Page 29 of Into the Fire

“That does raise questions. Did the lab find any fingerprints on it?”

“No.” She dropped back in her seat, unclenched her fingers, and massaged her forehead. “None of the pieces are fitting. Yet none of them hold a clue about who could have been behindthe fire, either. I keep wondering if we missed something at the house.”

“I don’t think so. We were thorough, and the cause of the fire was obvious.”

“Maybe too obvious.”

She wasn’t letting go of her arson theory.

“Okay. If a crime was committed, what was the motive?”

“Self-preservation? Les had a reputation for being dogged in his investigations. He could have made a few enemies through the years. It’s possible one of them didn’t want him digging into a certain case.”

“But he was retired. If anyone had been concerned about exposure, wouldn’t they have tried to get rid of him while he was an active investigator?”

“Maybe they would have if he’d stayed on. My boss suggested he may have continued to look into cases that bothered him after he left. Informally, of course. Someone could have found that out.”

Marc didn’t try to hide his skepticism. “Pursuing cases in retirement would be very unusual, even for someone who was dedicated and diligent. Besides, as a retiree he wouldn’t have the resources to do much. Would anyone consider informal poking around enough of a threat to commit murder?”

“Depends on how concerned they were he might stumble onto something. And the poking around isn’t informal now that I’m involved.” She picked off another nugget of her muffin and chewed it slowly. “But I can’t argue with your overall logic. At the same time, I’m not ready to throw in the towel. Les contacted me for a reason, and the timing of his death relative to our meeting is spiking on my radar. Everything about the whole scenario feels off.” She took a sip of coffee and dug into her muffin in earnest. “I don’t expect the ATF to devote manpower to this, though. Because you’re right. There isn’t much to go on.”

Like nothing, other than a few disconnects and a stray piece of crystal. None of which pointed to a motive or a suspect.

Yet she was going to continue to pursue her theory, with or without him.

You had to admire that kind of perseverance, even if you’d walked that road yourself on a case far more personal than this one and hit nothing but brick walls.

But bottom line, there wasn’t sufficient evidence in this situation to justify a continued investigation, as his boss would no doubt agree. They were stretched too thin to expend limited resources on wild goose chases.

Unfortunately, he was going to have to bow out.

After downing the last bite of his scone, he swigged his coffee. “If anything new develops, feel free to reach out. I’ll be happy to help.”

“I appreciate that.” She wadded her napkin into a tight ball and dropped it on the empty plate. Picked up her notebook and half-empty cup. “Thanks for giving up part of your Saturday to meet with me.”

She was leaving already?

“You don’t have to rush off.”

“I have a list of errands to run today.” She stood.

He rose too. “And our meetup here intruded on those. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

“It wasn’t wasted.” Her gaze locked onto his for a brief, electric second before she tugged it away. “I’ll, uh, let you know what happens with the case. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

Before he could respond, she strode through the coffee shop to the exit and left without a backward glance.

As she disappeared out the front door, Marc lowered himself into his chair, picked up his coffee, and took a slow sip.

While the business part of their meeting had been a washout, producing new questions rather than new information,one uncertainty on the personal front had been resolved in those parting moments.

She felt the high voltage between them as much as he did.

But she was fighting it mightily.

Why?

And how was he supposed to find out, since there wasn’t any work-related excuse for him to initiate further contact?

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