“Good. I’m glad.”
Sheriff Merrow stared. He was really good at it. If Max had been guilty, he would have cracked by now.
He stared back and said, “I didn’t do it.”
“So you say.”
“I didnotset a fire, there or anywhere,” he responded in a more insistent tone. Max was about to say goodbye and race from this apartment, this town, this perfect Earth colony town and never look back. The muscles in his legs bunched as if preparing to bolt. He was not going to jail for another arson he hadn’t committed.
The Sheriff inhaled deeply through his nose, then said, “I believe you.”
“What? You do?” Max was shocked. He fully expected to see shackles and the back seat of the Sheriff’s squad car in his immediate future.
The Sheriff allowed a small smile to shape his lips. “I have a pretty good sense of smell.” He tapped the side of his nose. “I don’t smell any fire-making ingredients on you. I don’t see or smell any here in your apartment. If you’d created some sort of alien device, I figure I’d smell it on you easily.”
Max slumped, releasing his muscles and relaxing his body. “Thank you for believing me.”
“I would like you to come to the station and give an official statement and a description of the man you saw. I may have an idea of who the culprit is, but I want to be certain.”
“Happy to do it.”
“Good.”
“Do you want me to do this right now?”
The Sheriff shrugged. “I’ll leave that to you. If you’d rather, tomorrow morning is acceptable.”
Max shook his head. “I have to work tomorrow morning. I’ll come with you now.” Better to get this over with than have it weigh on his mind overnight. The Sheriff turned and walked to his door.
“How did you know I was in the bathroom right before I left?”
“Someone saw you and mentioned seeing you near the men’s bathroom, once we evacuated the house.”
“Who saw me?”
The Sheriff gave him a look over one shoulder that said clearly he wasn’t going to reveal the person who’d tattled on Max. It probably didn’t matter. Hehadbeen there, just not guilty of any crimes.
Max didn’t mean to do it, but sometimes looking into the minds of others happened without his conscious intention to do so. He peeked into the Sheriff’s head and a very familiar image came up.
Ruby Hart.
Chapter Seven
Ruby crossed her arms and waited outside Elenora Ellingham’s lovely home, hoping the fire damage wasn’t too severe. Before she knew what was going on, the Sheriff had bolted past their table on his way to the bathrooms.
A few minutes later, the fire alarm sounded and the acrid scent of smoke intensified. Everyone left the party in a relatively orderly fashion, with only a few dismayed screams, but it was certainly upsetting.
Once all the guests and staff were outside, the Sheriff and several deputies began systematically herding people into groups to ask who had seen what.
When a female deputy dressed like a popular cartoon bunny complete with floppy ears, pink nose, and painted whiskers on her face started questioning her, Ruby had to wipe the smile off her face.
“Ms. Hart, did you see anyone near the men’s bathroom by the ballroom in the past half hour or less since the evacuation?”
Ruby hesitated. Shehadseen someone. She hated to rat out the gorgeous blond guy who said he loved her and wanted to marry her, but hehadbeen near the bathroom during the time in question.
“I did see someone. I can’t believe he had anything to do with it, though. He seemed really nice.”
