She looked around the room. “But the fire didn’t spread as far as it should’ve.”
“Exactly.” Erin felt a spark of recognition. Lena was following her logic and seeing the same inconsistencies. “Something interrupted the pattern. Either someone arrived earlier than expected or…”
She moved toward the back of the building, where the damage was less severe. Near the rear exit, a fire extinguisher lay empty on the floor, its contents discharged. The chemical residue created a clear boundary where flames had been stopped.
“The safety measures worked,” Erin said, more to herself than to Lena. “The fire extinguisher was used. Someone tried to stop this.”
Erin continued her examination, noting how the burn patterns shifted where the fire suppression had occurred. The flames had been forced to change direction and follow different paths than originally intended. It created a story written in ashes and heat damage, if you knew how to read it.
“Detective.” She looked up to find Lena watching her work with an expression she couldn’t quite decipher. “This person has training. This isn’t some angry kid with a gas can.”
Lena was quiet for a long moment, processing what Erin had shown her. Around them, the crime scene team continued their work photographing, measuring, and collecting samples. The morning fog had mostly burned off by now, revealing the dramatic coastline beyond where waves crashed against limestone cliffs far below.
“I’ll need to review your full report when you’ve written it,” Lena said finally.
“You’ll have it.” Erin began packing her equipment, careful not to let her satisfaction show. She’d proved her point that her analysis had revealed more about the arsonist’s capabilities than traditional crime scene processing alone could’ve shown.
“Erin.” Lena’s use of her first name made her look up in surprise. “Good work.”
The acknowledgement was simple and professional, but it carried weight.
Erin nodded, zipping her gear bag closed. “I’ll send you the technical analysis by this afternoon.”
She headed back toward the perimeter tape, leaving Lena to continue her crime scene work, but she could feel those hazel eyes following her until she reached her truck.
Twenty minutes later, back at the fire station, she felt like she could finally breathe again. She pulled into the bay area, the familiar red brick and steel structure welcoming her home with the scent of coffee brewing in the breakroom and the steady hum of equipment checks echoing off concrete floors.
She nodded to Sara Perez, who was testing hose connections near Engine 3 and caught Captain Hallie Hunter’s wave from the apparatus floor. The normalcy of it steadied her nerves, grounding her after the electric awareness between her and Detective Soto at the scene.
“How’d it look out there?” Hallie called as Erin headed toward the stairs to her office.
“Professional arsonist,” Erin called back. “I’ll have a full report ready for the briefing this afternoon.”
Hallie’s expression sobered. “That’s what we were afraid of.”
Erin climbed the stairs two at a time to the second floor, where her office overlooked the bay doors and morning light streamed through tall windows. She spread the crime scene photos across her desk in precise rows, the fluorescent lights overhead casting harsh shadows that made the burn damagelook even more dramatic. The faint smell of smoke still clung to her jacket, mixing with the familiar scents of gear oil and industrial coffee that permeated the station.
She pulled up the digital files on her computer, cross-referencing the accelerant patterns she’d documented with standard fire behavior models. The numbers didn’t lie; the placement was too precise to be random.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Hallie: “Briefing moved to 2 p.m. PD requested a larger conference room.”
Two hours to prepare. Two hours before she'd walk into that conference room and present her findings to a room full of experienced investigators. She pulled up the other fire reports from the previous three weeks, cross-referencing the data. The warehouse and community center fires both showed similar placement patterns. She compiled her findings into a presentation: photos, diagrams, and fire behavior analysis.
Her phone buzzed again, and this time, it was a text from an unknown number. "This is Detective Soto. Looking forward to your presentation this afternoon. Your analysis at the scene was insightful."
Erin stared at the screen, reading the message twice. It was a professional courtesy, nothing more, but Lena had taken the time to get her number and send acknowledgement of Erin's work.
She typed back: "Thank you. See you at 2 p.m." Then she returned her attention to her computer.
By the time she walked into the conference room an hour later, Erin had her presentation memorized. Chairs were arranged in neat rows facing the projector screen, and personnel from both the fire and police departments were taking their seats. McKenna Adams took her position near the front, flanked by Hallie and other fire department supervisors. The police contingent entered as a unit with Captain Julia Scott leading,followed by detectives and crime scene specialists. And there, taking a seat in the back row and looking like she owned the room, was Lena.
Their eyes met briefly and Lena’s expression was professionally neutral, but Erin caught something underneath—anticipation, maybe. Erin looked away, focusing on her notes and the presentation she’d prepared.
“Thank you all for coming.” McKenna’s voice cut through the low murmur of conversation. “We’re here to discuss the recent string of fires that appear to be targeting our community’s spaces. Fire Marshal Vance will present her analysis of the scenes.”
Erin stepped forward, the remote control steady in her hand despite the fact that her pulse had kicked up a notch. “Based on examination of three fire scenes over the past three weeks, we’re dealing with someone who understands fire behavior.” She clicked to the first slide: photos from all three fires arranged in a grid.
She walked them through the evidence systematically: accelerant patterns that exploited natural airflow, timing that took advantage of thermal dynamics, and entry points chosen for optimal access and escape routes. The room was quiet as she spoke, everyone focused on the technical diagrams.
