Page 12 of Serial Burn

“How so?” Marissa asked.

She blinked, trying to force the memory to the surface. “I’m not sure. How hard would it be to find out where this piece came from?”

“I can have it run through the database of jewelers and their logos and see if we get a match. If so, then really easy. If not, then at least you know not to check with those.”

“In other words, this might take some old-fashioned legwork.”

“Yup.”

“Fabulous. In the meantime, I’ll send the pictures to Pastor Chuck and see if he recognizes it as belonging to someone in the congregation.” She snapped several pictures of it and texted them to Chuck, asking him to check around.

“Good thought. Do you have any suspicions as to who’s behind the fire?”

Jesslyn placed the brooch back on the table. “Nothing concrete. We’re just in the beginning stages of the investigation. A whole team’s on this, but Nathan and Andrew are teaming up with the detectives, interviewing the pastor and the congregation, and doing background checks to see if there are any ties to an arsonist with an agenda, but honestly, I’m not sure that’ll pan out.” She didn’t know why she felt that way, but she did.

Marissa nodded. “I’ll keep digging,” she said. “Maybe this brooch will speak a little louder than the rest of the evidence.”

Her phone pinged with a response from Chuck. He’d put the photos on the churchwide text loop to see if anyone recognized the jewelry.

Jesslyn’s eyes lingered on the small inscription, the familiar mark nagging at her. She had seen it before, she was sure of it. But where? The answer flickered at the edge of her consciousness, elusive and teasing. But ... nothing. A sigh slipped out. It would come to her.

She stood. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, one thing. The accelerant. It’s not gasoline or propane or any of the usual stuff. This is—”

“Potassium permanganate?”

Marissa’s eyes widened, then she laughed. “Yes. That chemistry degree is serving you well once again.”

Jesslyn smiled. She didn’t tell everyone about her educational background simply because it didn’t come up often, but Marissa and a few others knew she’d double majored in criminal justice and chemistry before heading off to the police academy to get the law enforcement training that would help her work her way up the firefighter ladder and catch arsonists. “The purple stains kind of gave it away.” Residues of the accelerant had been visible as the dark purple staining around the initial burn areas—a clear indication of potassium permanganate. “Antifreeze or glycerin?”

“Antifreeze.”

“Easy to get ahold of.” Mixing the potassium permanganate withantifreeze would give the arsonist time to get away from the structure before the combination of the chemicals ignited and flamed hot.

“And relatively safe to use—at least until you get them all mixed together.”

Anyone could buy it in hardware stores, pool supply stores, and even online. “That will take forever to track down, so we need to get started ASAP.” She pulled her phone from her pocket. “I’ll pass this on to Nathan and Andrew.”

“Well, if you hang around a few minutes,” Marissa said with a wave of her phone, “you can do that in person. They’re on the way in.”

“Great.” Jesslyn shoved her phone back into her pocket, then picked up the jewelry once more to study the signature, but mostly because she needed something to do with her hands. Nathan was coming and she refused to fidget, because his presence always unnerved her.

“You okay?” Marissa asked.

“I’m fine, just thinking about the mark on this thing.” She stared at the piece and could only hope she didn’t look like she was thinking about Nathan and her weird reaction whenever he was around.

“Might help to turn it over if you want to look at that mark.”

Jesslyn flushed and flipped it over, ignoring Marissa’s chuckle. Did everyone on the planet know Nathan’s presence had the power to wig her out?

She looked up and Marissa winked at her.

Apparently they did.

NATHAN AND ANDREW HAD FINISHED TALKINGto Pastor Chuck and now found themselves in the parking lot of the lab and heading toward the double glass doors. Andrew walked beside him. Nathan had to admit he appreciated the man’s silent fortitude. Most of the time.

As they entered the lab, the sight of Jesslyn, her attention fixed on a piece of evidence, caused an all-too-familiar pull in his chest. Seriously? He really needed to stop that. Hoping his expression was neutral yet friendly, he walked over to her. “Marissa said you were here. Got something interesting?” he asked.

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