Lena stood carefully, favoring her ribs but determined. Erin organized the evidence while Lena rinsed their mugs and grabbed her badge from the counter. They moved around eachother efficiently, no wasted motion, each anticipating what the other needed without discussion.
"Ready?" Lena asked at the door.
Erin shouldered her bag, the weight of evidence and certainty balanced inside. They had an arsonist to identify officially, a case to close, and a confrontation ahead that would test everything they'd learned about trust.
"Ready," Erin said.
They walked out into early fall sunshine, and for the first time since this case began, Erin knew they had him.
After a twenty-minute drive through downtown, they arrived at the Phoenix Ridge Police Department, and the conference room smelled like stale coffee and dry-erase markers. Erin set her files on the table while Lena pulled up the digital records on the wall-mounted screen. They'd called ahead from the car, so Captain Julia Scott and Chief McKenna Adams were already waiting, along with Captain Hallie Hunter from the fire department.
"You said you have a name," Julia said without preamble. She sat at the head of the table, her notepad open and pen ready.
"Richard Ashford." Lena brought up his personnel file on the screen. "He was the former building commissioner who was forced to resign earlier this year."
McKenna leaned forward, studying the photo of a man in his late fifties with graying hair and the kind of professional headshot that belonged in government directories. "I know that name. He petitioned against the LGBTQ+ youth funding proposal last year before the election."
"And voted against every anti-discrimination policy that came through his office," Lena added, pulling up his voting record. "When the new administration took over, he was one of the first people they pushed out."
Erin opened her case file, spreading Cross's interrogation transcript and Morrison's statement across the table. "Martin Cross led us to Danny Morrison, who is the current building safety employee who's been unwittingly feeding Cross information about inspection schedules and departmental protocols."
"Unwittingly?" Hallie picked up Morrison's statement, skimming it.
"Morrison thought he was just talking shop with an old colleague over drinks," Erin said. "He had no idea Cross was selling that information to anyone."
"But Cross was," Julia said, following the thread.
"Through a sophisticated dead drop system." Lena displayed Cross's description of the payment structure. "Anonymous texts, different locations every time, cash payments. Cross claims he never met his buyer face-to-face."
"Do we believe that?" McKenna asked.
"No," Lena and Erin said simultaneously.
Erin caught Lena's brief smile before continuing. "But we don't need Cross to tell us. The evidence tells us." She pulled out the page she'd marked earlier. "Look at the instructions Cross received. They weren't just about when and where. They included technical specifications for accelerant application, ignition timing, and ventilation exploitation."
Hallie took the page, her expression sharpening as she read. "This is professional-level fire science."
"Webb's inspection reports documented vulnerabilities," Erin said. "But someone still had to know how to weaponize that information, someone who knew how to turn documented safety violations into maximum structural damage."
"Ashford has that knowledge," Lena said, bringing up his career history and ran through the document. "He started as afire inspector in the nineties and eventually became the building commissioner in 2015."
"So he has fire science training and building department expertise," Julia said, making notes.
"Plus access to every inspection report filed in Phoenix Ridge over two decades." Erin watched the realization dawn across the room. "Not just Webb's reports—every building safety assessment, every fire code violation, every structural vulnerability documented by the city."
McKenna sat back, processing. "When he was forced out, he lost his current access."
"Which is where Morrison comes in," Lena said. "Through Cross. Morrison provides updates on inspection schedules, recent assessments, and departmental changes. Ashford already knows the buildings' weaknesses, so he just needed current intel to execute."
Erin pulled out the timeline she and Lena had constructed. "Ashford loses his position earlier this year. Six months later, the first fire hits a warehouse near the docks. Then the Heights community center, the beachside center, the library, the Arts Center, and finally the Rainbow Alliance Center."
"All LGBTQ+ spaces," Hallie said quietly as she sank into her chair.
"All spaces that represent the progressive policies Ashford opposed." Lena's voice was steady but Erin heard the anger underneath. "This goes far beyond just setting fires. He's making a statement about who belongs in Phoenix Ridge and who doesn't."
The conference room was silent for a moment. Outside, the station hummed with its usual afternoon activity, but in here, the weight of what they'd uncovered pressed down on everyone.
"What's his current status?" McKenna asked.
