I pulled Lissa into my arms and hugged her tight in spite of the fact I’d just met her. I could sense that she welcomed the comfort offered as she struggled with the story unfolding in front of our eyes. There were firemen everywhere, and at least two police cruisers had shown up as well. I recognized one of them as belonging to my best friend, Deputy Cass Wylander. I had to admit that the fact that the lone ambulance was still sitting empty didn’t bode well for Dale. If he’d been inside the house and the firemen had been able to get to him in time, it seemed to me that he would be sitting in the ambulance getting checked out.
“Maybe we should wait inside the car,” I suggested. “Not only is it freezing out here, but it might be best to be well out of the way.”
“I need to know what happened to Dale.”
I looked around the area. “I know one of the police officers who responded. My car is parked right across the street. Why don’t you wait there? You’ll be able to see if Dale shows up, and in the meantime, I’ll see if I can find Cass and get an update.”
She looked pale, and I was afraid she’d pass out, but eventually, she shook her head. “I’m going with you. If your friend has news, I want to know what that news is.”
“Okay, but let’s try to stay out of the way.” I looked toward a group of spectators gathered on the sidewalk. “Let’s start there. Chances are Cass will be interviewing witnesses who might know how the fire started.”
The next two hours were like something out of a nightmare. Lissa and I found Cass, who was able to confirm that an unidentified male victim had died in the fire. Lissa and I both suspected that the victim had to be Dale, but until the body was positively identified, Cass would continue to refer to the victim neutrally. Once the fire was out and the spectators began to disperse, I offered to drive Lissa to the coroner’s office, where I hoped she’d be provided with a positive identification. Once it was confirmed that the male victim was burnt so badly as to be unidentifiable without further research, Lissa allowed me to call her brother to pick her up.
I turned a distraught Lissa over to her brother and headed to the shelter, where I was scheduled to work with one of the dogs in the basic training class. I’d briefly spoken with Cass, who assured me that he’d meet me for our shift in the playroom if he was able to get away. When I arrived at the shelter, Naomi Potter, the woman who owned and ran the shelter, was already in the large room where the class was held.
“Cass called and told me what happened,” she said.
“It was really bad,” I responded. “The poor woman I went to meet with was understandingly devastated.”
“Do you know what happened? How the fire started?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I haven’t heard. The fire crew was still on site when I left. I imagine Cass will know more after he speaks to whoever is in charge of the investigation. He said he’d come by for his regular volunteer shift if he was done in time.”
Naomi began taking long training leashes from the wall. “I suppose that there isn’t a lot Cass can do until the fire marshal does his thing, and that won’t happen until what remains of the structure cools down. I heard that a body was found in the home. Assuming the victim was the homeowner, it seems odd to me that he wasn’t able to get out in time.”
“I had that same thought. Lissa told me that Dale had a home office, which is why we were meeting at his home in the first place. If he was working and the fire started in another part of the house, you would think he would have smelled the smoke, or at the very least, you would think the smoke detectors would have gone off. The house was a single-story structure. I really can’t think of a single reason the guy wouldn’t have realized what was going on and gotten out of there.”
Naomi looked toward the door at the back of the room, where two of the other volunteers had just walked in. “It looks like the rest of the trainers are beginning to arrive. Let’s be sure to chat again after you’ve finished for the day. Hopefully, Cass will be here, and we can get some answers.”
“Did you know Dale?” I asked.
“Not well, but I did know him in the sense that we’ve both lived in the same small community for a number of years.”
“Lissa mentioned that he worked from home, but I’m not sure she ever said what he did for a living.”
“He was a psychologist. He had an office in his home where he saw patients. As I mentioned, I didn’t know him well but based on what I do know, he seemed like a nice enough guy, and I think he was well respected in his profession.”
I thought about the long drive and wide lawn at the front of the structure. I had noticed a second doorway on the side of the house that opened into one of the rooms at the front of the structure. I only remembered that because it had been open when I arrived, and before I found out that a body had been found inside the structure, I’d found myself wondering if Dale had gotten out that way. Apparently, he hadn’t.
I knew it wasn’t a good idea to jump to conclusions before having all the facts, but if I had to guess at this point, I would say that Dale Conover had been murdered.
Chapter 2
“The fire started in the office,” Cass said after he arrived and joined me in the large room where Naomi had selected ten dogs for us to play with. “I don’t have the specifics as to the source of the fire, but it seems as if there might have been a small explosion of some sort.”
I tossed a ball for a group of labs who’d gathered in front of me. “Do you think foul play might be involved?”
“I can’t know for certain at this point, but I do think it’s a possibility I can’t and won’t rule out until I have more information. The male victim, who has been tentatively identified as Dale Conover based on what is left of the remains, was found in the office where the fire originated. If there was an explosion, it’s possible he was somehow immobilized before being overcome by smoke.”
I bent down to accept a ball one of the dogs had brought back. “It looked to me as if the house was a total loss. The fire seems to have spread quickly.”
“The front of the house, where the office was located, is a complete loss, but the back of the house is intact. It did burn hot and fast. In fact, the place burnt so hot and fast that it seems as if an accelerant might have been used. But arson is not my area of expertise, so at this point, all I can do is wait for an official report from the fire marshal and take it from there.”
“What did the medical examiner say about the cause of death?”
“I don’t have the report yet, but I do know he was autopsying the body when I left to come over here. I told him to call my cell once he has the time and cause of death.”
I walked over to the toybox and pulled out a couple of rope toys. “When Naomi told me that Dale was a psychologist, I found myself wondering if one of his patients was less than happy with the treatment he was receiving and retaliated in a violent manner. I suppose my theory might come from watching too many cop shows, but an emotionally unstable patient does make a good suspect.”
Cass tossed one of the balls, which sent the whole pack running. “I agree. An emotionally unstable patient does make as good a suspect as any, and it’s definitely an angle I plan to pursue. Of course, any files which might have been stored in the home office are probably nothing more than ash at this point. I guess I’ll have to hope I can access his computer files.”
“I guess he didn’t have an assistant or receptionist of any sort?”
He shook his head. “Not as far as I know. I guess I’ll just wait until I hear from the coroner and the fire marshal, and if it’s determined that foul play was involved, I suppose it will be up to me to find the information I need to figure out who might have killed the man.”