by Nancy CoCo
“No.” I pursed my lips and drew my eyebrows. “I found out he was staying at the Hamilton B & B. I went over to talk to him, but Mrs. H wouldn’t give me his room number. All I could do was leave a message for him to call me.”
“And we all know how good he is at calling you back,” Jenn said.
“Yeah.” I sighed. “Before I went to the B & B, I’d left four messages on his phone at the office and he hasn’t called back once. If he hadn’t stopped in this morning, I would have to think he was purposely avoiding me.”
“What did he say when he stopped in?” Mr. Devaney asked. “I was up in three-ten repairing the stuck window.”
“He basically said that the insurance would cover the cost of the fireworks, but, since we only made a down payment he wasn’t obligated to continue on with the shows.”
“That doesn’t sound right,” Mr. Devaney said.
“It’s not. I checked the contract. That’s what I wanted to talk to him about. Jenn found replacement fireworks so he needs to either be our technician or find us a replacement.”
“Did you let Rex know that this guy was dodging your calls?” Frances asked.
“No.” I patted Mal, giving her a good scratch behind the ears. “He has his hands full with the murder investigation. It’s not appropriate for me to use Rex’s time to track down a guy about a contract agreement.”
“You should call your lawyer,” Mr. Devaney said. “It might take some finagling if this guy doesn’t want to keep his part of the contract and it sounds like he doesn’t.”
“I suppose you are right. I’ll try to get ahold of Mr. Schulte again tomorrow. If I can’t, I’ll call Frances’s cousin William. He’s a criminal lawyer, but he might know someone who can help with a civil case.”
“I’m sure William would be happy to help,” Frances said. “This isn’t just your fireworks show. This affects the entire community. Maybe if you explain that to Mr. Schulte he will understand how important this is to us.”
“I certainly hope so.”
Later that night, Mal wanted to go out for her end of the day walk. I slipped on her pink harness with the reflective white stars and snapped on her pink leash. We went out the back door of the apartment.
It was one of those cool nights where the sky was clear and filled with stars. The breeze off the lakefront rustled the leaves on the trees. The sounds of night insects filled the air. We moved quickly down the metal fire escape.
When I’d first moved into the apartment, the last rung of stairs was a ladder that could be pulled up to keep others from coming up the fire escape. But after I got Mal, I realized that it would be advantageous to be able to use the back fire escape so I had Mr. Devaney install permanent black medal steps all the way down. Mal was used to hopping on down them and often beat me to the bottom.
The alley was quiet. A single street light illuminated the walkway between the McMurphy and the Oakton Bed and Breakfast behind us. Well, actually it was the pool house to the Oakton. At one point, Papa Liam and Mr. Thompson had an agreement that both hotels would share the expense and the use of the pool house, but they had a falling out and since then, the pool house was exclusively for the use of the Oakton guests.
A small patch of grass at the edge of the alley and a fence separated us from the pool house which sat up on a hill. The pool house shutters were open, leaving the wind to blow through the screened-in windows that surrounded the pool. It was quiet, but a light was on inside.
Mal used the patch of grass for her business and I wondered if the pool house was in use by guests or if Mr. Thompson had simply forgotten to turn off the light.
The light seemed to be getting brighter and I noticed the strong acid scent of burning wood. I scowled and stepped closer to the fence. It wasn’t like the Oakton to have a bonfire near the pool house.
Mal barked and pushed her way under a hole in the fence, yanking her leash from me.
“Mal!” I shouted. “Come back here.”
She was gone.
I climbed the fence and noticed a figure moving toward the shadows. “Hey, excuse me. Can you help me get my dog?”
The person turned and I recognized the familiar slouch of Sherman Archibald. He was wearing a T-shirt and baggy jeans and his shaggy hair was greasy.
“Sherman?” I called. “Did you see my dog, Mal? She’s a white bichon-poo.”
“Naw,” he said and shrugged his thin shoulders.
Mal barked in the distance.
“Okay,” I muttered and took off to the pool house. “Mal! Come here puppy.” I ran around the corner to find the edge of the pool house engulfed in flames. I gasped and stopped short. Mal was barking at the flames that licked up the side of the building.
I grabbed my puppy and ran back out of the way of the flames. “Fire!” I shouted. Earlier this month when I’d shouted “fire” in the alleyway, no one had heard me so I wasn’t banking on it working this time. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and dialed 9-1-1.
“9-1-1. What is your emergency.” Charlene’s voice was clear and confident.
“Hi, there is a fire at the Oakton pool house. Send help fast.”
“The pool house is on fire?” Charlene asked.
“Yes, the Oakton pool house between the Oakton B & B and the McMurphy.”
“Is this Allie McMurphy?” Charlene asked.
“Yes, Charlene. Hi. There’s a fire and it’s getting closer to the pool house roof.”
“I’m sending the fire department. Is anyone hurt?”
I glanced around. “I don’t see anyone.”
“Are you inside or outside the pool house?”
“I’m outside. The shutters are open and the windows are screened.”
“Can you get a fire extinguisher?”
I held tight to Mal who was squirming and barking. “I don’t know.” I walked around to the door of the pool house and tried to open it. It was locked. I glanced inside and saw the faint glow of a night-light, but no one was inside. “No, the place is locked up tight.”
The sound of sirens filled the air as the fire truck left the administration building.
“The guys are on their way. Step back and stay safe,” Charlene advised.
“Will do.” I hung up my phone as the truck pulled up. Four firemen in full gear jumped out of the truck and hauled the hose out, hooking it up to the fire hydrant in the street above the pool house and then rushing down the slope of the hill to spray the roof and smother the fire.
Mal squirmed in my arms, but I held on to her tight. “Oh, no you don’t.” I was a few feet back and firmly out of the guys way as I watched them do the work quickly and efficiently.
“Another fire,” Liz said as she strode up with her camera in hand and took pictures. Her hair was down and loose over her shoulders. She wore a simple T-shirt, shorts, and socks with her hiking books untied and flapping. “I heard the dispatch call and came right out.” She snapped action pictures of the firemen hosing down the smoldering side of the building. “Did you call it in?”
“Yes. Mal got loose and started barking. I climbed over the fence to find her in front of the fire.”
Liz smiled. “That pup of yours is getting to be a regular hero.”
The fire was put out fairly quickly and Ed Goodfoot came over. “Hello, Allie.”
“Hi.” I put Mal down. Now that the excitement was over, she was happy to sniff around.
“Thanks for calling in the fire. We were able to catch it before it got too far.”
“Oh, you’re welcome. I was out walking Mal when she escaped and came to bark at the fire. It really is all her doing.” I pointed at my dog. “Do you know what caused it?”
“Not certain yet. I’m glad we caught it early. With tonight’s winds it could have traveled through several nearby buildings.”
“Funny, but you would think a pool house would not be something that would catch on fire easily.”
“Was it another arson?” Liz asked.
“Hey,
Allie, what’s going on?”
I glanced over to see Jenn heading toward us.
“The pool house was on fire.”
“Oh, that’s not good,” Jenn said as she climbed over the fence and hopped down.
“What’s going on?” Pete Thompson asked as he puffed around the corner of the pool house. My backdoor neighbor wasn’t on the best of speaking terms with me since Papa Liam died. It hadn’t helped that I had planned a party in the pool house and we’d found a dead man floating facedown. “Ms. McMurphy, what are you doing on my property?”
“My dog slipped under the fence. When I got to her, I noticed the pool house was on fire so I called the fire department.”
“She saved your pool house,” Ed said. “You’re lucky. If she hadn’t called in when she did, the fire would have hit the roof and burned down the entire structure. We’re lucky, too. With tonight’s wind, the fire could have easily jumped from building to building.”
“Why would the pool house be on fire?” Pete rubbed his heavy jowls with his pudgy hand. He wore a pair of dark sweatpants and a T-shirt. His chubby body looked squeezed into his clothes.
“Did you have a bonfire tonight?” Ed asked.
“No, we cancelled the fire pit due to the wind,” Pete said. “It had to be sabotage.” He scowled at me. “Maybe we should ask Miss McMurphy here what she was doing when the fire started.”
“I was walking my dog,” I said.
“A likely excuse.” He crossed his arms over his wide chest and glared at me.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Jenn patted his arm. “Allie wouldn’t start a fire on a property so close to the McMurphy. Maybe it was electrical.” She wore a silk kimono top over soft pajama pants and looked like a Hollywood starlet.
Pete softened his stance at the sight of her. “I just had the electricity checked after the murder. The insurance company insisted that I check so that there would be no further accidents around the pool.”
“It’s too dark to tell if it was deliberately set,” Ed said. “Stay away from it and we’ll come back in the morning and investigate.”
“Is it safe to leave it over night?” I asked. “I mean, what if whoever started the fire decides to come back and tamper with the evidence? Or worse, what if they try to finish the job?”
“We’ll have round the clock surveillance,” Rex said. “I’ve got Officer Brown coming down for the night.”
“Thank-you.” Ed turned to me. “I just wanted to thank you for your quick thinking, Allie.” He touched the brim of his fireman’s hat. “Good night.”
“Bye,” I said at the same time Jenn did.
“I’ll be glad for the surveillance,” Pete said, his forehead breaking out in a sweat. “I’ll have cameras installed as soon as possible.” He looked at me pointedly. “I don’t want to see you on my property again. Is that clear?”
“Crystal,” I replied and refrained from sticking my tongue out at him.
“We’ll be glad for the cameras,” Jenn said trying to be diplomatic. “The alley hasn’t been that safe and cameras will really help. In fact, it might not hurt to install our own on the back of the McMurphy.”
I frowned. “I’ll get Mr. Devaney to check into the pricing. If it’s not too expensive, we should do it.”
“You may save on insurance,” Rex said. “I’d do it.”
“What is the world coming to?” Liz said. “This is the fifth fire this year. Do you have any idea who is doing this? Or if the fires are even related?”
“I can’t talk about an ongoing investigation,” Rex replied and crossed his arms. “I do need to talk to Allie about what she saw.”
Jenn and Pete just looked at Rex.
He scowled. “Alone.”
“Oh,” Jenn said. “Sure thing. Here, Allie. Let me take Mal.”
“Okay.” I handed her Mal’s leash.
“Come on, baby. Let’s go home.” Jenn picked Mal up and climbed back over the fence with her.
“I need to get a taller fence,” Pete muttered.
“There are building codes,” Rex reminded him.
“Right. Fine. Just keep one of your guys on my property,” Pete groused and turned on his heel. “I don’t want to have to wait for another fire to find out I was right to blame my neighbor.”
“I didn’t set the fire,” I said.
“At least you didn’t blow it up like you did the warehouse,” Pete said as he walked away.
I opened my mouth to tell him I didn’t blow anything up, but shut it when I realized I couldn’t reason with an unreasonable person.
“Are you okay?” Rex asked me.
“Sure.” I shrugged. “Why are people crazy?”
He scowled. “There’s no knowing what is going on in some people’s heads. Want to tell me about the fire?”
I shoved my hands in my pockets. “I took Mal out for her late walk. I noticed what I thought was a light on in the pool house. It’s kind of unusual for this time of night.”
Rex took notes on his small notepad. “I’ll have to check to see how late the pool is open.”
“It used to be until nine PM,” I said. “But he may have changed that. Mal did her business and then sniffed the fence. I figured she smelled something interesting like she does on a regular basis, but then she took a quick tug of her leash and slipped under the fence. She was fast. Faster than I could catch her and suddenly she was barking and out of sight.”
“So then what happened?”
“I climbed the fence and went after her. I noticed a teenager between me and her and asked him if he saw my dog. He didn’t. So I hurried off. When I rounded the corner, I realized it was the pool house on fire, not a light inside the pool house. I called Charlene right away.”
“Who was the kid?” Rex asked. His eyebrows were drawn in concern.
“Sherman Archibald, Luke’s boy. I remember him from their help with putting out embers at the warehouse.”
“Right,” Rex said.
“Wait. You don’t think he had anything to do with the fire, do you?”
“I don’t know.” Rex stuffed his notepad into the breast pocket of his uniform. “I hope not. Luke’s a nice guy. Sherman seems like a great kid.”
“I know.”
“Listen, don’t fret. We don’t even know if the fire was arson at this point. It could simply be electrical in nature.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “You said you’d have someone guard the site.”
“Yeah, I called Officer Brown. He was working the night shift. He’ll keep an eye on things.”
“Good. This fire was close. I don’t want to have to sleep with one eye open.”
“Go home, Allie,” Rex said. “We’ve got this.”
“Thanks, Rex. You’re great.”
“Just doing my job,” he said, his voice gruff. “Take care of that dog of yours. She helps out a lot around here.”
I smiled. “I will.”
Easy Strawberry Cream Pie Fudge
2½ cups white chocolate chips, melted
1 3 ounce package strawberry flavored gelatin dissolved in ¼ cup hot water to reduce graininess
1 16 ounce can vanilla frosting
1 cup dried strawberries, chopped into tiny pieces.
1 teaspoon butter for pan prep
Butter 8x8x2-inch pan.
Carefully melt white chocolate chips and dissolved gelatin in the top of a double boiler. Hint: White chocolate burns faster than regular chocolate. Melt slowly and stir constantly.
In a medium bowl, mix can of frosting, melted chocolate-gelatin mixture and chopped strawberries. Stir until combined.
Pat into pan. Score into 1-inch pieces with butter knife and refrigerate for 3 hours. Remove and cut into 1-inch pieces following the score marks.
Serve in individual paper cups or on platter. Cover leftovers in air tight container and store in refrigerator.
Enjoy!
Chapter 10
The next morning, the cat was back on the fire esca
pe. When I exited to take Mal out for her morning walk, the cat leapt up on the rail and pretended not to notice us. Mal jumped up and tried to reach it, her doggie tail wagging a hello.
“So you’re back,” I said to the cat. “Well, if you are going to visit us, then you must be properly introduced. This is Mal. She is very smart and loves everyone so if she chases you, it’s all in fun.”
The cat did not respond and instead, lifted its front paw for a good lick.
“I see you don’t have a collar. I figure you might be hungry so after we get back from our walk, I’ll get you some food and water. That is, if you are still here.” Mal and I went down the stairs and out across the alley to her favorite potty patch of grass.
I noticed that the hole under the fence seemed bigger this morning. I stepped up and was able to put my foot through it. I frowned. I’d have to tell Pete about it in case he wanted to fix it. Or maybe I’d fix it myself so that Mal couldn’t get away from me so quickly again. That might be the neighborly thing to do, anyway.
Mal jumped up on me and gave my face a good lick as I squatted down and tried to bend the chain link to fill the hole. It didn’t budge.
“Good morning, Allie,” Mr. Beecher said as he strolled down the alley. Today he wore black slacks, a checkered vest over a pale blue shirt, and finished the entire ensemble with a black sports jacket.
“Hello, Mr. Beecher.” I rose.
“Problem with the fence?”
“Yes, it got pulled up somehow. Last night, Mal snuck right under and went racing off toward the Oakton’s pool house.”
“I heard there was a fire,” the old man said as he stopped next to me.
“Yes, apparently the pool house caught fire. Last I heard they didn’t know what caused it.”
“I saw the pictures in this morning’s Town Crier.” He eyed the yard up to the pool house. “My guess is it was a bonfire that got out of control.”
“I hope so. Or an electrical fire.”
He drew his eyebrows together. “What else could it be?”
“Arson,” I said with a frown. “Liz thinks there has been a string of arsons on the island since January.”
