Page 69 of Never Forget
"What time did you go to bed that night?"
"Around 10:00 p.m. Maybe a little after."
"Notice anything unusual that evening? Sounds outside, someone near the house?"
Jamie hesitated. "There were some boys. Teenagers from the neighborhood. They'd been smoking near the side of the house for weeks, leaving their cigarette butts in the grass." She glanced at me. "I asked them to stop that evening. Before I went inside."
The fire marshal was quiet for a moment, studying his notes.
"The cigarette butts were in the bin, Miss Donovan."
Jamie blinked. "What?"
"All of them. Just like you asked." He looked up at her. "Seems like the boys listened."
"Then how did the fire start?"
He didn't answer right away. The silence stretched long enough that the air in the room changed.
"The fire originated on the exterior of the house. Low on the wall, near where you described the boys smoking." He paused. "We found traces of accelerant. The burn pattern is inconsistent with any accidental cause."
Jamie stared at him.
"This was arson, Miss Donovan. Someone set that fire deliberately."
The word hung in the air.
"Is there anyone who might want to hurt you?" he asked. "Any conflicts recently? Disputes with neighbors, coworkers? Anyone who's made threats?"
Jamie opened her mouth. Closed it.
I watched her face change.
"There was a note," she said quietly.
The fire marshal straightened. "A note?"
"The night of the fire. Someone left a note on our doorstep telling me to go back to New York." She swallowed.
I froze completely.
"Do you still have it?"
Her face fell. "It was in my purse. In the house."
Gone. Burned with everything else.
The fire marshal wrote it down. "Did you recognize the handwriting? Any idea who might have sent it?"
"No. I thought it was just someone who didn't like me pushing for reforms."
"Why didn't you report it?"
Jamie glanced at me. Her voice was small. "I was going to tell Sam the next morning. He was on shift that night. I didn't want to worry him while he was working."
Something tightened in my chest.
The fire marshal nodded. Made more notes. "We've turned this over to the police. A detective will be in touch." He set his card on the table. "If you remember anything else—anything at all—call me."
