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“No. Nobody was inside.” Hoyt perched on the edge of the desk because there was nowhere else for him to sit. “The next tenants were the ones who called in the fire, actually. Everybody’s okay.”
Good. That was good. “The house?”
Hoyt winced. “It’s less okay. But it didn’t burn to the ground.”
I covered my mouth. “Oh, God.”
Chief Thompson picked up the thread again. “I’m sure this was a shock. Mr. Foster mentioned you and your sister do the cleaning?”
“Yes.”
“Was she with you today?”
“I—yes.”
“What time did the two of you arrive?”
I took them through it, answering an array of questions about the condition of the house, what time we’d left.
“We finished up around one because I had to be here for work at one-thirty. I had just enough time to drop Gabi off at a friend’s before I came in for work. You can see my time card by the back door where I clocked in.”
“That’s fine, and we’ll do that.” The chief made some notes on a little pad. “When you go on your cleaning jobs, do you use products already in the house or do you have one of those little tote things to carry around your stuff?”
“I have a tote. Some of the houses have supplies, but I don’t rely on them being up to date. Sometimes the guests will take them. Why they’d want a bottle of Windex as a vacation souvenir, I have no idea.”
“Do you still have yours? Or do you think you could have left it at the house?”
I frowned. Where was he going with this? “No, I have it. It’s in my car. Why?”
“Can we go check to make sure it’s there for sure?” Chief Thompson asked.
Fresh anxiety spooled in my belly. This sounded a hell of a lot like they were working their way toward an accusation. Without a word, I rose and scooted past them, leading both men out the back door to the employee parking lot. My hands were shaking as I popped the trunk, terrified of what I might see. But the bright blue tote was still there, each of the bottles lined up like soldiers along both sides.
Beside me, Hoyt relaxed.
“Did your sister have a second one?” Thompson asked.
“No. We just have the one. Frequently, it’s just me. She only helps on weekends and in the summer. Seriously, what is going on here?”
The fire chief offered a kind smile. “We’re just trying to get to the bottom of that to see if what happened was an accident or on purpose.”
I swayed as all the blood drained from my face. “You don’t think that I?—”
“No.” Hoyt’s voice was firm. “There’s no reason to think you had anything to do with this. We’re just following up leads and crossing off possibilities. There was something melted on the stove that appeared to be the point of origin. We’re just trying to figure out what it was. We thought it might have been a bin of cleaning supplies that could have accidentally been left there. But yours is here, so everything is fine.”
Everything definitely wasn’t fine. A house I’d cleaned had burned. From the sound of it, Gabi and I were the last ones inside it. What if Mr. Foster fired us over this?
I scooped a hand through my hair. “My boss…”
“Mr. Foster. What sort of relationship do you have with him?”
“I mean, we don’t have much of one. I’ve been cleaning his vacation rentals for a few years now. He gave me a chance when a lot of people wouldn’t, and he pays fairly. I have no reason to want to hurt him.” I couldn’t stop myself from looking at Hoyt. “That’s what this is about, right? Looking to see if I have a motive?”
It was Thompson who answered. “It’s just part of the process to ask. Foster also reported you have a good working relationship and that you’re very conscientious. He has no reason to blame you for this.”
I blinked back a sudden rush of tears. Chief Thompson was a gruff but fair man. He hadn’t had it out for our family in the way a lot of other people on the island had. “Thank you.”
He offered a business card. “That’s all we’ve got, for now. If you remember anything, please let us know.”
