BooksBarbecue
Back We Were Killers Once
Chapters (65)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty–one
  25. Twenty–two
  26. Twenty–three
  27. Twenty–four
  28. Twenty–five
  29. Twenty–six
  30. Twenty–seven
  31. Twenty–eight
  32. Twenty–nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty–one
  35. Thirty–two
  36. Thirty–three
  37. Thirty–four
  38. Thirty–five
  39. Thirty–six
  40. Thirty–seven
  41. Thirty–eight
  42. Thirty–nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty–one
  45. Forty–two
  46. Forty–three
  47. Forty–four
  48. Forty–five
  49. Forty–six
  50. Forty–seven
  51. Forty–eight
  52. Forty–nine
  53. Fifty
  54. Fifty–one
  55. Fifty–two
  56. Fifty–three
  57. Fifty–four
  58. Fifty–five
  59. Fifty–six
  60. Fifty–seven
  61. Author’s Note
  62. Acknowledgments
  63. Also by Becky Masterman
  64. About the Author
  65. Newsletter Sign-up

We left Sarasota and headed north, picking up I-10 in Tallahassee and then west, stopping in Pensacola, Florida, in the evening. Nobody mentioned the stains on Jerry’s shirt, which showed up more after the water dried, light pink in the centers spreading to a darker pink around the rim. When we passed a thrift store he asked if Perry would go inside and get him a new shirt. He handed Perry a five dollar bill, and Perry looked at him. But he didn’t say anything, he just went into the shop and bought a shirt. Jerry took off the stained one and put on the new one.

Driving at about noon, Perry in the passenger seat and the kid laying in the back like he usually did, with his head on the arm rest attached to the door, it was on the car radio that we first heard about a family by the name of Walker being discovered in their house in a little town near Sarasota. There was a father, mother, son and daughter. It was just like the Clutters, only the children were very young. The report said the mother had been raped, and shot, and the two children shot. The father must have come in the house while the killer was still there, and he was shot, too.

Honey, I said to Perry when I got a breath. That happened while we were in Sarasota.

Just like the Clutters, Perry said, staring out the front window, not looking at me.

If we get tied to the Clutters they’ll connect us to this other family, too, I said.

I knew him well enough to know we were both thinking the same thing. The car got really quiet. I felt like my ears got sensitive, like I was hearing the smallest sounds like an animal in the forest. I heard the upholstery in the back seat squeak a little, and in the rearview mirror I saw the kid’s face. At first he just looked interested, like he was hearing about this for the first time. It made him smile.

When the news reporter said that the detectives had found a fingerprint and a bloody boot print in the house, his eyes narrowed and he frowned.

Then the reporter said they were looking for a beige ’57 Chevy that someone had spotted by the Walker house in the late afternoon of the 19th.

Holy Christ, I shouted.

But the others did not react. The kid kept staring at the radio and Perry kept staring out the front window.