Hearts on Fire 9: Her Shadows of Light(19)

“Well, if it is arson, I hope they find the fuckers responsible,” Pat said, and they all agreed.





Chapter 6




Arson Investigator Jon Sanders tapped his finger on the printout. He was at the fire training facility and main office with two other investigators. “Look at this. It came over the Internet this morning through our fire call system. A fire in Treasure Town, New Jersey, and the same insurance company that is connected to the two fires here in Connecticut,” Jon said to Jeffrey Stone and Gregory Voight.

“Holy crap, that’s another link we need,” Gregory said.

“Well, we’ve got ourselves a name that connects the four female fire victims and him, thanks to that trip out to New Hampshire. All four of those women were seeing a man with the same description as the boyfriend of our last victim, Gracie May. It has to be our arsonist,” Jeffrey said to them.

“Okay, so what do we do from here? We can’t get a location of residence, only a name,” Gregory said.

“We have a picture of the guy and his name. Let’s run it through the system and see what we get,” John Sanders said to them as he started typing on the computer.

“I think if we put in these details and last known address as Hartford, Connecticut, and we can take it from there. With this new system, if he ever started a fire, called up about a fire, was hospitalized or processed for a crime, it will come up. Hell, if he got a ticket for no seatbelt or was late returning a library book, it could come up on here.”

“And to think with a system like that there are still assholes getting away with murder and arson,” Gregory said.

“You’re not kidding,” Jeffrey said.

“Bingo, looks like we have two pages of shit,” John said and scrolled down, looking for more info to nab this guy.

“Here we go. Let’s see what we have here. Okay, looks like he’s been in and out of trouble since about thirteen years old. Petty larceny, oh, yeah, look at this. He started a fire in the boys’ bathroom at the high school he attended.”

“Click onto that file.” Jeffrey pointed. “It shows more information.”

“Yeah, but it’s with the juvenile courts system. It won’t give much more than what can be disclosed at public records. Write this number down and this case number. If we call up, they could give us more info to help with the investigation,” Gregory told Jeffrey, who wrote it down.

“Scroll farther. Anything else on there?” Gregory asked.

John scrolled further. “Just some illegal parking tickets.”

“Wait, can you see where those were? Does it give an exact location?”

John looked and clicked onto the next screen.

“Gives addresses in town and the exact spot. Why?”

“Look at that address. That’s right down the block from the fire that started in the storefront,” Gregory said.

“Coincidence?” John asked.

“What’s the likelihood of that?” Jeffrey said. “Scroll farther and see the others. Gregory, call that number and find out what’s in that closed case file. If anything, this can all lead up to strengthening the profile of this guy Stark and show motive to committing these crimes. Right now, at minimum, we can bring him in for questioning in regards to the deaths of four women he was with.”

“Why wouldn’t the investigators in the case look at him as a prime suspect? He was the shared factor in all cases,” John said.

“Maybe simply because no one knew this guy Stark was the boyfriend of those other women at the time. Remember, we only found out that the last two victims had a boyfriend who was hardly ever seen. He probably made them keep their relationship a secret.”

“Which could also explain why the victims were burned first and appeared to be tied to a bed when their homes were set on fire. It could be some sexual fantasy for the killer since those fires started on the beds.,” John said to them.

“But the fires on the businesses have no connections to these women or to Stark. The only connection between them is that the same chemical substance residue was found at all crime scenes, including the ones where the women were killed.,” John added.

“I don’t get it yet either, but making a call to the investigators involved with the fire in Treasure Town yesterday is definitely a necessity, especially because of the shared insurance name between the business fires,” Gregory said.

“Let’s call right now. We have the names of three investigators involved. There’s a Trent Landers, arson investigator, a Detective Buddy Landers, and a Detective Tobin McQuinn. Let’s see what they have so far and maybe we need to head out there while the fire is still fresh,” John said and then made the call.



* * * *



Tobin sat in the conference room with Trent and Buddy Landers. Some state police investigators and an arson investigator were interested in details about the fire at the local gift shop. As they explained their cases and the similarities, Leisure Insurance Company came up again. That was where Brighid worked, and immediately his gut clenched with concern. Last night she’d said she couldn’t come over because she had a lot of paperwork to do and mistakes to correct. His investigative mind was starting to worry. When the investigators suggested they come out to have a look around, and hopefully be there when the forensic results came in, he was even more concerned.

“Are you thinking somehow that this insurance company could be part of insurance fraud and this guy, this arsonist, is also connected?” Buddy Landers asked Investigator Gregory Voight.

“We’ve been at this for months. Although it seems like two separate incidences, there are links between the two sets of suspicious fires and homicides,” Voight told them.

“What’s this guy’s connection to Leisure Insurance?” Trent asked and glanced at Tobin. He could tell his friends were concerned to say the least and probably wondering about Brighid and who she worked for.

“Not sure if there is one. We do know that the victims were in a relationship, though hidden, with this individual. Have you gotten any preliminary results of the samples you took from the fire at the gift shop in your town?” Gregory asked.

“We should have them by tomorrow latest. We did notice some discoloration near the boiler system. There appeared to be some fuel leaking but nothing that could start that fire and cause such an explosion. We gathered samples of the silt around it and some white residue with ash.”

The investigator was silent a moment.

“We’re going to be heading down today. Should get there by tonight. Could we meet at the department in the morning first thing?” John Sanders asked.

“We’ll be here,” Trent said, and then they disconnected the call.

Tobin took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Okay, sounds like they have more info and aren’t ready to put it out to us,” Trent said to them.

“I agree, but I don’t like the fact that Leisure Insurance could be connected. They just moved their business into town, and a lot of people are going to them from this community,” Tobin said.

Buddy leaned back in his chair and looked at Tobin.

“You and your brothers just started seeing a woman that works there,” Buddy said.

Tobin held his gaze and didn’t respond verbally.

“Let’s look at this in as many ways as we can so we’re on the same page here. That business has had customers from our town for years. They were based in Connecticut, where these other fires occurred and payoffs were made. This guy, whoever he is, doesn’t seem to have a connection to the insurance company. The investigators said this guy was involved with every woman who was killed.. Had his car illegally parked a day before down the block from that fire’s location. If the two cases are connected, we need to find the common factor,” Trent said to them.

“What if we get the name of the guy and a picture of him and ask the owners, the workers at the insurance company if he’s a client, if they know him, et cetera?” Tobin asked.

“We could do that, or we sit tight until tomorrow morning since it’s after hours, and let these investigators share what they have, and we try to solve this and prove there’s no connection. I’d hate to think that Bricker Daily worked with an insurance company to get money. People could have been killed. Your brothers could have been,” Buddy replied.

“I know, and it was pretty damn scary. Two other stores could have gone up in flames. Maybe I can ask Brighid some questions about that company she works for?” Tobin asked.

“Not sure if that’s such a smart idea,” Buddy said.

“Why not?” Tobin asked.

“You don’t really know her, Tobin. None of us do, and the fact that she works for a company that could have a connection to two arson investigations in Connecticut, and now this one here in Treasure Town, isn’t something to take lightly.”

“There’s no way Brighid is involved with this. I’m telling you I know people, and she’s a good person. Sweet, kind of sees the world in a positive light. It’s one of the things my brothers and I like best about her.” He shook his head.

“My gut is never off. She’s not part of this, and asking her some questions could get us answers we need,” Tobin replied.