2 A Deadly Beef (18 page)

Jan
walked off to be alone, and the rest of us respected that desire.  I
noticed that Simon and his all-volunteer crew kept wetting the land between the
barn and the house, but otherwise, they gave the fire itself a healthy respect
in distance.

The
sheriff waited until the volunteer firefighting crew was busy before he walked
over to us and asked Moose, "How did you two happen to end up out here
just as the place caught fire?"

"It
was purely a coincidence.  We came out here to speak with Jan,"
Moose said.

"But
she wasn’t here when you got here," he pointed out.

"True,
but we didn’t know that at the time," I replied.

"What
did you want to talk to her about?"

"Her
brother, Ron Watkins, you name it, we were going to grill her," I said.

"So,
you were on a fishing expedition," the sheriff said softly.

"Sometimes
it works, but most times it doesn’t, not that I have to tell you
that.  This is so frustrating," I said.  "We keep hitting
dead-end after dead-end.  How about you?"

"I’m
not ready to share just yet," he said.  "So, there’s
nothing you can add to what we’re watching here?"

I
looked in Moose’s direction, but he refused to make eye contact.  I
knew that he and Abel were good friends, and it went against everything my
grandfather believed in to turn in a friend, but this was too important to keep
to ourselves.

"We
saw someone running away into the woods when we got here," I said. 
Moose glanced in my direction, but it was my turn to dodge his glance this
time.

"Why
didn’t you tell me that when I first got here?" the sheriff asked
as he stared into the nearby woods.

"Because
it wouldn’t have done you one bit of good," Moose said
finally.  "You never would have caught him."

"I’m
better than you think I am," Sheriff Croft said.

"You
might be, but the man we saw knows these woods better than you know your own
pantry at home."

"It
was Abel Link," I said, so that Moose wouldn’t be the one who had
to give up his friend’s name to the police.

"Are
you trying to tell me that Abel started this fire?" the sheriff asked us
in disbelief.

"We’re
not saying any such thing," Moose said.  "It’s like
Victoria just told you, Sheriff.  We got here, and then we saw Abel run
away from the fire.  That’s all we know."

"If
he didn’t start this, why would he run?" Sheriff Croft asked.

"Maybe
to keep us all from jumping to the same conclusion that you just did," I
said.  "I can’t believe Abel would do such a thing."

"The
man’s half-crazy," Sheriff Croft.  "Who knows
what
he is capable of?"

The
sheriff headed toward his cruiser, but I stepped in front of him. 
"What are you going to do now?"

"Not
that I need to approve it with you first, but I’m going to go look for
Abel Link."

Moose
shook his head as he joined me in blocking the sheriff’s path back to his
cruiser.  "You’ll never find him, and you know it.  The
man’s as slippery as smoke in a hurricane."

"Nevertheless,
I have to try," the sheriff said.

"You’re
not going to hurt him if you find him, are you?" I asked. 

"I
won’t do anything that I don’t have to do," he said solemnly.

"That’s
not very reassuring," I replied.

"Sorry,
but that’s not in my job description at the moment.  Now, are you
two going to step out of my way, or am I going to have to arrest you both for
obstruction of justice?"

"There’s
no need for that," I said as I pulled Moose out of his way. 
"We’re on the same side, after all, remember?"

The
sheriff didn’t answer; he just stepped past us, got into his car, and
drove away.

Jan
watched him leave, and then she approached us.  "Who would do
something like this?  It’s horrible."

I
wasn’t about to tell her that we’d seen Abel leaving the
premises.  "It surely is.  Did you lose much in the
fire?"

"No,
I was just about finished cleaning the place out, at least of everything I
wanted.  Thank goodness I stayed somewhere else last night."

 "How
do you think this is going to affect the sale of the land to Sally
Ketchum?" Moose asked.

Jan
frowned instantly.  "To be honest with you, I’d forgotten all
about that," she said.  "I suppose she still wants the
property for the land, but I can’t very well charge her the same price as
though there was a house still standing on the property."

As if
on cue, at that moment there was a tremendous crack coming from the house, and
the roof collapsed in on itself.  The flames whooshed up from the sudden
influx of air, and the smells became even more acrid as the breeze began to
pick up, spreading the stench of the fire all around us.  A few sections
of flaming debris shot toward the barn, and Chief Hester’s crew drowned
them instantly.  Though they were all just volunteers, they were an
ambitious lot, and I doubted any flames would get past them.  Once the
roof collapsed and the flare-up that had ensued, the fire began to settle down
in on itself again.

The
chief left his crew for a moment and approached us as his volunteers kept up
their vigilance blocking the last whisper of flames that tried to make their
way to the barn.

"I
don’t suppose the place was insured," Jan said as she looked at the
charred remains of what had so recently been a house. 

I
wasn’t sure the fire chief had even heard her until he replied. 
"Wally was careful to keep his premiums paid up in full every six months,
just like clockwork."

Was
that a reflection of fire in Martha’s eyes, or was it an actual glimmer
of hope?  "I’m surprised that he even
had
insurance."

"It
wasn’t for a ton of money, but at least it should help some," Chief
Hester said.

"Pardon
me for saying so, but isn’t it odd that you’d be so conversant
about my brother’s insurance policy without checking into it first? 
Surely you must service hundreds of folks around here, so how could you
possibly know what kind of coverage Wally carried on the house?"

"Well,
he dropped his premium payment off at my office two days before he was
murdered, so it’s not likely to be something I’d ever forget. 
As a matter of fact, I was going to head out here tomorrow anyway and ask you
if you wanted to continue the policy."

"Why
wouldn’t I?" she asked.

"I
heard you were selling the place," the fire chief said.  "Was
that not the case?"

"It
was true enough then, though I don’t know what I could get for the
property now.  I’m not even sure Sally Ketchum wants it
anymore."

"I’m
willing to bet that she’s more interested in the land than the house or
the barn," I said.  "No offense intended."

Jan
laughed, but there was a hollowness in it that hit me the wrong way. 
"How on earth could I be offended by that?  I know the place was a
dump.  I didn’t need anybody else to point it out to me."

"It
might have looked a little rundown," Moose said, "but as far as I
could tell, the house had solid bones to it, a structure that could have stood
another hundred years if someone hadn’t set it all on fire.  Do you
have any idea who might have done it?"

She
looked shocked that my grandfather was even asking her the question. 
"Do you mean all of this wasn’t an accident?"

The
fire chief shook his head.  "There’s no way of knowing that
just yet."

"But
what if it
were
set intentionally?" I asked.

"How
should I know?  I left Jasper Fork a long time ago, and if I’d had
my wish, I never would have come back here."

"You
keep complaining about growing up here.  Was it really all that bad when
you lived here?" I asked softly.

"It
was worse than you might imagine," she said.  "I’ll be
well rid of it."  She shook her head as she looked around, and then
she said, "There’s obviously nothing I can do here.  I’m
headed over to Sally’s to see if she’s still interested in buying
the property.  I can’t imagine what I’ll be able to get for
it, but at this point, I’m not sure that I care all that much. 
Wally’s funeral is tomorrow, and I’m going to try to get the sale
through as quickly as I can.  I want to be finished with all of this and
get back to my real life."

Jan
got into her car and drove away.

 Moose
turned to the fire chief and asked him, "Simon, do you have any idea what
made her so bitter?"

The
insurance man looked around, but there was nobody near us.  Still, in a
lowered voice, he said, "I’m not surprised that you never heard
about it, no matter how well connected you were to the pulse of the town back
in the day.  It was all kept pretty hush-hush, and the only reason I found
out about it myself was because they needed me.  Did you ever wonder about
Jan’s bright red muscle car she had when she lived in town?"

I
remembered the hot red Camaro, since I’d ridden in it more than
once.  "I thought she took it with her when she left," I said.

"No,
she was driving an old Dodge when she left town for good.  The fact is
that Jan totaled her car on her way to Molly’s Corners late one night a
few days before she took off.  There was something odd about that wreck,
though.  I had a feeling that someone else was driving that night, but I
could never prove it, and we had no choice but to pay off the claim."

"Who
could have been driving?" I asked.  Had Jan had some kind of secret
life back then that I didn’t know about?

"There
was talk, but I’m not sure anyone ever knew except Jan, and her
passenger.  One rumor said it had been Wally, drunk and a little crazy,
but other folks thought it might be Penny or Sally.  The three of them
were all friends back then, as thick as thieves.  Anyway, it was a long
time ago, and the insurance barely covered the used car she bought.  I
think that’s why the company didn’t want to investigate.  It
would have probably cost them a great deal more than just paying off the small
claim.  It always stuck in my craw, though."

"Chief,
we might as well pack up and go home.  This thing isn’t going to
spread," one of his volunteers said, just as there was another loud pop
from inside the smoldering remains and fiery debris shot everywhere.

"Do
you want to stand by what you just said, or reconsider, Mitchell?" he
asked as he pointed to the glowing hot spots near the barn.

"Never
mind," the volunteer said.  They hosed down the embers, and then hit
the house’s remains again with a steady stream of water.

"I
didn’t think you were going to try to fight it at all," I asked.

"We’re
not, but another pumper’s coming out from Molly’s Corners, and
I’d just as soon get this thing put out before we have any more
incidents."

As the
water hit the charred remains of the house, hisses of steam and walls of smoke
sprang up into the air.

Chief
Hester said, "Moose, you might want to move your truck.  We’re
going to have four different pumpers here before we’re through."

"We
might as well head out," Moose said.  "There’s nothing
much left to see here, is there?"

"No,
sir, and that’s a fact."

Before
we could even get into Moose’s truck, though, the fire chief approached
us.  "Folks, if you could keep what I just told you between the
three of us, I’d greatly appreciate it.  I shouldn’t have let
my frustration get the better of me.  Sometimes the hardest thing in the
world for me to do is to keep my mouth shut."

"We
won’t say a word about it," I answered.

"Unless
there’s no other way around it," Moose added.

Chief
Hester’s eyebrow shot up.  "Why would you have to tell another
soul about what I just told you, Moose?"

"A
man died out here," Moose said.  "I can’t make any
promises about what I may or may not say if push comes to shove, but unless
there’s no other way, I promise you that we’ll keep your
secret.  I’m sorry, but it’s the best we can do, Simon."

The
insurance man/fire chief thought about it, and then put out his hand. 
"That’s good enough for me, then."

After
he shook Moose’s hand, he took mine in his as well. 

"Drive
safe now," Chief Hester said.

As we
pulled out onto the highway, I saw the extra fire trucks coming down the road
toward us.  I was sure they were all viewing this as a training exercise,
even though the fire had been real enough. 

I
figured we were heading back to the diner, but Moose surprised me by turning
down the road to Abel’s place instead.

"Where
are we going?" I asked.

"I
just don’t feel good about Sheriff Croft grabbing Abel and locking him up
just on our account," Moose admitted.

"We
didn’t force the issue, Moose.  We had to tell the sheriff the truth. 
After all, we’re the ones who saw Abel there, remember?"

"I
know how it looked, but I can’t for the life of me see Abel lighting a
fire to burn a house down.  If nothing else, there were too many things in
that place that he could have salvaged, and there’s not a man alive who
hates waste more than Abel Link."

"You’ve
got a point, but what if he had his own reasons to get rid of Wally’s
house?"

Moose
looked at me curiously.  "Why could he possibly want to do
that?"

"What
if there was evidence hidden somewhere in there that he was the one who killed
Wally?" I asked.

"Victoria, you just met the man.  You’ll have to take my word for it, but Abel
couldn’t do that on his worst day."

"Not
even if his way of life was being threatened?" I countered. 
"Moose, we have no idea how he interacted with Wally Bain, and you know
it.  You’re always telling me that anyone can do just about anything
if they’re pushed hard enough."