"Cause."
"Unknown."
"Building?”
I look at her.
She looks at me.
“Doyle said it was Clark owned.” I shrug my shoulders.
I look at the smoke.
"Convenient," Val says and she looks like she doesn’t know anything more about this fire than I do. It can be no coincidence that it is owned by Clark. It can be no accident.
"Convenient."
"Lieutenant Hale."
"Chief."
"This is the second Clark building to burn in eleven days."
"Yes, Chief."
"This is the second Clark building to burn at four in the morning to six in the morning on a quiet road with no civilians on scene."
"Yes, Chief."
"This is the second one in eleven days, Hale, and this one is not yours."
I do not say anything.
She looks at me. Her eyes are the colour of slate.
"Detective Warren has a name for the first Clark fire,” she says. “She had it on Wednesday. She has been working the name for four days. The name is Frank Vaccaro. The witness named Frank Vaccaro as having threatened Daniel Clark in her hearing, in her own kitchen, two days before the fire."
I look at her.
"The witness," I say with hope.
"Yes."
"The witness?”
"Yes, Hale."
I do not say anything.
Val looks at the building. The smoke at the north end is heavier now. The deck gun is on the roof.
"Frank Vaccaro," Val says, "is in a hotel in Reno. He has been there since Wednesday. He has been there for a different matter that puts him in a courtroom on Monday. Detective Warren spoke to Frank Vaccaro yesterday at sixteen-hundred on a call.Frank Vaccaro denied the threat. Frank Vaccaro denied being in the kitchen on the twelfth. Frank Vaccaro denied being in the state of Idaho on the twelfth. Frank Vaccaro provided a hotel receipt and a credit card statement and the name of a woman who was with him in the hotel on the twelfth."
"All right."
"Detective Warren has a witness statement that says one thing. Detective Warren has a hotel receipt that says another. Detective Warren has, this morning at six-oh-three, a second Clark building on fire."
"Yes, Chief."
