ELEVEN
AXEL
Even before we pulled into her bakery, I could see the emergency lights.
My quick assessment of the scene showed there were no flames or smoke visible, so whatever fire may have occurred was now put out. Her building itself was also intact, with no significant damage that I could see.
The instant we were in her parking lot, she unbuckled her seat belt and tried to exit the car. I gently grabbed her arm to pause her quick exit.
“Hold up, Stella. You can’t just race up to a scene like that with all those cops and firefighters. Let’s walk up to the police together.”
She sighed and dropped her head. “Sorry, I’ve never dealt with this, and I just want to find out what happened.”
“I know, but we have to be careful not to make the situation worse.”
I walked around the car to her door and grabbed her hand as we started to walk over to where I saw several cops and the back of Luna’s head. As we approached, one of the officers turned to likely tell us to leave, but Luna also turned and began running to us.
“Stella!” She hugged her tightly and then pulled back and apologized. “I’m so sorry I ruined your date.”
“Luna, please don’t apologize for that. This is way more important,” Stella told her. “Tell me what happened.”
“It’s better if you talk to the cops and firefighters. Come on. Follow me.” Luna turned and walked back to where she had been standing when we arrived.
I took a hold of Stella’s hand again in a show of support, but also because I knew she would need it.
“Are you Ms. Nielsen, the owner of Scandinavian Sweets?” the officer to our right asked.
“Yes, I’m Stella Nielsen.” Her voice was strong, but I knew she was anxious and on edge.
“I’m Officer Trenton, and this is my partner, Officer Crafter. Miss LeBlanc here informed us you also live on the second floor, is that correct?” the officer asked, referring to Luna.
“Yes,” she said, a choked sound, like someone trying not to fall apart.
I squeezed her hand softly, and she squeezed right back.
“The fire is out, but the firefighters are still going through to check things out, so we can’t let you inside until we get the all clear,” he explained. “You’ll need to get a company to assess any equipment damage before you can open back up. The fire was contained to a small portion of your kitchen on your first floor, but you should still contact your insurance company and get them out as soon as possible.”
“Okay, I can do that.” Stella sounded more like a robot than her usual self. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Do you know the business owner next door?” Officer Crafter asked her.
“Mr. Hanson? The body shop guy?”
He nodded back at her. “He said he was packing up for the evening and heard glass break and your alarm go off. When hecame outside, he saw the fire and called it in. He also went back inside to grab his hose to try to put out the fire before we got here, because he said your overhead sprinklers didn’t go off. He likely minimized your fire damage, but now you’ve got some water damage to contend with.”
“Oh my God! I’ll have to thank him for doing that,” Stella said, echoing my thoughts.
“He’s getting free baked goods for life,” Luna added.
“Why did the sprinklers not go off?” I asked because that seemed huge to me.
“I can answer that.” A man in firefighting gear appeared behind us. “I’m Lieutenant Moeller. It appears someone may have tampered with the water valve in your riser room.”
“What’s a riser room?” Luna asked, and I was glad because I, too, had no idea.
“The small closet at the back wall of your building that houses all the water valves and pipes that come in and out of the building,” Moeller added. “The water valve was turned off, which means that when the fire inside reached the sprinklers, the fusible link was pointless.”
“That what-ible link?” Luna added.
