Page 53 of Head Room
“If Jardos burned down his cabin, he did it to destroy evidence, presumably surrounding the dead body, his or his victim’s.Or he did it to prevent someone from getting something.Or at least to make someone think the something was burned.”
I waited.
Nobody said anything.
“Well?”
“Were you done?”Mike asked.“Was waiting for more possibilities and their plentiful offshoots.”
“Very funny.”
“Mike has a valid point,” Diana said.“All we have are possibilities.”
I sighed.“We’ll have to keep swimming around in possibilities until some become probabilities.”
“What do you want us to do?”Jennifer asked.
“Find what you can on background about Sergeant Frank Jardos and his wife.Also, I don’t have any names, but if you come across anything about these vets he was helping...Boy, is that a long shot.Don’t spend much time on that, Jennifer.If we can get you names, maybe then.And of course you’ll have the manuscript to work on starting tomorrow.”
“How do you think that fits in?”she asked.
“I have no idea if it does.It’s another of our possibilities.”
“I have a tight schedule during this trip,” Mike said, “but I can ask around about the sergeant and those vets.See what the general thoughts are.”
“Me, too,” Diana said.
“That’ll be good.I’m going to try to talk to the firefighter who was in charge.We have that lunch with Needham.Then, after that...Hiram Poppinger.”
“You know, geographically, it would make more sense to stay out there and go straight to Hiram’s now.I can make your excuses at lunch if you want.”
I knew Mike was yanking my chain.I still couldn’t get my teeth unclenched enough to sound normal when I said, “I am coming to lunch.”
Unspoken, but understood by the other three wasand put off Hiram a couple more hours.
They all laughed.Sure, they could, because none of them had that particular assignment.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Despite us allagreeing we didn’t have much, I felt downright buoyant that my next stop was the fire department substation.
Mostly because it wasn’t Hiram Poppinger’s place.
As I navigated there, I could see why these firefighters got to the fire at the Jardos cabin first — even with volunteers needing to reach the substation before heading for the fire.The trip from Sherman was substantially longer to the site.
Three oversized bays with a slightly peaked roof in the center took up most of the substation’s building, with a generous, but regulation-sized bay off to the right as an obvious afterthought.All the bays had their doors open, with the equipment fronts visible.
A small, blue pickup was parked at the side, not blocking egress from the bays.
I went to the regulation-sized bay and called out, “Hello.”
The woman who’d been at the fire station in Sherman came out of a door.
“You’re E.M.Danniher from the TV station.”
I ignored her undercurrent of antagonism.
Smiling, I walked to her with my hand extended.“I am.I saw you at the fire station, but never had an opportunity to get your name or say hello.”
