Arsonist

CHAPTER 20

Stanton stopped in front of the home and saw several firefighters walking around; some of their faces were caked with dark soot. A group of them was on the lawn passing around a jug of water and Gunn stood with them. He wasn’t laughing or cracking jokes as he usually did around a macho crowd. All of them looked sullen and angry.

As Stanton walked up, Gunn said something to the firefighters and they nodded. He walked over to Stanton and shook his head.

“Fucking bastard,” Gunn said, looking at the charred remains of what was once a house.

The entire frame had burnt to the ground. The only thing standing was the chimney, and oddly enough, part of the door frame.

“How many?” Stanton said.

“Whole damn family. Parents and two kids. They’re tied up in the middle of what we think was the living room. Fucker even tied the dog to ‘em.”

“I need to see it.”

Finding one of the forensic techs, they took out two pairs of sterile booties from their bag, placing them over their shoes. Stanton slapped on latex gloves and a mask over his mouth and nose. They entered the house through what would have been the wall next to the front door. Stanton could see furniture melted to the floors. Every inch of carpet had burned away and it had gotten down to bare cement as there was no basement.

Up what Stanton guessed was once a hallway and to the right, there was a mass of charred remains. Two techs from CSI were there, snapping photos and taking measurements of various angles in the room. Benny, the department’s in-house arson investigator, was standing behind them watching.

“Get him out of here,” Stanton said to Gunn.

Gunn responded without asking for a reason. He walked over to Benny and whispered something in his ear. Stanton could hear Benny say, “What? What the fuck for?” Gunn whispered something else and Benny packed up his gear and left.

“I hope you got another arson investigator ‘cause I ain’t got no idea what I’m lookin’ at,” Gunn said, walking back toward Stanton.

“Yeah, I texted her on the way down here. She should be calling me.”

“Oh, your little filly, huh? Trying to pad her hours a little bit?”

“She didn’t charge us for last time. I don’t think she cares about money. Do we have IDs yet?”

“Yeah,” Gunn said, taking out his iPhone and retrieving a notepad app, “Jesse and Darlene Brichard. Their two boys, aged ten and eleven. He’s an airline pilot and she’s a stay at home mom. Neighbors said they’re a good family. No shady people ever comin’ over or nothin’ like that. Pulled their criminal histories, nothing but a few speeding tickets.”

Stanton walked over to one of the forensic techs standing over the bodies. He was holding a camera and leaning over, trying to snap a photo of some teeth on one of the corpses.

“Jon, Stephen,” the tech said without looking up from what he was doing, “how are you guys?”

“Better than these poor fucks,” Gunn said.

“That’s the understatement of the year.”

“Fuck me, you CSIs always have to be such fucking nerds?”

“Matty,” Stanton interrupted, “we need to preserve everything for the arson investigator. Don’t let the ME’s guys take the bodies until she has a look.”

“Not sure I can help you with that, Detective. These bodies are barely held together. I’ve never seen a fire burn so hot. It was like an incinerator in here. Even some of the bones are little more than ash. Big ones, the tibula and fibula, spine, they’re still there, but the bones in all the hands and feet are done. The two little ones might break down and go with the wind any second. I’ve never seen a fire so hot.”

“You already said that,” Gunn said, annoyed. “Just do your best and don’t fuck anythin’ up until Jon’s girlfriend gets here.”

Stanton ignored him and leaned down. The bodies were burned to an absolute black. On many burn victims, there would be patches of flesh color or the red muscle exposed underneath skin that had been seared away. Nothing like that with these victims. They were burned so thoroughly that there wasn’t a single inch of flesh that hadn’t turned to ash. He had never seen anything like it.

“Any of the neighbors see anything?”

Gunn shrugged. “We canvased up and down but not that many people home from work yet. We’ll try again tonight; see if anyone saw anything when they was heading out to work this morning.”

Stanton’s phone rang; it was Emma.

“Hey.”

“Hey, Jon. I got your text. Look I’m sorry but I only did that one favor for you guys to help out that kid. I can’t come to your scene.”

“I’ve never even heard of anything like this, Emma. Even the bones have turned to ash. The fire must’ve been two or three thousand degrees. How can a fire burn that hot?”

“Specific spots in flashpoints can certainly get up that high. I’ve never heard of an entire house getting that temperature, though. The victim must’ve been close to a fuel source during flashpoint.”

“Victims. They’re bound with chain. It’s melted but I can see remnants of it on the ground surrounding them.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. But I can’t help you. I’ve told you before; I don’t work with law enforcement.”

“Could you just come supervise our guy and make sure he doesn’t screw it up?”

“Sorry, Jon. But if he nails the wrong suspect again, I will testify for the defense about his incompetence. In fact, I’ve contacted the fire marshal. He shouldn’t be investigating fires anymore.”

“Let me guess; the fire marshal’s assistant said they’ll get the message to him and give you a call back, but so far no one’s contacted you?”

“That’s just normal-”

“Yes, it is normal. And your complaint went into a trash bin. Benny’s going to retire on this job and when he leaves, he picks his successor who’ll be just as bad as he is. That’s how government works. I’m asking for your help.”

“I know, and you have no idea how much I would like to help you. But I can’t. I’m sorry. I understand if you want to cancel our date.”

“No,” Stanton said, “no, our work shouldn’t interfere with that. I’ll call you later.”

“Okay, bye.”

Gunn said, “No go, huh?”

“Get Benny back here. But don’t let him out of your sight for a second.”