“Where’d Denise come from?” I asked.
“Huh?”
“Your username.”
“Oh,” she said. “It’s my middle name. My parents named me after my aunt.”
I dipped my head.
“And WFD stands for...?”
“Williamsport Fire Department.”
She finished the last two words with me.
“I don’t have to ask about what player is in there for,” she said, tutting.
I pitched forward in my seat, gaze narrowed. “It refers to me as a gamer. Video game player. Not the other kind of player.”
I could see in her eyes that she was drawing conclusions I didn’t want her to make.
She rolled her eyes. “And 07?”
“High school graduation year.”
“Same year as Corey and me.”
I nodded, already knowing we were the same age at thirty-two.
“Yeah, I created my name when—wait, why are we talking about video games again? We need to talk over this case.”
“Shit. You’re right. Did you finish reading those articles?”
“I did, and I have a question. One of the articles named faulty electrical wiring as a cause of the fire. Another identified some sort of mishap as the reason for the start of that fire. Could someone fake something like that?”
I ran my hand across the back of my neck, going over the possible scenarios in my head. “It’s possible. But despite the prevailing notion, arsons are becoming more difficult to cover up these days.”
She leaned forward, resting her arms on her desk. “Why’s that?”
“Fire investigation has grown by leaps and bounds in the past two decades.” I explained some of the many advancements and what made covering up an intentional fire difficult.
“So, someone who’s doing something like this has to have at least a basic understanding of fire investigation,” she asked.
“Not only that. They need to know how fire operates.”
She wrinkled her face.
“Fire isn’t random, and it’s not untraceable. Remember the pattern marks I showed you at Angela’s bar?”
She nodded.
“Most people think you can throw some gasoline on something, and it’ll burn to a crisp in minutes. That’s not the case. Have you ever watched the news when they’re talking about a house fire and mention the fire started in the kitchen, or it began in the bedroom from a cigarette falling on the floor?”
“Or a Christmas tree,” she added.
“Exactly.” I pointed. “It takes a trained eye to spot it, but once you have the experience and knowledge of fire patterns, it’s more difficult to hide an arson. However, as I said, you need the proper training. Most firefighters these days get some basic training in fire investigation.”
She raised her eyebrows and blew out a breath. “You’d think I know some of this since my father was a firefighter for years, and Corey too. I never asked many questions about the job, though. Well, I was never given the opportunity with my father.”
