Free An Evil Mind--A Suspense Novel by Tim Kizer

I don’t know who killed Laura Sumner. I’m sorry, Detective.” Phillips smiled apologetically.
    “You know what? I think you are innocent. I believe the person who killed Helen Hinton also killed Laura Sumner. That’s why the wounds on their bodies match. And I think you know who that person is. You were with him when he murdered Helen. You did not participate, you just watched. Am I right?”
    “I don’t know who killed these girls.”
    “I’m trying to help you, Edward. You’ll never have an opportunity like this again. Do you understand that?”
    “Yes, I do. If I knew who killed Helen Hinton, I would have told you.”
    “How did Helen’s blood get on your clothes? How did your fingerprint end up on her belt buckle?”
    “I was framed.”
    “You were there when Helen was murdered.”
    “No, I wasn’t.”
    Aguero pressed the Stop button on the voice recorder, took out his business card, and said, “All right. If you change your mind, call me.” He got up from the table and put his card in Phillips’s hand.
    Aguero’s intuition told him Edward Phillips was lying. He could think of only one plausible reason why Phillips would withhold information: Laura Sumner had been killed by someone Phillips cared about, someone whose life he valued more than his own. It could be a close relative or a lover.
    Thinking that Edward Phillips might want to warn his partner, Aguero asked the assistant warden to keep him informed of every phone call made by Edward Phillips and every letter written by him.
    On Monday, October 16, Aguero called Leonard Barlow and told him about the deal he had offered to Edward Phillips. The lawyer promised to talk to Phillips about the deal as soon as he could. Four hours after their conversation Barlow was murdered.
    On October 18, Aguero sent all police and sheriff’s departments in Texas letters asking them to contact him if they had unsolved cases similar to Laura Sumner’s. Then he searched through all cases investigated by the Austin PD Homicide Unit in the last two years, and found none similar to Laura’s.
     

Chapter 12
     
    1
    On Thursday, October 19, Mark received the report on Edward Phillips’s polygraph exam. Phillips had taken the test on January 26. The following relevant questions had been asked:
    “Do you know who killed Helen Hinton?” (Phillips answered, “No.” The examiner concluded it was a lie.)
    “Did you kill Helen Hinton?” (Phillips answered, “No.” The examiner concluded it was a truthful response.)
    “Were you present when Helen Hinton was murdered?” (Phillips answered, “No.” The examiner concluded it was a truthful response.)
    The polygraph test results supported Phillips’s claim that he knew who had murdered Helen. 
    After reading the report, Mark called the Allan B. Polunsky Unit and scheduled a visit with Edward Phillips.
     
    2
    At half past five on Friday, as Mark drove to Dallas PD headquarters from Greenland Hills, where he had interviewed the victims of a home invasion that had taken place last night, his phone rang. It was Detective Aguero. Mark answered the phone and put it on speaker.
    “Hi, Mark. This is Detective Aguero,” Aguero said.
    “How are you doing, Detective?”
    “Not bad. I visited Edward Phillips in prison a week ago. I assume you know who he is.”
    “What did you talk about?”
    “We talked about Laura Sumner. I asked if he knew who might have killed her, and he said that he didn’t. I can send you a recording of our conversation, if you want.”
    “Thank you, Carlos. Yes, please send it to me.”
    “I’ll do it today.”
    “Did you mention that it was me who told you about Laura?”
    “No.”
    “Did you offer him anything for information?”
    “I offered him a very good deal. I promised that we’d get his death sentence commuted if he helped us catch Laura’s killer.”
    Should he tell Aguero about Sam Curtis? The police had the resources to monitor Curtis twenty-four/seven. He could warn