Page 12 of Into the Fire

She shook her head and waved toward the door. “That was burned through when the firefighters arrived, but it was closed.”

“Is that significant?”

“I don’t know—but he lived alone. There wouldn’t have been any reason to shut it for privacy, or to block out noise from another part of the house.”

“Maybe he wanted to let in a little fresh air through the window but preferred to keep any wayward pollen or leaf mold in this room.”

The creases on her forehead deepened. “The doors to the kitchen were shut too.”

He did the math.

“You’re wondering if someone wanted to keep the smoke and flames and heat confined to this room as long as possible so the smoke detectors would go off too late to save the victim.”

“That thought did cross my mind. I like to consider every scenario.”

Laudable. But nothing he’d discovered indicated this was a crime scene.

He kept his inflection neutral as he responded. “Have you seen any evidence of arson?”

“Nothing concrete. But this doesn’t feel right.”

“Based on what? Intuition? Instincts?”

That earned him a narrow-eyed glare. “Don’t discount those.”

He held up his hands, palms forward. “I wouldn’t think of it. I listen to my gut too.”

“What’s it telling you about this fire?”

The truth? A big fat zero. If he were a betting man, he’d put his money on an accidental cause at this stage.

“My suspicion meter hasn’t spiked into the danger zone.” He chose his words with care. “If this were my case, I’d reserve judgment until I saw the autopsy report.”

She bristled a bit as she adjusted her hard hat. “I intend to. But I knew Les ... sort of. For a month, anyway. He didn’t strike me as the careless type. Stories I heard about him from colleagues confirmed that impression. Plus, for a fire investigator to die like this ...” She surveyed the burnt wreckage, her troubled gaze lingering on the remains of the chair.

“I’ll grant you it’s ironic.”

“At the very least.” She adjusted her goggles. “Are you finished with the rest of the house?”

“Yes. And I’m getting hungry. Are you planning to eat lunch? It’s after one.”

“I have a granola bar and apple in the car if I get hungry later.”

Translation? She wasn’t stopping.

He camouflaged the low rumble in his stomach with a cough. “I’m going to take a break and grab a burger somewhere.”

“Okay.” She shifted her weight. Gave a slight wince. Grasped what was left of the edge of the windowsill. “You may as wellcall it a day. I can finish up here. I want to nose around for a while in this room.”

He was being dismissed.

“I’d be happy to come back and help after I eat.” Though there wasn’t much more to do, as far as he could see. They’d been over this room with a fine-tooth comb already. Or a fine-tooth rake, in this case.

“I don’t want to waste your time.”

“Like I told you this morning, I’m at your disposal all day. I’m also happy to consult throughout the process.”

“I appreciate that. I’ll stay in touch.”

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