In Safe Hands (Search and Rescue #4)(55)

Rory shrugged. “I was hungry.”

“Me too.” Lou didn’t look too concerned as she sorted through the markers, as if choosing the correct color would solve the case immediately.

Ellie said earnestly, “We had to eat as many doughnuts as possible before the post-workout, guilt-free window closed.”

“Wow,” was all Daisy could say.

George cleared his throat and tipped his head toward Rory.

“He’s right,” Lou said. “We only have an hour before Rory has to open the shop, so let’s get cracking. When was the first arson?” She drew a horizontal line across the top of the paper and then poised the marker on the left side of the line as she waited for the answer.

“About eleven months ago, on May thirtieth. It was the remains of a run-in shed in that field off of Easton Road.”

“Run-in shed?” Daisy repeated. “As in a shelter for horses and cows and things?”

Rory nodded. “The field hadn’t held any livestock for years before that, though. The shed had partially collapsed.”

“Well, I’m glad no animals were singed,” Daisy said as Lou scribbled below the timeline.

“Not to be the dumb out-of-towner,” Ellie said, “but where’s Easton Road?”

George looked at Daisy. “Map?”

She shook her head, but then reconsidered her answer, hopping up from her chair and heading into the kitchen. “Wait. I think I do. Hang on.”

In one of the drawers she hardly ever opened, she dug through a couple of emergency candles, a pair of scissors, and a calendar from several years back to unearth a Simpson phone book. She would have just recycled it, since she found everything she needed online, but her dad had insisted on keeping it, just in case. She’d have to remember to thank him the next time he was home.

As she returned to the dining room, she flipped to the back and found a map of Simpson. Bracing the phone book on the table, she carefully tore out the sheet and handed it to George.

“Would you mind doing the mapping?” she asked, and he nodded, holding out an open hand to Lou.

“Marker?” she asked, picking up the set. “What color?”

He didn’t answer, just gave a silent sigh and continued to hold out his hand.

“Purple,” Ellie answered for him.

He accepted the marker and started examining the map. He made a small circle and added a “1” next to it before sliding it closer to Ellie. She studied the map for a few moments, tracing a few streets in an attempt to get her bearings.

“Okay,” she finally said, returning the map to its original location in front of George. “I’ve never been there, but I have an idea of the general area. Where was the second one?”

“Eighty-one Bluebird Court.” Rory grimaced. “Those Esko Hills street names are obnoxious.”

Lou looked up from her timeline. “Esko Hills? Why does that subdivision keep popping up?”

“Could be a coincidence,” Daisy said, leaning forward to get a better look at the map as George added another circle with a “2” next to it. “Simpson isn’t that big, after all. There aren’t that many neighborhoods.”

“Maybe,” Lou said, but her tone was skeptical. “When was that?”

“July 4th. Ian put a question mark next to this one, since they were pretty sure it was kids messing around with fireworks who started it.”

Adding the date to the timeline, Lou asked, “What kind of structure?”

“Detached garage.”

“Okay. Next?”

Rory detailed the where, what, and when of the eleven arson cases. By the time she’d worked her way through all of her notes, George’s map had a cluster of purple numbers and circles, and Lou’s timeline covered three sheets of paper. Frowning, she flipped back and forth.

“Do you mind if I take this home with me so I can transfer it to the whiteboard?” Lou asked. “Not to borrow Callum’s OCDish tendencies, but this is a mess.”

“Of course,” Daisy said. “I’ll just get some pictures of it first, so I can show Chris. Oh, and the map, too.”

“Speaking of the map,” Ellie said, sliding it to the center of the table so everyone could see it, “any obvious patterns?”

The five of them studied it for a quiet minute.

“They’re all in town.” Daisy was the first to speak.

“What about the wildland fires?” Rory asked. “Shouldn’t we include those?”

Lou frowned thoughtfully. “Not yet. I think we need more information about those first. We don’t know the ignition points or dates or really anything about them. Did Ian talk to the chief?” She glanced at Rory, who shook her head. “Okay, so until we learn more about the wildland fires, we’ll just say that all the arsons were in Simpson.”

Everyone except for Rory nodded in agreement. “Unless Lou’s place should be on here, too.”

Daisy had forgotten that possibility. Darting a look toward Lou, who appeared a little grim, Daisy suggested, “Maybe we should add her place—former place—to the map.”

“Use a different color, though.” Lou’s tone was a little too casual. “I’m still not convinced that it wasn’t loony Clay.”