A Winter Wedding(86)

“Ignitable liquids with high vapor pressure will flash and scorch while those with higher boiling components tend to wick, melt and burn. What I’m seeing is definitely the former.” He slid his glasses higher on his nose. “Besides, there’s a broken Jack Daniel’s bottle in the parking lot. Unless your employees typically bring alcohol to work, it stands to reason that whoever set the fire was running for his car and accidentally dropped it. When it shattered, he had to leave it behind. So we’ll collect the pieces and hope to get at least a partial print. I doubt he was wearing gloves or he wouldn’t have been so intent on taking it with him.”

He—or she? If they managed to get a print, Kyle would have something more than his sighting of that Honda to prove Noelle was behind this...

“I haven’t found a lighter,” Lee was saying, “so I’m assuming whoever it was dropped in a match—or a whole book of matches.”

“From Sexy Sadie’s, perhaps?” Kyle asked drily.

“Excuse me?”

“That’s the local bar.”

“Right. Where your ex worked before she was fired. I remember you said that. If it was a book of matches, they were completely destroyed, so I won’t be able to prove where they came from. Of course, I’m not finished looking yet, but so far, I’ve found no remnant.”

Kyle was being facetious, anyway. Lee seemed to pick up on everything—except the subtle nuances of meaning that hinged on tone of voice and body language. “So it was quick and easy,” he said. So easy that even someone who’d never done anything like this before, someone like Noelle, for instance, could’ve started the fire.

Lee made some notes on his clipboard. “Doesn’t get much easier. No one was here. It was dark. There’s no security—not that I’d expect it out here. And there are no close neighbors. Like I said, easy.”

All of which made it more of a miracle that Warren had smelled the smoke. If he hadn’t stepped outside to have that cigarette precisely when he did, the whole place would probably have burned. But that reminded Kyle that he’d briefly wondered about the possibility of Warren smoking too close to the building. He highly doubted that was the case, but he did feel he should at least raise the question. “Are you sure it couldn’t have been started by a random cigarette butt?” Kyle asked.

“It wasn’t started by a random anything,” Lee replied. “Do you know anyone, besides your ex, who’d have anything to gain by setting this place on fire, Mr. Houseman?”

Kyle rubbed his temples. When he’d told them about Noelle, Chief Bennett had frowned as if he could believe it; he knew Noelle. Lee had merely scribbled down her name and address on his notepad. But she was the only one who had it in for him. “No.”

“So just this...Noelle.”

“Yes.”

“I see. You and your ex have been divorced for five years and have no children, is that correct?”

“It is.”

“And you’ve been paying her spousal maintenance every month.”

“I’m ahead, and I can prove it.” He’d already said that, too, and Lee didn’t strike him as the type who’d need key information repeated.

“So wouldn’t she worry about your ability to pay her if something happened to the plant?”

“You’d have to know her to understand.”

“Yet she’s never done anything like this before.”

Kyle felt his muscles tense—with exhaustion, disappointment, frustration and irritation. “I told you. She gets obsessive every once in a while. In the past, she’s been distracted by other potential relationships. But when they don’t work out, she tries to get me back. It’s a cycle.”

“Has she ever done anything violent before?”

He thought of all the times she’d tried to hit him, but he’d never reported those instances, so he knew they’d sound flimsy and unbelievable if he mentioned them now. “She attacked a coworker this past week.”

“You said that, and I’ll look into it. In the meantime, is there anyone else who might have a grudge against you?”

“I told you. No.”

“No disgruntled employees or clients?”

“None disgruntled enough to commit arson!”

He glanced up from his clipboard. “Do you carry hazard insurance, Mr. Houseman?”

Kyle wished Chief Bennett would return. He didn’t like what this guy seemed to be implying. “Of course. Don’t most businesses carry hazard insurance?”

“Just checking.” He made another note. Then he turned to go but Kyle stopped him.

“Wait a second. If anyone set the fire, it was my ex-wife. I have no reason to burn down my own business, if that’s what you’re thinking. This isn’t insurance fraud.”

“Insurance fraud is probably ninety percent of these cases,” he said.

Coming from anyone else, that would be an accusation. From this dude... Kyle couldn’t tell for sure. Still, he was offended by the mere suggestion. “That must make your job easier, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to work a little harder on this one.”

His eyebrows slid up as if he was shocked by Kyle’s response.

“Check my finances,” Kyle said. “You’ll see that I’m not in trouble, that I’d have no reason to destroy what I’ve worked so hard to create.”