The Boyfriend by Thomas Perry Page B

Fernandito restaurant, walked through the place, got into the white Camry, and drove off.”
    “So if we go to this restaurant, the silver Jag will be there, but the Camry won’t?”
    “That’s right. I think this girl also had an apartment somewhere, and he could be on his way there now, or heading out of town.”
    “Why two places?”
    “She was an escort. This doesn’t look like the sort of in-call place she would use for business. She would have problems with the neighborhood. I think the guy searched this place for money and valuables. He might wonder if she had money or jewelry hidden in the other place too. He has a history of killing girls like this and then robbing them.”
    The other cop came out of the hallway. “Beautiful girl.”
    “Yes,” said Till. “She was.”
    “Tell me about you. What are you?”
    “I’m a private investigator out of LA.”
    “You on a case?”
    “The parents of a girl named Catherine Hamilton hired me to find out who killed her. She was working as an escort too. This guy seems to form a relationship with a working girl for a while, then kill and rob her, and move on.” Till paused. “I don’t want to get irritating, but I can prove all of this, and I really think it would be worthwhile to try to have this guy pulled over right away.”
    The younger cop looked at his partner.
    The older cop said, “Mr. Till. Haven’t you heard a radio, or seen a paper yet today? When I came on duty, there had been a call that two city councilmen had been murdered last night in their beds. All morning there have been dozens of tips and leads that have had to be followed up on. We’re not a huge police force. There’s not much extra manpower to look for a car—the most common model in the country, by the way—when we don’t know more than this. Give us a chance to find out more.”
    Till was looking at the floor. Suddenly he looked up. “Why do you think the councilmen were killed?”
    “It could be a lot of things. We’re in southern Arizona. There are a lot of people with guns and opinions. There are people who smuggle drugs. We’ll sort all that out, but it’s making everything else drag. Right now, I think we’ve got to get you to the station and let you give your statement there. We’ll pull some crime scene people off the councilmen, so they can get started here.”
    “All right,” Till said.
    “I’m afraid we’re going to have to ask you to tolerate wearing handcuffs, Mr. Till. My partner is going to transport you alone.”
    He turned around and let the cop cuff his wrists behind him. When they were in the car, the younger cop said, “Were you close to her?”
    “No. I hired her last night so I could get her to tell me about her boyfriend, but she took her personal life off the list of topics. She didn’t tell me his name, or give me any details. So here we are.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean all I accomplished was to arrive the day before she was going to be killed. The next time I get close I’ll concentrate on going for him instead of trying to be cagey and learning everything from the girl.”
    At the station Till gave his statement, then waited in an interrogation room drinking coffee while the cops made a few telephone calls. He knew that they had hoped he might be the one who had killed the two city councilmen. When they realized Till was what he said he was, the detective who had been assigned the case came in and told him he was free to go.
    He got a ride back to Kyra’s house, where technicians were still going over the whole property. He didn’t talk to any of them. He knew they wouldn’t tell him anything, and even if they did, what they found would not be of interest to him. He had missed his best chance at this man, and all he could do was start again at the beginning and give the boyfriend time to surface again. He stopped beside his car and watched the coroner’s people moving Kyra’s body out on a gurney. Then he got into his car