"Yeah, he got out of surgery around five this morning. I went home to shower and grab something to eat before coming here." He took a seat at his desk. "Any news on what caused the explosion?"
"Nothing official yet, but they're investigating. Rumors are it wasn't an accident. I've been pushing for more details, but no one seems to know what's happening. I know they were waiting for daylight to get in and look deeper. They also have to wait for the back area that had burned to cool so they can get in there. Death toll has gone to eight. Three of those from the fire, the rest from the explosion." Amy leaned back in her chair. "I've got a list of names we need to interview and get statements from. Captain Marshall said for you and me to team up on this one."
"Good. I was afraid I'd be on my own and I'm not in the right headspace to be going it alone. I won't be until Angus is up and joking with me again." He stared at his computer, knowing he should turn it on, but unable to bring himself to do so.
"How's Lance?" Amy asked.
"He's a mess. He's refusing to leave the hospital, insisting that he will stay with Angus until they can both walk out together. He ended up with a dislocated shoulder and has some nasty cuts from the glass. Luckily, his brother just got back in town and is there for him, but I'm worried if something goes wrong, Lance might not survive it."
Amy sighed. "Let me know if there's anything I can do. I'll go visit Angus in time, but since he's in I.C.U. I figure they'll want to keep visitors to a minimum. What about the others? Were they injured?"
Franks told her about the injuries everyone had and went on to tell her about the stuff he'd seen walking through the emergency room last night. "It was crazy. They had tables set up in hallways where they were removing glass shards from people and another area just for stitches. The worst cases were in the rooms, but even then, there wasn't enough space. I heard the other hospital had the same problems, and that they were sending people with minor injuries to clinics around town."
"Yeah, I saw that on the news. Gretta called me this morning and told me she'd be working all weekend." Amy stood and went to refill her coffee.
"Yeah, she was there with us last night after she finished at the morgue." He waited for some snide comment from Amy about the time he was spending with her sister, Gretta, but didn't get one.
"Well, while we're waiting for the investigation to give us some answers, we'll start taking statements. I just put in a request to get the city's camera feeds for that area. I know the traffic lights have cameras, and hopefully there are a couple of others along that road. Officers have already contacted other businesses in the area to see if they have cameras, but the closest ones are so damaged, I'm not sure what we'll get from them." Amy hit a button on her keyboard and the printer started up. "We think the explosion came from the back of Desorio's, but even that's still preliminary. It took out the bakery and the dress shop on either side of the restaurant, and damaged almost every other store on the block. Window damage at best, structural damage at worst. People want to claim their cars which were parked in the area, but they haven't released the scene for them to do so. When they finally do release the cars, people will find most of them have lost the windows in their car and will need full glass replacement."
"I saw the scene on TV. It's a disaster. Where do we start?" Franks asked.
"How about the hospital? We'll interview the handful who were kept due to their injuries, and we can check in on Angus while we're there. Then this afternoon, we can try contacting others on the list at their homes."
Franks took a sip of his coffee and nodded. "We can get Lance, Lizzy's, and Martin's statements while we're there, and maybe even Jackson's if he's around. Megan won't be hard to track down either. It's a start, but I'm not sure we'll get much. Lance said he hardly remembers the actual explosion. Said he was sitting there one second and on the floor the next. At best, maybe someone saw something odd right before the explosion happened, but I'm not holding out much hope."
"It's all we have to work with for now." Amy got up and went to the printer and pulled a small stack of papers from it. "I have seventy-two names that were on either the reservation list for last night or the employees who were working at the time."
"Wasn't all that destroyed in the blast?" Franks was surprised.
"They save everything on the cloud. Thomas Hilton owned the restaurant with his best friend Tyler Chris. Tyler wasn't there at the time and was able to give us access to their files. Thomas Hilton was killed in the explosion. He's one of the bodies they removed that had been burned. Chris is being very cooperative and says he'll give us whatever we need. He wants answers. I guess Hilton and Chris had been friends since elementary school. Chris got his business degree while Hilton got his in culinary, then they opened up Desorio's. He's devastated by what happened," Amy informed him.
"He's also our biggest suspect," Franks pointed out.
"And he's aware of that. He swears he has no clue what happened. He'd left work about two hours before the explosionand was home with his wife and kids when it happened. So far, he's been nothing but helpful and cooperative. Still, we'll dig into his life. I also want to find out about any employees who were recently fired or upset at work. Find out if any of the other business owners in the area had problems with Desorio's or the staff there."
Franks nodded as he thought about the possibility that someone had done this on purpose. What could possibly make someone try to kill so many people? When he'd first heard about the explosion, he assumed it was a problem due to some gas line or something in the kitchen, but now he had to try and wrap his head around the fact that someone may have caused this. It was too overwhelming to think about. He almost lost his best friend and partner, and all because some disgruntled employee had a bone to pick. Nope, not on his watch. He would find whoever did this Angus and make sure they never saw the light of day again. "You driving, or am I?"
"You. I want to continue working through these names while you drive. Several people at dinner last night were from out of town. I need to try and figure out who those are so we can try and get them at their hotels before they leave. This is a nightmare trying to figure out who all these people are. I have a Mark Johnson on the list, and seventeen Mark Johnsons in the area. Luckily, most have left phone numbers with their reservations, but Mark's goes to an office number that is closed until Monday," Amy complained.
"It's nine in the damn morning. Did you sit and work on this stuff all night?" Franks asked.
"I couldn't sleep. After seeing Angus, I couldn't get the images out of my mind. I needed something to focus on. I thought about coming to the hospital but figured I could do more good here." She stood. "Down that coffee. We've got places to be."
Franks did as she told him and gulped the last of his coffee. He pulled out his keys and followed. He ignored the sympathetic glances he got as he walked through the hallways. Obviously, news of Angus's injury had spread around the department. He was thankful none of them stopped to ask him questions. He wasn't ready to talk about things with people he wasn't that close to.
"You ever eat at Desorio's?" Amy asked as they got in the car.
"Once. A friend and I went to try the place out. Food was great, but I didn't like the fact I had to wear a suit. It's bad enough I have to dress up for court. Dinner is supposed to be fun and enjoyable. It wasn't since I spent half the night tugging at the knot on my tie."
Amy laughed as she opened her laptop on her lap. "No wonder my sister likes you. You are the complete opposite of her ex. He wouldn't let her eat dinner at home without being dressed up."
"Gretta told me. He sounds like a stiff son-of-a…" He let his words trail off. "I haven't heard one admirable quality he had other than a lot of money, and if that's what being rich does to someone, I'll gladly stay in my little tax bracket."
"You're preaching to the choir. I didn't like the guy at all. Don't tell her, but I cheered when she told me she was leaving him. She did get to experience a lot with him. They traveled all over the place."
"But at what cost? What's the fun of travelling if you're too dressed up to enjoy it? Did they ever visit a national park, or go camping for a weekend? If you ask me, going away to be catered to in some fancy hotel is no different than staying home." Franks pulled the care out of the lot. "Life is too short to worry about appearances."
"Says the man who often has mustard stains on his shirt." Amy laughed.
