"Nothing new. Lance messaged me this morning. No change, but I don't think anyone was expecting anything." Franks pulled out of the garage and once clear, hit the button to close the garage door. "I told him I'd be by later tonight. You're welcome to go with me once we finish up interviews."
"Thanks, I might. So what are your thoughts on no prints on the gun?" Amy asked as she pulled out her laptop.
"Someone had to wipe the gun down. Only other person that we know of there was the son. I doubt the girls left their room, but even if they did, they're too young to even know why they'd need to wipe a gun clean of prints. Either someone else was there or Avery did it and for some reason isn't giving us the true story." Franks bit his lip as he thought about Lance's text. Somehow, he needed to get the kid to admit to killing his parents. "Let's table that case for now. We're headed to talk to the baker, right? What do we have on her?"
"Nothing new. Just what I told you yesterday. Single mother of two. Nothing strange pops on her finances. In fact, it appears she makes a pretty good living off the bakery. At least she did until it blew up."
"It's always possible it was an accident. Some mechanical issue or gas line issue? Not everything is nefarious. We just tend to think it is because we see so much."
Amy sighed. "True, but if explosions like that could happen at any time, I'm a bit more hesitant on going out."
"Your house could go up just as easily. You've got gas there. We all do. We just choose to ignore the danger and pray that whoever puts it all together knows what they were doing. Still, my gut says…"
Amy laughed. "Your gut is always saying something."
"Usually it's 'feed me'."
"You just had two donuts."
"Three, but who's counting?" Franks grinned.
"But my gut is right there with yours on this explosion. There's something to find. We just need to find it. Let's go in gentle and get a feel for this woman, then go from there. I'm sure the fire marshal has already grilled her. I'm not even sure why we're talking to her."
"I'll talk to whoever we need to so we can find out why Angus is fighting for his life right now. And if someone caused this, Iwill be front and center in making sure they pay for what they did. This hit too many of our friends for it not to be personal at this point." Franks hoped this would be a death penalty case should they find someone responsible.
"It's the house on the left. Blue minivan in the driveway." Amy pointed.
Franks parked the car and made sure he had his notebook and pen in his pocket. "Nice neighborhood."
"Yeah, I have a friend who lives around here. It used to be an upscale place back in the day." Amy climbed out of the car.
Franks glanced in the mirror to make sure he didn't have any residual donut on his face, then got out of the car. He followed Amy up the walkway, then stood behind her as she rang the doorbell.
A middle-aged woman opened the door, her brown hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. She wore jeans and a button-up shirt, but it was the dark circles under her eyes that drew Franks' attention.
"Mrs. Willgrow, I'm Detective Burns and this is Detective Franks." Amy smiled politely. "Thanks for agreeing to speak with us."
"Please, call me Kathy. Come on in. I'm happy to talk to anyone if it helps find out what happened. I can't believe this. I can't believe they think the explosion came from my bakery. I just can't imagine how that could happen." She stepped back and let them in. "We can talk in the living room." She gestured to a room off to the left. "Can I get you coffee or anything to drink?"
"We're good," Franks spoke for both of them as they took a seat beside each other on a long couch.
Kathy Willgrow sat to the side of them in a large recliner which looked as if it got a lot of use. "I'm not sure what I can tell you that I haven't told the fire marshal."
"We're not sure either, but sometimes going back over things can highlight stuff others might have missed before. Why don't you start by telling us what your day was like before the explosion happened?" Amy had her notebook out ready to take down any information.
Franks didn't bother opening his since he was sure Amy would share everything.
"It was a normal day. I got to the bakery at four and did my normal opening procedures. I got coffee going. Heated the ovens. They take a bit to get up to temperature. I filled the display cases with products I'd made the day before, then focused on baking some cookies I had prepared in the fridge. Jessica, my employee, came in about five. That's when we open. It's usually slow until closer to seven, but we get a few regulars in early who like to get coffee and a donut on their way to work. The day was normal. I can't think of anything worth mentioning. I baked while Jessica handled the front counter. I had an order for a wedding cake that took up most of my day. A few times we got busy enough that I had to go up front to help, but that's not unusual. Around two I started putting things away, turning off the ovens. Jessica and I cleared out the display cases and stored everything. I did a walk around right before I left to make sure everything was turned off and the fridge temperatures were right, then I left probably around three-fifteen."
"Was that your normal habit? To make sure things were shut off and temps were correct?" Franks asked.
"Yeah, I always do that. I didn't always check the temps of the fridges, but I had one go out on me a few months ago and lost a ton of product because of it. Now I check to make sure everything is working. I know for a fact that every oven, stove, and fryer were off when I left the building on Friday afternoon. It's the last thing I do every day because I know how dangerous it could be if anything was left on. I'd swear on a stack of Biblesa mile high that everything was turned off when I left." Kathy sighed. "I have thought about nothing else since the explosion and I know for a fact I didn't leave anything on."
"Did Jessica leave when you did?" Amy asked.
"Before. She picks her son up from school at three, so she's always out of there no later than two-forty-five so that she can make it to the school in time. I always close alone."
"She's your only employee?" Franks found that hard to believe.
