"I have a part-time employee who works from ten to two most days, but she's away on vacation right now. Her brother got married in Florida. She left Wednesday and should be home tomorrow. I called and told her to take her time if she wanted since she didn't have a job to come back to." Kathy wiped tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "I just can't believe this happened. And to lose Tom. It's just heartbreaking."
"How well did you know Tom?" Amy asked.
"Not as well as I know Hillary, but well enough. Hillary is my best friend. Tom was the one who suggested I buy the place beside Desorio's when it was up for sale. He knew I'd wanted to open a bakery. He even offered to help me if I couldn't get financing. I managed without his help, but it was sweet he offered. My bakery is…" She paused. "Was originally part of Desorio's, but Tom walled off the space so another business could move in. The walls aren't that thick. Sometimes I can smell what they are cooking from my kitchen. Tom would laugh and tell me he wished the smells of my bakery would flow to his side to help increase dessert orders." Kathy sighed. "I can't believe he's gone. Hillary has to be a mess. I called earlier, but her parents were there so we didn't get to talk long." Tears filled her eyes again. "If it was something at my bakery that caused this… that killed all those people…" She shook her head. "I just can't imagine what happened."
"You didn't return to the bakery that evening?" Amy asked.
"No, my daughter had a dance performance. I came home, we had an early dinner, then went to watch my daughter."
"When you say we, you mean…?" Franks asked.
"Oh, my son and I went. My daughter had to be there early, so she didn't have dinner with us, but my son and I ate, then went. We got home probably around eight-thirty and heard about the explosion shortly after when Hillary called me in a panic. I was going to rush over to the bakery then, but Hillary told me she'd already tried to get close and was stopped. I didn't know if I should call the police or fire department to get information, but it wasn't long before someone showed up at my door to let me know what had happened and asked a few questions."
"When did you find out they think the problem started in your bakery?" Franks asked.
"Yesterday when the fire marshal spoke with me. The questions were more focused, more serious. Then I was told they think the ignition point was the bakery. I was stunned and devastated. I just don't know what happened. I'm so careful."
"Did anyone other than you have keys to the bakery?" Amy asked.
"No." Kathy closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. "Well, yes. Tom had a set of keys he kept in his office at the restaurant. There were a few times his pastry chef needed something, and I didn't mind them grabbing whatever they needed. He always replaced it right away or reimbursed me with the cost of whatever they borrowed. It didn't happen often, but I trusted him and let him have a key to the back door. Other than that, no one has a key."
"Do you know if he borrowed anything Friday night?" Franks inquired.
"No, but it wasn't as if he called me about it. He'd just get with me the next time I was in and make it right, so I wouldn't have talked to him until Saturday. We're open seven to two on Saturday and closed Sunday." Kathy wiped more tears. "I just don't know what I'm going to do now. I have some money saved, but I'm not sure where my insurance stands if something in my place caused this. I haven't even had a chance to talk to them about all this. I was hoping to get more from the fire marshal, but now…" She broke down, finally all out crying. "This is so horrible."
Franks glanced at Amy, hoping she'd know how to comfort the woman. He hated this part of his job. Emotions weren't his strong point.
"I'm so sorry all this has happened. Hopefully there will be answers soon. Can you think of anyone who was upset with you? Any problems with customers or someone who would want to hurt your business?" Amy asked.
"God, no." Kathy stared at Amy. "No one. If they were attacking me or my business, I didn't know they were upset about anything. I run a bakery. I make birthday and wedding cakes. I don't do anything that upsets people. If anyone is ever upset about my products, I fix the issue, but that rarely happens and if it does it's nothing more than a bad cup of coffee or a cookie they didn't like. Nothing that would cause someone to do this."
With nothing more to ask, Franks put his pen and notebook into his pocket. "If you think of anything later that might help us figure this out, please call." He handed her his card.
"Just find out why this happened. I can't imagine someone caused this purposely, but if they did, I want them to pay for the death and damage that was done. If it was something mechanical, an issue with the gas line, I want to know so it won't happen again."
"So you do plan on rebuilding?" Amy asked.
"I'm not sure yet. I need to sit down with my insurance company and see where things stand. I'll want to see what the other neighboring businesses decide to do as well. I'm guessing Tyler won't reopen Desorio's without Tom here since he was the chef. I'm not sure what he'll do. I haven't spoken to him yet. I did speak with Jasmine, but she said Tyler is so busy with the investigation that even she doesn't get to talk to him much right now. She's as in the dark as the rest of us." Kathy sighed. "This is such a nightmare for everyone."
Franks agreed, though he wasn't about to let on that he had been personally affected by the explosion. "Hopefully we'll get answers soon."
Amy stood. "Please call us if you think of anything."
Kathy stood as well. "I will, but I really can't imagine there is anything I haven't already gone over a million times in my mind." She led them to the front door.
"Thanks for talking with us." Franks stepped outside.
"And thank you for searching for answers. I pray we find out what happened." Kathy leaned against the doorframe.
"So do we." Amy nodded to her and headed to the car.
"Well?" Franks asked as they pulled away from the house.
"We need to check in on her insurance for the bakery, see if there are any red flags there, but I don't think she did this to herself. I could sense her pain at losing her business. A single mother of two isn't likely to leave herself without a way to support her children. It could be months before this investigation is closed and insurance companies pay out. In the meantime, she's out of work and I doubt she has enough saved to get her through this." Amy pulled out her laptop. "Let's head back to the office and get ready to interview Avery Corpus. I want to hear an explanation to why there were no fingerprints on the gun."
Franks already knew, but he couldn't tell Amy anything. Some days he wished Lance and Angus would just tell people about Lance's ability to speak with the dead, but he also understood why they kept it secret. He saw how crazy people thought Lizzy was. Hell, over the years, he'd been one of those people. He'd always thought of Angus's mother as a bit odd, but now he knew she wasn't odd, she just refused to be anything but what she was. She didn't hide that she saw ghosts. People just weren't open-minded enough to believe her. He thought about that as he drove and decided that he owed Lizzy an apology at some point for all the years he'd thought she was crazy.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
