Page 101 of Ink and Ashes
My shoulders slump as he recalls the fire that killed Ellie, and I take it as my cue to steer the conversation away from that particular tragedy.
“What about fires resulting in injuries? Was anyone ever seriously hurt in a fire here?”
“None of the townspeople, no. Not that I can remember anyway.” He lets out a breath. “As for the firefighters, we’ve all got scars from years spent fighting the flames. There isn’t anyoneon the team who hasn’t spent a day in the hospital being treated for burns, but no one ever to the point where we’ve feared for their life. Not until this year with Ollie and Finn.”
Colson’s voice is thick with emotion as he speaks, and it’s a punch to the gut. Everything about this is hurting him—hurting everyone—and I can’t help but wonder if it’d be better left alone.
“Okay. I’m going to head back down to the library tomorrow, see if I can find anything new. It’s a long shot, but maybe I’ll notice something I didn’t before. Do you think you could talk to your dad again? Maybe there’s something he can share.”
Colson nods.
“Thanks.” I pause. “And I think we need to take another look through the guys’ files. The profile changed with the church fire, and knowing now that they’re good with technology, I want to take another look.”
“How did that change the profile?” he asks.
I hadn’t shared this with him before now because with everything that’s happened, I didn’t want to give him anything new to stress about. But if we’re going to get to the bottom of this, he needs to know.
“Because this guy isn’t just an arsonist anymore. I’m not sure if he ever was. He’s a murderer who uses fire as his weapon, and I’d be willing to bet that the church fire wasn’t his first that resulted in a death. Which means we’re looking for someone who’s charismatic, intelligent, and charming. They likely won’t be quiet and reserved. He blends in with the rest of the crew. We’ve been looking at the wrong people.”
“That could be anyone. Including Whitlock, Dom, or Beau.”
“I know, but there are other aspects they don’t fit. The arsonist is also discreetly manipulative and probably a bit narcissistic. It won’t be super obvious, but there will be signs.”
“Okay. I’ll grab them tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
I just hope something in them is helpful.
I’ve spentthe entire day at the library, running through all the past records of fires in this area as well as other fires in British Columbia that have been flagged with unknown causes, hoping something will help me figure out who the arsonist is, but I’m still coming up empty. There’s been a significant number of arson-expected fires in the province, but most of them have been one-offs with nothing connecting them to these. And it’s not like each one lists every detail of the fire, so without the confirmation any of them were started by candles, I’ll never know for sure if there’s any correlation.
I’ve also spent more time digging into the Welland family, because I still have no other explanation for why this year and town is important to the arsonist aside from that fire. But I can’t find anything specific about the fire that could result in this kind of response. It happened in the middle of the night in late-August, and the cause of the fire was labelled to be accidental. Likely caused by lightning, like the majority of other fires in this area. There’s very little information on the Wellands from before the fire, and the same as it did the first time I looked into him, all information about Joseph Welland stops ten years after that night with his death certificate.
None of this makes sense. Either I’m looking at this all wrong, or there’s something about that night that someone has tried hard to cover up. And if that’s the case, clearly they’ve done a good job at it, because I have no idea how I’m going to figure out what it is.
We really need to talk to Colson’s dad. He’s one of the few people in this town who was on the scene of the fire that night, and maybe there’s something he can share that I haven’t been able to find in the archives. I don’t think Colson has told him much about the investigation aside from my theory that it’s a firefighter, but it’s time to fill him in.
I let out a sigh and pick up my phone to send Colson a text.
ME
Hey. Have you gone to see your dad yet?
It takes Colson a few minutes to reply, but I’m relieved by his response.
LIEUTENANT KILLJOY
No, I’m just leaving the station now. Why?
Can I come with you?
Sure. I’ll swing by the house to pick you up first.
I’m still at the library. I’ll just meet you there.
I’ll come get you. Be there in five.
I quickly pack up my things and return the archives to their location. I grab my phone and car keys, then make my way out of the library.
