21st Birthday (Women's Murder Club #21)(79)

“She was angry.

“You heard Tara’s mother, Kathleen Wyatt, who told you that Mr. Burke was abusive to her daughter. Tara denied it, but this is often the case with abused spouses, and this seems to be such a case. Fights, bruises, mounting anger.

“Mr. Burke already had another teenage girlfriend. We have introduced the note that he wrote to Melissa Fogarty saying that he wanted to marry her, but to date, no ring was forthcoming. Not only was this affair another sign that Lucas Burke’s marriage vows were broken, but perhaps Lucas was feeling pressure from his girlfriend.

“Based on these financial and emotional circumstances, I believe even Mr. Burke would admit that he went to bed angry every night and woke up angry every morning. And maybe he could no longer contain that anger and had to take action before it destroyed him.

“On the Monday, Lucas Burke fought with his wife on what would turn out to be the last day of her life. Phone records show that Mr. Burke last phoned Tara at eleven that morning. They spoke for three minutes and he never called her again. Not even after their baby was found dead Wednesday morning. He never called her during that period of nearly a week when she was missing. Unlike Tara’s mother, he didn’t dog the police department, demanding that they inform him of progress in the search for his wife, and he didn’t put up posters asking, ‘Have you seen Tara Burke?’

“Lucas Burke knew where she was.

“We deduce that on that last call, he made a plan to meet with her purportedly to discuss their fight — but it was a ruse. He had a different idea. He met her at a romantic place overlooking the water, and killed her by drawing his razor blade across her throat.

“He then smothered his own baby with his hand. He tucked them both into Tara’s car, put a stone on the accelerator and, after getting safely out of the car, he rolled it into the ocean, where it stayed until Saturday. According to our medical examiner, both Tara and Lorrie were dead before they hit the water.

“Ladies and gentlemen, there is an absence of contradictory evidence from the defense.

“You have heard from the head of our Forensics laboratory who examined the evidence, and we have shown you the murder weapon used to kill Melissa Fogarty.

“Ms. Fogarty’s blood was found on the blade, and Lucas Burke’s fingerprints were on that razor’s handle. Furthermore, Lucas Burke was the last known person to see Tara and Lorrie Burke, and he went to great lengths to get rid of their bodies.

“Why did Mr. Burke go on a murder spree?

“We contend it was because he didn’t want to be weighed down with other people’s expectations. So instead of moving to a new location, he expressed the volatile personality he has shown us in this room.

“And he believed that he could get away with it.

“Mr. Burke’s defense is common to police and prosecutors all over this country. We have heard it too many times. It’s referred to as TODDI.

“That’s an acronym for the words ‘the other dude did it.’ In this case of three dead souls who loved the defendant, the defense wants to blame the other dude, the defendant’s father. Mr. Burke’s father does not have a criminal record. He has not been introduced to this court in person or by way of other witnesses. In fact, the defense has not produced a single witness to support this theory of ‘the other dude.’

“They can’t.

“Only one person known to the prosecution had a motive to murder Tara and Lorrie Burke and Melissa Fogarty in the space of one single week. He’s sitting right over there with his head down on the table.

“For reasons only the defendant truly understands, Lucas Burke did it. For the sake of his victims, and to keep this man where he cannot harm anyone else, please find him guilty of three murders in the first degree.”





CHAPTER 105





JOE AND JULIE were waiting for me at the airport’s passenger pickup zone, along with Martha. The gang was all here.

Julie hugged me around the waist until I got her into her car seat, Martha circled my legs, and Joe squeezed me with his big man arms and opened the passenger door for me.

I was dying to catch up with everyone, and to be absolutely honest, I wanted to tell Joe everything that happened in Vegas since he’d left there singing as he went down the escalator.

My phone played a little tune, and when I looked at the caller ID, I had to take the call.

“Chief Belinky?”

“Sergeant. I’m glad I was able to reach you.”

What was wrong? Had Burke escaped? Shot someone else? Died?

“You just caught me,” I said. “What’s up, chief?”

“Evan Burke is in the ICU. Turns out he has some kind of lung infection. His immune system is down.”

I motioned to Joe, ‘Just a sec,’ hoping the chief would just get to it. And then he did.

“Burke wants to see you. He has something to tell you —”

“He’s a lying liar, and dangerous as the devil. ADA Yuki Castellano still wants to depose him.”

“About that,” the chief said. “Without knowing what Burke is going to say, and without his having requested a lawyer, it’s too soon to bring in the DA’s office, even with the trial of Lucas Burke ongoing.”

As I took it all in, the chief continued.

“I’ll make sure there’s no way he can hurt you.”