After the Fire

by Meredith Rae Morgan

  Chapter 5

  The next day, Bev called the PI in Dayton and asked when he could meet with her. He said he was planning to be in his office the entire day working on his report to her. He asked if she wanted to meet somewhere in between. She said she needed to stop in her office in Dayton anyway and suggested she meet him just after lunch. He asked if they could order lunch. She laughed, “Sure, I'll buy you lunch.”

  “I think you may find what I have to tell you worth the price of a pizza.”

  “You have my attention. Order lunch for us and I'll meet you at your office by 12:30.”

  She stopped by her office and chatted with Cassandra for a few minutes. Steve stopped by with a question about the Dallas fire, and they talked for a little while. Then she stopped at the door of her manager's office. “Hey, I stopped in to check on Cassandra and Steve. I'm on my way to a lunch appointment with the PI, but I wanted to say hi.”

  Her boss motioned her into his office and buzzed his secretary. “Hold my calls.” He shut the door. “I know you don't have much time nor do you have the patience for this kind of bullshit, but I gotta tell you, Bev, we need to wrap this one up quickly. It's in our backyard and there is a lot of pressure to make an assessment of the cause of the fire. Oddly, I'm getting pressure from unexpected places.”

  “Like where?”

  “Like the higher ups in the company who are complaining they're hearing from politicians.”

  “That's weird.”

  “What's Tucker's assessment?”

  “Inconclusive. Ben thinks it's a torch job that was supposed to look like an accident, but it could also actually be an accident. Insured has serious motive, but nobody who has talked to him believes he did it. In the interest of full disclosure, Ron Mazzoli's wife was waiting on the table nearest to where the fire started. I don't know yet exactly where she was when the fire started. I plan to take her statement again. I've had a PI looking into the background of the people in the wedding party.”

  “What do you know about them so far.”

  “Not much. I'm meeting with the PI today. I'll send you an update later.”

  “You holding up okay? This is the first time you've handled a fire so close to home. You know any of those victims?”

  “I was acquainted with many of them. Remember, I travel a lot, and when I'm home I'm a virtual recluse. I grew up in Stanforth but lived in Dayton for a long time after I went away to college. After my divorce, I moved back home with my Dad, but I never plugged back into the community for a lot of reasons, most especially the aforementioned travel. The most difficult thing for me is that my daughter is taking a lot of the public flak because she's in school and she's 'out there' in the community.

  The locals want answers.”

  “How many lawyers have you heard from?”

  “Paul Morehouse got a call from Timothy Peters the other day.”

  He whistled, “What's his demand?”

  “No demand yet. We don't even know who he represents. It's possible he's still trolling for clients.”

  “What have you heard from the people who are still in the hospital?”

  “Not a word. It's too soon, I guess. Most of those people had family members who were killed. Virtually all of the funerals were over this past weekend. I'm guessing that now everyone's attention will turn to the survivors, if you can call what those poor bastards are going through survival....” She shuddered, blinked back the tears that threatened to spill over and cleared her throat. “I expect to start receiving demands soon.”

  “How's Paul Morehouse working out.”

  “Actually, very well. He's young and inexperienced, but he's smart enough to know that he is involved in something that is beyond his present experience. He's willing to play it my way. The most important thing is that he's taking good care of the insured and he's attempting to keep a lid on the growing turmoil in the community.”

  “You given any thought to who you want for litigation counsel?”

  “If I'm up against Timothy Peters, I'm going to have to have some heavy fire-power. I like Christopher Parker in Dayton a lot. He'd be my first choice, but my gut is telling me that I may need to go with a higher profile firm. Maybe Richard Elliot in Cincinnati. He's a condescending bastard and I can't stand him personally, but he's a good lawyer and, more importantly, he's managed a lot of very large litigation and he has an experienced trial team of attorneys and paralegals who know the drill and do it efficiently -- if you can call anything about the litigation process efficient.”

  “Let me see. Last conversation I had with him on the subject of you, he told me he thought you were, quote 'a high-handed bitch who thinks she's knows more about the law than she does, but she's smart and she's the best fire investigator I've ever seen. She's also got the most reliable gut in the business.'”

  “My fans are legion!”

  Dave laughed, “Actually they are.”

  “I have fans?”

  “You do for a fact. Don't blow this one and make our faith in you appear misplaced.”

  “I promise I won't.”

  “I think you should at least meet with our fraud investigator to go over what you have.”

  “I will. I promise. I'm waiting for Ben's written report and I want to get this report from the PI. I should have a preliminary workup early next week. My fear is that if we don't come up with some hard evidence soon, we may be in for a rough ride. Right now, everything is still very ambiguous and inconclusive. I want to have some other eyes on this before the FBI takes it over. If you don't mind, I'd like to meet with you, the fraud unit investigator and somebody from Legal next week. I should have the preliminary reports in by then.”

  “You must be worried if you are asking to get legal involved in this now.”

  “I am worried. I can't see any scenario here where the Company won't get sued. If it's arson and we prosecute the insured, I'm sure the family will sue the company, and probably so will some of the victims. No matter how the fire started if the insured didn't do it, we have some pretty clear negligence on the part of the insured that the claimants will want to capitalize on. The limits are not even close to being adequate to the horrible damages, so everybody will sue everybody and the insured will probably sue us for selling him inadequate limits. Worst of all we've got a dozen seriously injured people in the hospital racking up bills and who will need medical care for years. The claimants are going to be scrapping over the paltry amount we have to spend, and we'll probably get sued by some of them as well, if they can legally do it.

  “So, yes, as amazing as it may be coming from me, I want the boys in Legal to get involved early.”

  “The general counsel will probably have a coronary when he hears that. If I recall correctly the Dallas hotel fire involved a conversation between you and the legal department that ended with the general counsel calling the senior vice president of claims and asking for your head on a platter on account of he'd never had an employee tell one of our lawyers to 'butt the fuck out until I need you'.”

  She laughed and pretended to be embarrassed. “For the record, the person I told off was not one of our lawyers. I happen to like most of our in-house lawyers. The person I told off was some intern law student who came off like she was the God's gift to the legal profession. If I recall correctly, they got rid of her shortly thereafter for reasons I never heard.”

  Dave leaned forward, “They got rid of her because immediately after the conversation you had with her, she complained about you to the legal department administrator. Caroline Ingram told the girl you were our best adjuster and generally the more senior lawyers trusted your judgment as to when you needed their help. The girl evidently mouthed off to the administrator and said something demeaning about non-lawyers presuming to tell lawyers what to to. The administrator said, 'I'm not a lawyer, but I'm telling you this: you're dismissed from this internship.'”

  They both laughed. She said, “What did the general counse
l say about that?”

  “Nobody has ever said. He and Caroline evidently spent some time behind closed doors. It has always been ambiguous whether Caroline had the authority to fire the intern. Nobody has questioned the actual decision.”

  “So I was vindicated.”

  “You were vindicated only to the extent that legal gives you a lot of latitude, but to be clear: if legal wants to look over your shoulder, they have the authority to do it whether you invite them in or not.”

  “I know that. I just want them to send their good lawyers, or Caroline Ingram, to review my work not some wet-behind-the-ears baby lawyer who thinks she's all that and a bag of chips.”

  “We all understand each other. This time, you're inviting them in?”

  “Yeah. Do you have any sway with who gets assigned?”

  “Maybe. Why?”

  “Well, I'm pretty sure there will be lawsuits and probably we'll get sued for bad faith by somebody if not everybody because the insurance company's pocket is the only place where there is any real money in this case. I'd love it if you could arrange to have Marshall Callahan assigned to this case. We've worked together before. We understand and trust each other.”

  “Understood. I'll put in the request.”

  She drove to the PI's office, which was located in a suburban office complex. She walked in the door and was greeted by a pleasant young woman who stood up from her desk and shook Bev's hand. “Ms. Deller, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Cecelia Rittenhaus. My dad's waiting for you in the conference room,” she turned slightly and motioned toward and open door, “I'll join you shortly. I'm waiting for lunch to arrive.”

  Bev walked into the small conference room, impressed by the surroundings. Unlike the seedy, grungy PI offices of Hollywood fame, this was an immaculate, if rather sterile, office environment tastefully decorated in neutral colors and Office Depot modular furniture. Frank Rittenhaus was sitting at the table making notes on a pad. He stood and shook her hand, inviting her to sit. They made small talk for a few minutes. He was in his late fifties, with close cropped grey hair and startling blue eyes. He was wearing a charcoal colored suit. Bev thought he made a professional appearance and was actually quite handsome.

  A few minutes later, his daughter brought in a tray of assorted sandwiches, a pot of coffee and some cookies. “I ordered a selection of half sandwiches. Wasn't sure what you'd want. Dad and I will eat anything. Hopefully you can find something here you like.”

  While they ate their lunch, Bev asked them a little about their background. She knew Cassandra would not have hired this firm if they didn't check out, but Bev liked to have PI's give their background verbally so she could see how they might sound of the witness stand. This guy was the best she'd ever seen. He was professional and personable. She liked what she saw on that score. Soon she found herself eying the pile of folders that lay on the table at his right hand.

  Cecelia chuckled, “I think we should take your expression as an indication it's time we got down to talking turkey.”

  Frank nodded, pushed his plate aside and pulled his note pad in front of him. Cecelia cleaned off the table and started to leave. Frank said, “Cici, I would like you to stay here. For one thing, you did as much of this research as I did. For another, I'm thinking that Ms. Deller may want to consider making you the person who will testify about this case when it gets to court.”

  Bev put her brows together and asked, “Why would I want to do that?”

  He smiled, “Well, for one thing, she'd damned good on the stand. For another, I'm trying to build her business so I can retire. For a third, you will see as we get into this, you may want a woman on this one.”

  Bev nodded and looked from the father to the daughter. He was distinguished and almost professorial. She knew he'd be fantastic on the stand. His daughter was petite and dark. Bev guessed her mother was of Greek or Italian descent. She was dressed in a conservative pantsuit and wore professional and very flattering makeup. She was younger and prettier than Bev thought would be effective for a PI, but something told her to go with Frank's recommendation. “In that case, perhaps Ms. Rittenhaus should be the person to tell me what you've discovered.”

  Frank nodded and passed the folders to his daughter, keeping his notes. Cecelia opened the top folder and took out her notes. She glanced down the page, refreshing her recollection. She picked up a mechanical pencil from a cup on the table and smiled at Bev, “Please call me Cici.

  “Okay, we have turned up some very interesting things. I have to tell you by way of background that both Dad and I have intentionally refrained from following the news stories about the fire. We're assuming you're pursuing an arson investigation, but we have focused only on obtaining information about the people you asked about, without cluttering up our minds with other details from the press, which might or might not be accurate.”

  Bev nodded and smiled at both of them, “Thank you for that. Tell me your story.”

  Cici spent the next two hours relaying details about both the groom's family from Stanforth and the bride's family from Cincinnati. Occasionally, her father filled in a detail here and there, but Cici related the information clearly, concisely and in a very organized manner. Bev listened without taking notes. She knew that she would pore over their written report and take many notes, but in the initial meeting she wanted to watch and listen. Bev liked the fact that Cici had a sheet of talking points to keep her on track and she checked off each point when she finished it. After she checked off the last line on her paper, Cici looked up at Bev and raised her eyebrows, “How does that jibe with the information your fire investigator uncovered?”

  Bev thought for a while before she trusted her voice to answer. “This may change everything. I am not sure what to make of it, but you certainly have uncovered some interesting stuff, which, as I'm sure you have figured out, will no doubt alter the direction of our investigation.”

  They were all quiet for a while. Bev asked, “Is there a Cincinnati criminal attorney you particularly like to work with?”

  Cici deferred to her father. He shook his head, “No. For stuff like this, I prefer to work with a guy from Columbus. He's actually a former FBI agent who went to law school. First he was a prosecutor for a while. Then he went into private practice. He generally works for companies and individuals who have been the victims of crimes in an effort to help them cooperate with the prosecutors.”

  Bev interrupted, “And help keep the prosecutors on track.”

  “Exactly.”

  “What's his hourly rate?”

  “He's not cheap: $350 an hour.”

  “Ouch. I'd like you to call him. Find out first of all if he'd be willing to work for insurance company rates. Also, I'll need a commitment that he won't charge us for travel time. My company will never approve me to pay travel time for a Columbus lawyer to go to Cincinnati where the trials will probably take place.”

  “Understood. I'll check it out. I won't hire him or give him any information yet. I'll make sure he's able to take this case and get back to you.”

  Cici asked, “Do you want us to keep digging?”

  “Oh, yes, I most certainly do! There appears to be enough here to at least make it appear possible that there could be a third party who came to the restaurant that night with criminal intent. Both the groom's father and the bride's father appear to be men with enemies. The question is: how far might those enemies be willing to go to get revenge? I want you to keep digging into both the car dealer and the surgeon, although I'm most interested in those malpractice lawsuits.”

  Frank nodded. “We thought you might be. I propose to focus on the car dealer. Cici will focus on the plastic surgeon.”

  Bev nodded and drummed her fingers on the table. “I agree that Cici should focus on Dr. Prescott. My gut tells me that there's a mother lode there.” She winked. “You just have to find it, dear.”

  She looked at Frank, “But I think I want you to widen your s
cope. Dig around a little more into the Sonderland family and their car dealership. I'm guessing what you will find is just a jerk-weed car salesman who cheats his customers and treats his employees like crap. Question is: does he have any hot-headed disgruntled customers or employees who might want to kill him? It seems unlikely to me that a resident of Stanforth would torch The Barn with all those people inside, people he or she would be acquainted with. Check it out, anyway.

  “And, while you're in Stanforth, I want you to look at all the other people in the restaurant that night. Who had ties to either of the families? Were there any people in the restaurant who were not from Stanforth?

  “Let's assume no one from the Mazzoli family torched the place. Then who did? Did the Mazzoli's have any disgruntled present or former employees? Or people to whom they owed money? Were there enemies of the Sonderlands present, either as patrons or employees? Anybody in the house with ties to the Prescotts?

  “You see where I'm going with this?”

  Both the investigators nodded and made notes. Frank said, “We got it.” He leaned forward and looked at her over his glasses, “I have to ask this. At what point do we notify the police?”

  “We're getting close to that, but I don't think we're quite there yet. The FBI is already interested. Let's dig just a little further so we will have enough to get them fully engaged. I plan to meet with my fraud unit and legal department next week. By then I should have a full report from my fire investigator. I'd like to have as much as you can give me by then.”

  Frank said, “I'll focus on the people who were in the house th night of the fire. I think I'll start with some records research and online stuff. I'll probably pay a visit over the weekend. I may not stand out so much then. I'm guessing you're getting your share of tourists on the weekends.” Bev nodded and Frank went on, “Cici can focus on research in Cincinnati, maybe pay a visit to the courthouse and get a peek at the case files for those malpractice cases if they're not sealed.”

  Cici said, “Do you want to schedule another meeting Monday?”

  “Yes. Let's plan on 9:00 AM Monday. Give me all you've got. I'll schedule the meeting with my superiors that afternoon. I'm guessing within a day or so after that, we'll have pay a call to our federal brothers. I think I'll want one or both of you to be present for that meeting.”

  They shook hands and Bev left. She called David Jamison from the parking lot before she even started the car. “I just got out of my meeting with the PI.

  “Oh my God. I don't know what to think! First of all, this is a great PI firm and we should use them a lot. Second, it appears that both the father of the groom and the father of the bride had enemies. Potentially a lot of enemies. Perhaps a few enemies who might think they have motive to want to kill them. Frank and Cici are still investigating, but the way it's looking, this may not be a case of burning a building in an act of insurance fraud; it may be a homicide.”

  Jamison didn't say anything for a long time. Then he whistled. Very softly. “Do not delay turning this over to the cops if you think this is a murder.”

  “It's all speculation at this point. Right now all we have are some people who are arrogant and treat other people badly. And a surgeon who's a bit sloppy with the scalpel. Both may have some enemies. What we don't have yet is any known enemies of either of them in the restaurant. Frank Rittenhaus is pursuing that. Cici is looking into a couple of malpractice claims against Dr. Prescott.”

  “What kind of doctor his he?”

  “Plastic surgeon. Works mainly on cosmetic surgery.”

  “Jesus!”

  “I think you have the picture. Stay tuned. I'll be in touch.”

  “You put a potential murderer in that room, and you let me know immediately; do you hear me? If we don't report this soon enough to the cops ....”

  “I know. I know. Believe me. Once I've got anything, you'll be the first person I call and the FBI will be next. By the way if you had any doubt that we needed Marshall Callahan on this one, please get rid of it, and beg the general counsel to assign this to him. If you have to do it, you can promise I'll never drop an F-bomb in front of anyone in the legal department again.”

  Dave laughed, “Let's not get carried away and make promises we know you can't keep. I'll take care of my end. You keep all your balls in the air and let me know as soon as you have anything even leaning in the direction of concrete.”

  “Yes, sir.”