Page 7 of A Gathering of Secrets

“Unless someone picked him up,” I put in.

Closing her eyes, the woman shakes her head. “None of his friends have a car, Chief Burkholder. Danny works hard. Saves his money. He bought the thing a few months ago and drives it every chance he gets.”

A knock sounds on the back door. Before Miriam can get to her feet, it opens and Tomasetti enters the kitchen. He makes eye contact with me and I see the answer in his eyes before he speaks.

Miriam stands. “Did you find him?”

Tomasetti shakes his head. “We’re still looking, ma’am.”

I excuse myself and Tomasetti and I go outside. Standing on the small porch, we look out at the emergency vehicles and firefighters. The barn is still burning, but not as ferociously now. Smoke and steam pour into the night sky. The rafters are visible, much of the roof eaten away by the fire.

“Did they lose any livestock?” I ask.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

I look at him, puzzled.

“I talked with Gideon Gingerich a few minutes ago. He told me at about eight P.M., he and Danny put their two buggy horses and four calves in the barn for the night.”

I know what he’s going to say next and a slow rise of dread wells in my chest.

“We found the two horses and calves out in the pasture behind the barn,” he tells me.

“Someone released the livestock,” I murmur.

“Looks like it.”

“One of the firefighters? Maybe one of the first responders?”

“Gingerich told me that by the time the fire department got here, the barn was already engulfed. The livestock had already been let out.”

“That’s interesting.”

“According to the fire chief, a little too interesting.”

I wait.

“Kate, someone let those animals out. It wasn’t Gideon Gingerich. And it wasn’t a firefighter.”

“Maybe it was Daniel,” I say. “Maybe he woke up, smelled smoke. Got up to check it out and saw the fire.”

“Or maybe he was pissed off about something or angry with his parents and decided to torch the barn. Maybe he couldn’t bear the thought of killing those animals.”

“If he took off, he would have taken his car.”

“I agree.” Tomasetti gives me a hard look. “We need to find him, Kate.”

“For a lot of reasons.”

“The fire chief called the fire marshal’s office. They’re going to take a hard look at this.”

“He suspects arson?” I ask.

“He’s suspicious enough so that he made the call.” He slants a look at me. “Chances are the fire chief is just being thorough. More than likely, someone left a lantern burning. The globe overheated or a barn cat knocked it over.”

“Or maybe Danny Gingerich started the fire by accident and panicked.”

“That’s a possibility. I mean, we’re talking about a barn full of hay. Gingerich had thirty bales stored in the hayloft. They went up like kindling.” He shrugs. “But with the kid missing and those animals released, he thought the situation warranted a thorough once-over.”