Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
I wasn’t surprised when he sat back in his desk chair, raising one bushy gray eyebrow, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I hear you’re dating the prime suspect, who also happens to be Griffen Sawyer’s younger sister. Correct?”
I nodded. “True.”
“If it were anyone else, West, I’d say we had a real conflict of interest here. But considering you threw her brother in jail when you had to, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. I can tell you this is interesting.”
“Interesting how?” I asked.
Henry shrugged, dropping his arms to his sides before picking up the papers on his desk. “Report says a call went out about a trespasser matching Avery Sawyer’s description carrying gas cans. It’s impossible to tell from the 911 call if the caller was a man or a woman. The voice is scratchy—could be modified, could be a bad line. The timing is a little fuzzy. They say they saw her at 4:45 p.m. That could be accurate. But Jim verified that the text telling her to come to Wild Haven came in at 4:38 p.m. It’s possible she got the text at 4:38 p.m. and was on site by 4:45 p.m. with those gas cans, but...” He tipped his head from side to side. “It’s unlikely.”
I nodded. “Possible, but difficult, especially with weekend traffic clogging up town.”
“Exactly,” he agreed. “We know Avery was in the building. She says she went in to meet with Bob, though Bob was in Hickory for the day with family, and the brewery is usually closed on Sundays, anyway. The fire was started from the inside, against the north wall, using an accelerant—gasoline—based on what we saw inside and with tests of the residue in the cans.”
He leaned forward to open a file on his monitor, turning the screen so I could see the pictures of the scene. My heart chilled as I imagined Avery trapped in the center of the destruction.
“It appears that whoever set the fire poured the gas out along the base of the wall.” He traced a line along the screen to show what had been the north wall. “If we’re going with the story that Avery Sawyer did this—” He raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to object. When I kept my mouth shut, he went on. “She would have had to go in with the cans, empty them along the north wall, then bring them back out, set them by the trunk of her car, and return to the brewery, locking herself inside, all before she set the fire.”
I sat back, thinking it through. “Why would anyone take the cans back outside, put them outside their vehicle instead of in the trunk, then return to start the fire, locking the door behind themselves?”
“My question exactly.” Henry agreed. “I could make a case for locking the door to keep a random person from interfering or getting caught in the fire. But then why break through the front door when she could have escaped out the back? If she were the arsonist, she’d have to know that would increase her chances of being caught. What happened to the key she used to lock the door? And why park right out front?”
“It doesn’t make sense,” I said. “Did you get any prints off the gas cans?”
“We got a few partials. They don’t match Avery’s prints. Otherwise, the cans were clean. Very clean.”
“Odd,” I said, turning over the details in my head.
Henry nodded. “All of this is odd, West. On the surface, when Jim showed up, I can see why he thought it was a slam dunk. And it could be. People are stupid. It doesn’t make much sense to go in, pour out the gas, bring the cans back out, but not bother to put them in the back of her car, leave them out in the parking lot, then set a fire, locking herself inside.” He shook his head. “I don’t know Avery Sawyer personally, but from what I’ve heard—” He shrugged a shoulder. “She’s never struck me as dumb.”
“She’s not,” I said. “Though smart people do dumb shit every day.”
“Don’t we know it,” Henry agreed. “I don’t have anything here that directly pins this on Avery Sawyer. I also don’t have anything that lets her off the hook.”
I nodded, standing. “I appreciate your time, Henry. I know you’re going to keep investigating.” I rapped the surface of his desk with my knuckles. “I’ll do the same. One way or another, we’ll find out who set that fire.”
“But you don’t think it was your girlfriend?”
I was smart enough not to answer that one directly. “I follow the evidence, Henry. You know that. We’ll find the evidence, and then we’ll know the truth.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “If we turn up anything else, I’ll let you know.”