Chapter 4 - The Fire Did Not Start by Accident
Reyes brought Claire beneath the awning of a nearby building.
“The fire began in your bedroom closet,” he said.
Claire frowned.
“There’s nothing electrical in that closet.”
“We know.”
Investigators found traces of an accelerant beneath a pile of clothing. The burn pattern showed the fire moved outward from one concentrated point.
The apartment had not caught fire because of faulty wiring.
Someone started it.
The bedroom window showed no forced entry.
Neither did the front door.
Whoever entered had a key.
Reyes asked what valuable items were stored in the closet.
“Mostly clothes.”
“Documents?”
Claire thought about the inheritance folder.
She kept the original correspondence from the estate attorney in a fire-resistant pouch on the top shelf.
It included copies of the will, property records, and a handwritten letter from Evelyn explaining why she did not want Margaret controlling the inheritance.
The pouch was gone.
Reyes said firefighters had not found it among the debris.
Claire looked toward her mother.
Margaret was arguing with another investigator beside the caution tape.
“She knew where I kept it.”
“What did the letter say?”
“That Mom had already taken money from Grandma’s account before she died.”
Reyes’s expression changed.
“How much?”
“Almost ninety thousand dollars.”
Claire had planned to provide the records to the estate’s attorney the following week.
Margaret knew that.
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The fire had not been intended only to destroy an apartment.
It had been intended to destroy evidence.
