Page 54 of Serial Burn

“Well, at least we know where it came from,” she murmured. She had a feeling there was some meaning she should know behind the pieces, she just couldn’t put her finger on it. “So, our arsonist has a signature. Expensive custom jewelry.”

Chief Laramie frowned. “Sorry?”

“We know the store the jewelry came from. And we now know that the arsonist left it.” She frowned. “Well, I guess we don’t know forsure, but with this, I’m going to say odds are in our favor that he did.”

“What’s it mean?”

She huffed a short, humorless laugh. “I wish I knew.”

Her phone rang and she let it go to voicemail. The piece of jewelry was once again tugging at her memories. Had she seen this piece before? For some reason, she thought she had. Or was it just that she’d seen the logo somewhere else?

Maybe. But where?

Frustrated with her inability to figure out what it was about the jewelry that bugged her so much, she restrained the urge to stomp a foot.

“Any progress on figuring out who’s doing this?” the chief asked.

“Not really. I need to sit down and go through my cases to see if anyone pops out. I’ve been thinking about them during ... everything ... and there are three that I believe bear looking at a little closer.”

“People you’ve put away?”

“Yes. Either because I found the evidence needed for them to do some jail time or I testified in court that their story was a lie and the fire couldn’t have happened the way they said it did.”

“Someone with a grudge.”

“Hm. That’s my thought, but the one I’d suspect the most is still sitting in prison.”

“A family member then? Someone getting revenge?”

“Possibly. But why now? The most recent one has been in prison for two years.”

“You never know what goes on in a person’s head.”

True.

She set aside the thoughts of the jewelry for now with hopes that her subconscious would work on it while she swept the scene. Dressed in her gear, she walked the remains and found her purple stains, evidence of multiple points of origin. She’d process the whole thing, of course, but considering all the similarities, she had no hesitation saying the arsonist for the church and the gym were the same person.

And she felt confident enough to say she was a target.

For the next several hours, she worked the scene, ignoring her buzzing calls from her aunt. Finally, she stopped and called the woman back.

Carol answered halfway through the first ring. “Thank you forfinallycalling me back.”

“I’m sorry, Aunt Carol, I’m working.”

“Oh dear. I figured. I’m sorry to be so persistent, but someone sent me a message that might affect the benefit. I’ve hesitated to tell you about it because it’s just ... hogwash.”

“Hogwash?”

“Sorry, shades of your grandmother talking. Anyway, I just decided I needed to mention it to you in case there would be any danger to anyone who attended. I mean, I’m sure it’s just something silly...”

Danger? “What kind of message?”

“It said that if I went through with honoring such a dishonorable man, there would be consequences to pay.”

“What? When did you get that?”

“About four hours ago. I got home and it was attached to some flowers sitting on my front porch.”

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