Four-Alarm Blaze [Southern Heat 4] (11 page)

“We’ll get him, man, and when we do, he’s gonna pay,” Logan assured him, patting his shoulder.

As the attendee zipped up the bag, Nina asked, “Has her family been notified?”

“Yes, ma’am, they have. They live in Sherman County. Her remains will be delivered to the coroner’s office there,” he explained.

“That’s good. Thanks for letting us know,” Logan said.

They were just about to enter the building when Nina paused. “Hey, wait!” she called out to the attendee.

Logan and Kyle followed her.

“What is it, Nina?” Kyle asked.

“May I take another look?” she asked.

“I don’t see why not. She died of smoke inhalation. She’s not going anywhere,” the man replied.

“Hey, you need to have some respect,” Logan warned.

“Sorry, it comes with the job,” he said, unzipping the bag again.

“That’s no excuse for being an asshole,” Kyle told him.

“Gentleman, please,” Nina requested. “Where’s the necklace?”

“This is exactly the way we found her. She wasn’t wearing one,” the attendee replied.

“Thanks again,” Nina told him with a quick nod of her head.

* * * *

Inside of Debbie’s one-bedroom apartment, the trio assessed the damage. It was clear the fire had started in her unit. The smell of gasoline still filled the air. Kyle and Logan had a lost look in their eyes. It made Nina’s heart ache.

After conducting a thorough search of the bedroom, Nina rejoined them in the dining room area. “She was wearing the necklace at the restaurant, remember?”

“I remember. She kept playing with it,” Kyle said.

“I saw that, but what’s so important about it?” Logan asked.

“She told us she always wore it, that she never took it off, so why wasn’t she wearing it today?” Nina asked.

“Maybe the jerk that did this took it,” Kyle answered.

“That would explain its absence,” Logan agreed.

Nina had a very determined look in her eyes. “In every case, a necklace was reported stolen, but after the fires broke out, every one of them was found at the crime scene.”

“I don’t get it,” Logan said. “If the items were stolen and then later returned, where’s Debbie’s necklace?”

Before Nina could answer him, Kyle said, “Her killer has it.”

“Exactly,” Nina confirmed. “All those other blazes…Don’t you see, they were practice runs for what he was ultimately going to do. He made sure those houses were empty before he set them on fire. He returned the necklaces and then set the blazes.”

“So Debbie was the target, but why her?” Logan asked.

“She’s the only one he killed. My guess is he did this because she wouldn’t take her back,” Nina told him.

“What?” Logan asked, confusion filling his face.

“Debbie told us she kept the necklace, but she suspected her former boyfriend was cheating on her. What was his name again?”

“She called him Danny,” Kyle reminded her.

“We’ve got to find him,” Nina said. “Let’s get out of here.”

* * * *

As soon as they stepped outside, Chief Moore quickly approached them. He looked royally pissed.

“I knew this day was coming. It was only a matter of time before he took a life,” the chief said, shaking his head in pity. “Are the three of you any closer to finding this sicko?”

“We were just on our way to check out a lead,” Logan answered.

“Her old boyfriend is at the top of the list,” Kyle added.

“Uh, huh, Ms. Taylor, if you don’t mind, I need a moment with my men,” Chief Moore told her.

“They’re all yours,” Nina replied “I’m going to conduct some interviews.”

While the three men spoke in private, Nina began to question some of the neighbors in the area. No one seemed to have any pertinent information to offer. She was just about to give up her effort when she came across the widow, Mrs. Abigail Dyson, who lived in the townhome community across from Debbie. She was one of the few onlookers who still remained on the street. Dressed in a lilac colored housecoat and matching slippers, her auburn hair was pulled up in a bun. She looked quite upset.

“It’s such a horrible tragedy. Debbie was sweet as peach pie, one of the nicer neighbors, you know. If she was around, she would always help me carry in my groceries. She even watched my cat, Mr. Wiggles, for me when I took that cruise to the Caribbean last year,” Mrs. Dyson said.

“What were her friends like? Did you ever meet any of them?” Nina asked.

Tapping her index finger to her chin, the woman appeared to be in deep thought. “Hmm, let’s see. I remember an attractive young lady with dark hair like yours. She would visit now and then, but I haven’t seen her in a while.”

Pangs of desperation were brewing in Nina’s stomach. “Do you remember Debbie mentioning her name to you?”

“I believe her name was Laura Patterson. Debbie called her Elle for short. After I didn’t see her coming to visit, I asked Debbie if she had moved or left town.”

“Well?” Nina asked.

“Well what?”

“What did she say?”

“I guess there’s no reason to keep a confidence now that she’s no longer with us,” Mrs. Dyson stated. “Debbie told me it was because of that boy.”

“What boy? Who are you referring to?” Nina questioned, hanging on the woman’s every word.

“Why, Daniel Oliver, of course. Debbie really fell hard for him, you know what I mean?”

“I think I do,” Nina replied.

“When they first started dating, Debbie seemed so happy. They were together so much I thought he was going to move in with her. Not that I condone that sort of thing outside of marriage, but you young people nowadays,” she said, pausing for a moment, glancing at Kyle and Logan approaching. “You’re so open to the possibilities. Anyway, after a while, he stopped coming around, too.”

Nina began to feel a little uncomfortable with the woman’s comments. “You seem to be quite perceptive. So, what do you think happened?”

“That girl, Laura or Elle, is what happened. They had a falling out over that boy, Daniel. When the both of them stopped coming around, I could tell Debbie was upset about it all. For weeks, she stopped looking like herself. She was quite pretty and always pleasant. That all changed for a while, but then just like that, she was back to her old self again.”

“Maybe she realized that this Daniel person and Laura weren’t worth the bother,” Nina commented.

“Yes, she probably did. Good for her,” Mrs. Dyson added. “Anyway, I’m going to miss her. God rest her soul.”

“Well, thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Here’s my card. Please give me a call if you think of anything else,” Nina said.

After accepting the card, she patted her bun, eyeing both Kyle and Logan. “I sure will, dear. Now y’all have a nice day.”

“You, too, ma’am,” Kyle replied.

“Yes, ma’am, have a good day,” Logan added.

As they turned and walked away, Kyle smiled at Nina and nudged her shoulder. “Sounds like you got an earful.”

“I certainly did,” she confirmed. “We’ve got to track down a former friend of Debbie’s named Laura Patterson. It seems they had a falling out possibly over Debbie’s old boyfriend, Daniel Oliver.”

“Are you saying you think this Daniel character set the fire that killed Debbie?” Logan asked.

“We can’t know for sure until we catch up with him and have a chance to question him,” Nina replied.

Kyle looked anxious. “It’s a good lead. Where do we start?”

“Oh, no, fellows, this is where we part company for a while,” Nina announced.

“What are you talking about?” Logan asked.

Nina looked up at him. “It’s Sunday afternoon, and we’ve had a, ooh, how should I put this? We’ve had a very active weekend. We’ve got to hit the ground running. The Halloween bash is this coming Friday. I want this perp behind bars by then. The residents of Melville deserve to enjoy the celebration and be confident in the fact that their homes will still be standing when they get back to them.”

“I hate to admit it, man, but she’s right.” A smile spread across Kyle’s face. “I think we ran a thorough check of her equipment. It’ll still be intact when we check on it later. You know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Give us a call when you get home,” Logan told her.

“Are you keeping tabs on me?” Nina asked.

“You get the picture. Let us know you got home OK,” he requested.

“OK, I’ll call,” she promised.

The first half of the work week was devoted to running down leads. Nina, Logan, and Kyle canvassed a large portion of the county. They knew that time was of the essence, for every passing moment drew them closer to the Halloween extravaganza. On Wednesday, October 29, they finally hit pay dirt when Nina received a call from Mrs. Dyson.

Returning to the Woodbridge complex, Nina knocked on the front door of the two-story townhome. The woman quickly opened it, peeping out looking from her left to her right.

“Mrs. Dyson, thank you for making the call. You wanted to speak with me in private?” Nina asked.

“Yes, dear, come on in. It’s better if we talk inside,” she replied, looking very nervous. “Would you like some hot tea or coffee?”

Nina offered her a reassuring smile. “Thank you. I’ll have a cup of tea.”

After the elderly woman placed two cups of Old English on the dining room table, she sat down across from Nina.

“I won’t waste your time, Ms. Taylor. I asked you here because I thought of something after we last spoke,” she said, taking a sip of her drink.

Nina was bursting at the seams with curiosity. “What is it, Mrs. Dyson?”

“That girl we talked about, Laura Patterson…I saw her Saturday morning, the day before the fire.”

“Are you sure it was her?” Nina questioned.

“I’m sure. I walked right pass her in Nicholson’s grocery store. I remember she was wearing a white smock. You know, it was the kind they wear at the local drug stores.”

Nina stared at her intensely. “I need you to think back carefully. Do you remember if she was wearing jewelry of any kind, a necklace maybe?”

Mrs. Dyson’s eyes squinted as if she was in deep thought. A few seconds later, her face lit up, and her eyes widened. “Yes, now that you mention it, I do remember she was wearing a necklace.” Placing her hand to her chest, she said, “It had a silver chain and a heart-shaped locket attached to it. I remember it because when I passed her, she was sort of toying with it nervously. She seemed to be in deep thought, like she had a lot on her mind. You know, come to think of it, Debbie had one that looked a lot like it. I wish I could be of more help.”

“Mrs. Dyson, you have no idea of how helpful you’ve already been. Thank you so much, but if you’ll excuse me, I have to go now.”

“Yes, of course, dear. Will you let me know how things turn out?”

“You’ll be one of the first, I promise,” Nina told her, getting to her feet, shaking the woman’s hand.

* * * *

“Have you heard from Nina today?” Logan asked.

Kyle sliced his ham and cheese sub in half and opened a bag of BBQ chips. “No, she hasn’t returned my calls.”

Logan shut off the hose he was using to wash down one of the firehouse’s emergency vehicles. “She is conducting this investigation without us. I don’t like it. What if—“

“She’s fine, Logan. Chill, man, she’s just doing her job. You worry too much. She’ll be OK.”

“If she doesn’t contact us soon, we’re gonna go looking for her,” Logan said, wiping the perspiration from his forehead.

“How about we give her a little time?” Kyle asked.

“The Chief assigned us to back her up for a reason. If she plans on running around town tracking down leads, then we need to be with her,” Logan said, taking out his phone to dial Nina.

* * * *

When Nina arrived at Nicholson’s market, she headed straight for the courtesy counter. The young woman behind the glass was busy stacking lottery scratch offs.

“Good afternoon, ma’am. How can I help you?”

Nina read the woman’s name tag. “Hi, Beth, I was in here last Saturday, picking up a few items. There was a young lady shopping here at the time. She was wearing a white pharmaceutical jacket.” Nina pulled a necklace similar to Debbie’s from her pocket. “She was wearing this. She must have lost it, because I came across it about twenty minutes later. I looked for her, but I guess she had already left.”

“Hmm, what did she look like?” Beth asked.

“Well, if I remember correctly, she’s about your height and just as pretty, but she has really dark hair like mine,” Nina explained.

Pointing her finger at Nina, Beth began to smile. “Oh, you must be talkin’ about Laura.”

Coaxing her along, Nina said, “Yes, now that I think back, I believe that’s what her name tag read.”

“She’s in here a couple times a week. She works at Newman’s pharmacy over on Brighton Street.”