“Yes, sir. Stupid question. She already told me.” A bead of sweat slid down his face.
I returned my focus to photographing the surrounding trees. “You waiting for aninvitation, boy?”
“Sorry, sir.”
Darby stepped over the thicket, his eyes skirting between the voodoo dolls. This kid. I shuddered to think what would happen when he saw his first real-life homicide.
“What’s the code for unlawful burning, Darby?” I asked.
“5-38-310, sir. Is that right? A class A misdemeanor and a five hundred dollar fine.”
“Incorrect.”
He glanced over his shoulder, frowned.
I stared back. Waiting. Impatiently.
My jaw ticked. “Hot night, isn’t it, Darby?”
“Oh! The burn ban. Right. Sorry. We’re under a burn ban.”
Finally. “Which means the penalty triples.” I scooped up a handful of dry needles and dropped them at his boots. “We’re a matchstick away from torching half of Berry Springs. Wind picks up, these candles tip, and suddenly we’ve got a wildfire moving eight miles an hour.”
“Of course…” His cheeks flushed. “Yes, sir.”
I shook my head, then continued the good fight. “Eighty percent of forest fires are caused by human neglect. An ember can travel hundreds of feet. What’s hundreds of feet from here, Darby?”
“Main Street.”
“Exactly. Your little fire just turned into a mass evacuation, and probably a search and rescue, too, which cuts the manpower to fight the thing in half. With dry weather like we’ve been having, this fire could travel eight miles an hour—and double that in valleys and gorges. Got any valleys around here, Darby?”
“More than I can count.”
“Thinkclose. Closer.”
“Oh. Devil’s Cove, a few miles west of here.”
“That’s right. That cove connects us to miles of forest. This town is surrounded by steep mountains, a ticking time bomb for wildfire season. Now, tell me again, what’s the charge for unlawful burning in this case?”
“Uh, okay, let’s see. The penalty for leaving a fire unattended, like these candles, while violating a fire restriction, such as a burn ban, can lead to six months in jail and fines exceeding five thousand dollars. But…”
“…But what?”
“This particular incident didn’t cause a forest fire. So, it’s still a class A misdemeanor.”
“Look around. What else do you see?”
His gaze lifted to the carvings on the tree trunk.
“Defacing of public property, because this is a city park. So, vandalism.”
I nodded. “What else you got?”
He took a few minutes to survey the shrine. Finally, he turned to me, a line of confusion squeezing his brows. “Do you know who did this?”
“No, but I want you to find out.”
Darby pulled a notebook from his pocket and scribbled something as I watched his little wheels turning. He finally looked up, inquisitive brown eyes narrowed.
