I move through the room methodically, checking for any evidence the arsonist might have left behind. Footprints in the ash. Discarded containers. Anything that might point to identity or motive.
Nothing. Whoever did this was careful enough not to leave obvious traces.
But they were sloppy enough to leave clear burn patterns.
Amateur. Or someone in a hurry.
My phone buzzes, a text from Phoebe.
Heard about the library fire. You need backup?
I type back:I’m good. Definitely arson. Similar to café fire.
Same perpetrator?
Possibly. Need lab results to confirm.
I’ll put a rush on the samples from the café. See if we can match the accelerant.
I pocket my phone and take one last look around the storage room.
Two fires. Two different locations. One woman and her son were present at both.
The coincidence is too big to ignore. Either she’s the unluckiest person in Millbrook Falls, or there’s a pattern I’m not seeing yet.
I finish documenting the scene and head back outside. The crowd’s thinned out—most of the witnesses have given their statements and gone home. The fire trucks are packing up. Hayes is coordinating the final equipment checks.
I find him near Engine 47. “Scene’s all yours. I’m done for now.”
“Find anything?”
“Arson. Clear accelerant use. I’ll have a full report by tomorrow.”
He nods. “This town’s had more fires in the past month than we usually see in a year. Any theories?”
“Working on it.” I glance at Cole and Theo loading hoses onto the truck. “Your crew did good work. Could’ve been a lot worse.”
“Yeah. We got lucky.” He follows my gaze. “That woman with the kid—she was at the café fire too, wasn’t she?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s rough. Wrong place, wrong time. Twice.”
“Or something else.”
Hayes looks at me sharply. “You think she’s involved?”
“I think there’s a pattern I need to figure out.” I close my notebook. “But right now, I don’t have enough information to know what it is.”
I head back to my truck and sit in the driver’s seat with the engine off.
Two fires. Same accelerant. Same technique. Different locations.
Rachel was at both.
The coincidence is too big to ignore. Either she’s the unluckiest person in Millbrook Falls, or there’s a pattern I’m not seeing yet.
Someone’s setting fires in this town. Someone with a target or a grudge or a reason I haven’t uncovered yet.
