce was definitely finalized this past January. So I'm looking to see every date he did tests. I'm trying to find anything that will show that Mrs. Burris did know about that shelter, and that she is therefore lying to us."

"I came by to tell you," Cindy said, "that Teddy and Jerome found time to visit the place where Tim's air tanks were allegedly filled. It's called 'State Gas And Air Supply', and they're in the Industrial District. They serve BigPharmaCorp and Crown Chemicals. They showed Parker and Davis that they use different colored gas tanks and different types of gauges for the different gases: nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, air, and flammables. They said if someone had put carbon dioxide in an air tank, the gauge would've read differently and they'd know it."

Cindy continued: "Davis showed the people there pictures of Tim Burris, Jeffrey Burnham, and Melissa Burris. They all recognized Tim. One guy recognize Jeffrey, and said he bought a fuel tank for his RV. Melissa was not known to any of them."

"Okay." I said. "Did Jerome have those photos on his own initiative?"

"Yes sir." said Cindy. "He's really solid on stuff like that."

"Yes, he is." I said. "Okay, who supplies the University with their tanks of various gases?"

"They do it themselves." said Cindy. "Chemistry Department runs it."

"Have Teddy and Jerome go there with a couple of Campus Police Officers." I said. "See if anyone recognizes those three, and all that."

"Wilco." Cindy replied. "So, who do you think did it? Jeffrey, Melissa, both, neither?"

I sighed and sat back in my chair, such as I could with a back brace on. "I don't know. It could've been Ferrell or people he's connected to; after all, he sabotaged the power station. But he could've done that at someone else's bidding, or for hire, and that was the extent of his involvement."

I continued: "Then we have an Oldeeds connection to Tim Burris's parents. And the Sharples letter and the Braille letters being the same code message. They might've come in and waxed Tim."

"But when it comes to Occam's Razor, the simplest solution," I said, "we have the dead man's best friend and ex-wife having an affair. And while I do not yet have proof for it, I cannot shake the feeling that his wife had to know about the shelter, or at least the safe room. How could she not?"

Cindy replied "Well, she's not exactly the brightest bulb on the string. She's not put on Night Manager duty at every place she's gone because she's the best, and she's not having to switch jobs a lot because she's someone an employer wants to retain. Also, she did leave her husband months ago, long before the actual divorce, so that gave him a year doing his prepper stuff without her being in the home."

"Good points." I said. "But another point for me is that Tim did not want the divorce, and at first contested it. I can hardly believe he would not tell his wife about the shelter, or at least the safe room. There was a lot of extra food in the kitchen pantry, so it's not like she didn't see some of what he was doing."

Cindy replied "Maybe he left that food for her because she'd said she wanted no part of the underground shelter. Yes, that's admitting that she'd have to at least know about it, but I can understand her not wanting to be cooped up with him in that little windowless space."

"True." I said. "All right, then, you can go home. I'm about done here. Get some rest for the Boxing Matches. You start us off Saturday morning." Cindy smiled, then made her goodnights and lefts.

I uploaded a few extra photos to my Police iPhone. If my suspicions were right, I would be needing them.

Part 9 - Shock and Awe

Thursday, May 4th. 8:30pm.

Seth Warner was wearing the suit and tie he'd worn to work at BOW Enterprises earlier in the day. His wife Joanne was in plain clothes, a gray-blue skirt and jacket, darker gray blouse, her badge on her belt and her gun holstered under her armpit.

They were shown to the entrance of a suite at the Lakeside Inn & Suites, where four burly men in suits, obviously bodyguards, said they had to be searched for weapons.

"To hell with that." Joanne said. "I'm a Police Officer, and I will not give up my weapon."

"You're out of jurisdiction." said the guard.

"I have a Statewide carry permit." said Joanne. "I will not give up my weapon."

"I support my wife on this." said Seth. "I won't be searched like some common slug, either. Let's go, honey." They turned to go. Just then the door to the suite opened.

"The man says to let them in." said the guard on the inside. "Mr. and Mrs. Warner, my apologies for my colleague's zeal; he was doing what he was told. Please, come in."

Joanne and Seth walked in, seeing the large living room and the far side wall of windows that gave a great view of Lake Reservoir. Then from their left side an old man in a wheelchair drove in.

"Ah, Seth and Joanne Warner." the old man said. "My name is Conrad King. I apologize for the issue at the door. Do you know why I asked you to come here?"

"I'm told that you are my mother's father." said Seth.

"Yes." said Conrad King. "Her death was most... unfortunate... but I am glad she gave her life honorably, and saved you in the process, Ms. Joanne. I presume your boss, the Iron Crowbar, told you who I am?"

"Yes sir." said Joanne. "My condolences upon the loss of your daughter, and I'll always be grateful for her sacrifice."

"Yes." said Conrad King. "And not much gets by the Iron Crowbar. Incredible man. I remember my first meeting with him, before my friend Henry Wargrave passed away. You are fortunate to work for him."

"Thank you, sir." said Joanne.

"And you, Seth." said Conrad King, peering at his grandson. "You've done very well. I am proud of you, and your accomplishments with Todd Burke and his growing company. Come here and shake my hand. It's wonderful to meet my grandson."

Seth came forward and shook Conrad's hand. "It's an honor to meet you, sir."

"Heh." said Conrad. "You can call me 'Grandpa' if you like. I called my grandfather that. And I know you are the progeny of my daughter's liaisons with the Reverend Jonas Oldeeds. Very... interesting man."

The old man went towards a table set for three people for supper. "Please, come have some food with me. I want to get to know you better, both of you."

As they sat and ate at the well-appointed table, complete with wine glasses and candles, a butler serving the food and wine, Conrad King said "One reason I asked you to come tonight... is that I don't know just how long I have left on this earth. I have several businesses that I intend to leave to you. I've placed them in charitable trusts, and I would like for you to manage them and keep the money going to the charities. I believe you're ready to do this, as I've been very impressed with your work with young Mr. Todd Burke."

"Thank you, sir," said Seth, "but how would you know of that?"

"Oh, I think you'll find that a man doesn't get to where I am today without knowing a few things." said Conrad. "You're capable of reaching there, and with this lovely, brilliant wife to help you, there's no limit to what you can achieve, if you choose to. I've watched your Police career as well, Ms. Joanne, and I know the Iron Crowbar is impressed with your abilities, which he is effectively developing."

"Thank you, Mr. King." said Joanne.

After dinner, they moved back to the living room, where Conrad King outlined some of his businesses, which were vast and varied.

"Of course, some of my business, especially the foreign ones, will not be going to you, Seth." said Conrad. "They'll be going to my capable assistant. Come on out, my dear!"

"Well!" said Karen Warner, appearing out of the bedroom. "If it isn't my brother and his little wife..."

"You!" shouted Joanne, rising and whipping her gun out and pointing it at Karen. "You're a wanted fugitive! You're under arrest!"

Just then four of Conrad's guards appeared, their weapons drawn, laser dots appearing on various parts of Joanne's body...

To be continued.