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“You’re certain there isn’t someone who might have a grudge against you? Not just job-related but on a personal level?”
An image of Travis flashed across her mind, and Bri frowned.
That was crazy.
While their issue had been contentious, almost three years had passed. And he was far away. It was ridiculous to worry he’d—
“Your silence suggests you’ve thought of someone.”
As Marc spoke, she pulled herself back to the conversation. “Like I said before, I assume there are people in my professional life who aren’t happy with me for raining on their illegal parade. In terms of my personal life, I did have a bad experience with a guy out West. But I haven’t had any contact with him since I came back to St. Louis.”
“Was the experience bad enough to warrant concern about your safety if he was here?” Marc’s tone was measured, but there was steel in his voice.
“No.” Travis wouldn’t risk his career by orchestrating petty pranks.
Would he?
Maybe she ought to contact Crystal. They hadn’t touched base in a while, and while the other female smokejumper in their crew had also moved on career-wise, she’d stayed in Idaho. It was possible she had more recent intel on Travis.
“May I suggest being extra careful until we’re certain this incident was a freak accident?”
“Goes without saying. I don’t take chances.”
“Good to know. I’ll watch my email for those files.”
“I’ll send them over as soon as I hang up.” Sarge appeared at her door, and she motioned him in. “My boss is here. Talk to you soon.”
They said their goodbyes, and as she ended the call, Sarge strolled over to her desk. “Any news on Les’s case?”
“Yes. I was just talking to my ATF contact about it.” She relayed the latest. “But unless I can spot whatever caught Les’s attention with these cases, this may go nowhere. And the missing match is bothersome.”
“I wonder if it could be from another jurisdiction.”
If so, finding it would be difficult. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program was woefully lacking in arson information, and the Arson and Explosives Incident System maintained by the ATF wasn’t complete, either. Nor was it all that straightforward to sort through. Searching those would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, and who had time for that?
Bri sighed. “If that’s the case, it may forever remain a mystery. My plate is already full.”
“I hear you—and I don’t expect miracles. If Les couldn’t crack whatever puzzle he stumbled across, it may not be solvable.” He folded his arms and expelled a breath. “We’re going to have to start ratcheting this back.”
Disappointing, but not unexpected.
“Understood.”
“Keep me in the loop, okay?”
“You got it.”
As he disappeared out the door, Bri swung back to her laptop and emailed the origin and cause reports for the cases she’d identified, along with the autopsy results, to Marc.
Then she settled in to give them a thorough read.
By five o’clock, when Alison texted to let her know she’d arrived, Bri hadn’t quite made it through both of them, thanks to several interruptions during the afternoon.
But she’d managed to pinpoint a few similarities.
All of the victims had been found in a room with an open window.
All of the fires appeared to have originated in a trash can.
