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“I’ll let the dispatcher know.”
He ended the call, and I started the Jeep. I had no idea why they wanted to see me. Was I being brought in for questioning? Should I be calling a lawyer? I know I didn’t do anything wrong but wasn’t sure if they did.
I got to the station quicker than I anticipated, mostly because I was speeding. At this point, a ticket was the least of my worries. I gave the dispatcher my name and they put me in a room where I could wait for the police sergeant. The last time I was here, it was because they were asking questions regarding my parents. They needed to make sure it was an accident, and not intentional. I had a difficult time keeping my cool as they asked questions that didn’t portray them in a good light. If it wasn’t for Richard being her with me to keep my calm, I’d probably have found myself spending time in a cell. That last thing I needed was those feelings from years back to be in my mind when they came to talk to me.
When the door opened, two detectives entered. “Thank you for coming down so quickly, Mr. Bennett. I’m Detective Jones, and this is Detective Perez. You mentioned you were aware of the fire. Can you please tell us the names of who called you?”
I gave them Alex and Katherine’s names. Jones wrote them down, and then Perez asked, “I thought there were three people who called you.”
“Yes, there was one other person, but she doesn’t reside around here. She’d only called because she’d seen it on the news.”
“Her name please,” Perez asked.
“Danielle Clarkson,” I said.
“Is there a reason why you failed to mention her the first time we asked?” Jones questioned.
Yeah. I didn’t want to tell you about her.
“At the time, I didn’t think she was important.”
Jones said, “Let us decide on who and what is important.”
I wasn’t going to sit and answer any questions without them answering one too. “Is there something I don’t know?”
“You tell me, Mr. Bennett,” Perez said.
What the fuck.
“I’ll tell you everything I know. My restaurant burnt down sometime this morning. That’s it.”
“It was not an accident,” Jones said. “There was a person seen leaving the building right before the fire started.”
My mind was trying to process what he just said. “It was set? By who? Why?”
“That is why we have you here. Is there anyone who might have a reason to torch your restaurant?” Perez asked.
I was shocked they weren’t looking at me as a suspect, after all, I’m the owner, and don’t they usually look at the owner first? Or maybe this is their way of making me think I’m not a suspect.
“I don’t have any enemies that I’m aware of, if that’s what you want to know. I’m not in debt and my employees, well, they can speak for themselves, but all seem content,” I said.
“Mr. Bennett, you might think everyone is happy, but the camera doesn’t lie.” Jones picked up a remote and pressed a button. The screen on the wall turned on and there it was, a tall slender figure with long brown hair throwing something at the side of the building, then flames.
I leaned closer to the screen, trying to make out who it was, but all I could tell was it’s a female.
“What hair color does Miss Clarkson have?” Jones asked.
“Brown, but that’s not her,” I stated firmly.
“You’re positive about that?” he questioned again.
There was no way someone like Danielle could ever do such a thing. I don’t know why, but I knew that as truth deep in my heart. “I’m positive.”
“How about any of your employees?” Perez asked.
“None of them match that person’s description. But I don’t know why whoever it is, torched my building,” I said.
“We’d like to talk to all your employees,” Jones said.
