Cold Heart: The Great Unsolved Mystery of Turn of the Century Buffalo by Kimberly Tilley

Author:Kimberly Tilley [Tilley, Kimberly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2020-12-02T22:00:00+00:00

Detective John Holmlund

“Well—he resented Mr. Pennell coming into his house as a friend and then breaking up his home, of course. Mr. Burdick and Mr. Pennell used to golf together. Mr. Pennell had agreed to leave the city two years ago, but then he never did.”

“Did you see Mr. Burdick often?”XII

“No,” Mrs. Paine said sharply. “I met him a few times after Allie left. I was a friend to him.” After a moment, she added, “We also had some business.”

“What business?” Cusack asked.

Gertrude Paine’s face reddened. She admitted she had borrowed some money from Burdick, but insisted, “It was a loan, not a gift.”

“Mrs. Paine, we do not wish to pry, but we need to understand the circumstances of all dealings with Burdick to solve this case. Can you please tell us the details of this loan?”

“I purchased some new home furnishings on credit,” Mrs. Paine replied. Her facial expression did not noticeably change, but her tone was resentful. “What we had was scarcely decent.”

“And the bill came due, and you appealed to Mr. Burdick for the loan?”

She nodded unwillingly. “There was nothing improper about it,” she said emphatically. “It’s hardly unusual.”

When Cusack and Holmlund persisted by asking her follow-up questions about the amount of money she borrowed and whether her husband was aware of the loan, Mrs. Paine said icily, “I don’t see the bearing of this information on the case. Am I obliged to answer?”

“Not at present,” Chief Cusack replied. His answer hung in the air for several seconds.

Before speaking, Mrs. Paine took a sip of water and smoothed an imaginary wrinkle in her dress. “My relationship to Mr. Burdick was purely social, if that is what you’re asking. I was a friend to him, and he to me. Nothing more.”

“Did Burdick confide in you about his troubles?”

Gertrude said he had. “He told me the rumors about Allie were true. He said he had the proof necessary to obtain a divorce.” Mrs. Paine admitted to sharing information about the Pennells from time to time with Ed. “About two and a half weeks ago, I spoke to Carrie, er, to Mrs. Pennell. She asked me if I had heard any rumor that she and Arthur were divorcing.”

“I said I’d heard the rumor. Mrs. Pennell told me she never had such an idea. She didn’t know that such a rumor was in circulation until she and Mr. Pennell returned from the Waldorf Astoria, and someone asked her about it.”

“And was Mrs. Pennell upset?” Detective Holmlund asked. “What did she say after you told her you heard the story?”

According to Gertrude, Carrie Pennell was calm but said in no uncertain terms that she had no intention of divorcing Arthur.

Mrs. Paine said she had met Ed Burdick a few times since Alice left Buffalo in early December of the previous year. Once at a candy store, and two or three times at J.H. Adams store.

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