Chapter 1 - Six Days Ago
Rain ran down Claire Whitman’s face as she stood outside the blackened remains of her apartment.
Her red jacket smelled like smoke. Ash clung to the wet fabric. Behind the yellow caution tape, firefighters dragged hoses across the pavement while water poured from the second-floor windows.
Claire still held her phone.
Her mother’s final words remained in her ear.
Not our problem. Should’ve been more careful.
Fire Investigator Daniel Reyes approached in a navy jacket and black gloves.
“Ms. Whitman, who had access to your apartment last week?”
Claire looked at him.
“Was the fire electrical?”
Reyes did not answer.
He raised a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a burned brass key with a melted purple tag.
Claire stopped breathing.
“That was my mother’s spare key.”
A voice came from behind them.
“You can’t prove anything from one key!”
Margaret Whitman stood near the curb in a cream blazer, her blonde hair damp from the rain. She had not come to comfort her daughter.
She had come because the investigator called.
Reyes rotated the bag.
A second tag was attached to the ring, partially melted but still intact.
“This duplicate was made six days ago.”
Claire looked from the key to her mother.
Margaret’s mouth opened, but no words came.
Only an hour earlier, Claire had believed the fire had taken everything she owned.
May you like
Now she understood that someone might have entered her home before it began.
And her mother already sounded like a woman defending herself against an accusation nobody had made aloud.
