tried to cover things up by setting fire to the building?”
“That would be my guess, but with a high-profile case, I would not make that determination until we hear back from the lab,” he said.
“What do we know about the warehouse?” Jonas asked.
Looking back down at the papers on his desk, Todd shook his head. “I don’t have that exact information, but I know the city bought some of the old warehouses in the area at one time hoping to sell them to investors who want to turn them into high-end condos.”
Jonas barked out a laugh. “You’re kidding. The area those are in would have to be completely renovated before somebody would want to plunk down a million dollars for a fancy-ass condo.”
“Do you want us investigating the arson of the warehouse separately from homicide?” Sean asked.
“I talked to the Homicide Supervisor and told him that if our findings were that the warehouse fire was not part of our serial arsonist investigation, we would consider it to be part of his homicide investigation. I’m sure the warehouse’s insurance company will be doing their own fire investigation before they’ll pay out.”
Sean, tired from little sleep and not enough coffee, simply nodded.
“What else is new on our guy?” Todd asked.
“There’s not much to add beyond what you already know, Captain. He’s concentrated in the central, southeast, and southern regions of the city. He started out setting a fire approximately once every four weeks and did that for three months. That’s why we didn’t initially tie them together, until a neat pile of gravel was found at each site. He’s since moved to every other week, and we anticipate he will soon start setting them weekly. So far, that we know of, we’ve got five fires attributed to him. Right now, there’s no rhyme or reason that we can discern to the targets he picks, other than they’re unoccupied, thank fuck.”
Jonas added, “We’ve found carbon disulfide residue at each of the sites and we’re still trying to narrow down where it’s coming from. As you know, it’s not that uncommon in industries, and in a city as big as ours, that’s a lot of ground to cover.”
Todd scrubbed his hand over his face. “Jesus, with six fire battalions, thirty-eight fire stations, and a fire training academy, not to include all the people who were booted out, never-made-it wannabes, or just anyone with a fire grudge, that’s a lot of people to look at.”
Sean agreed. “We started poring through our leads, but it’s a slow go.” One of the arsonist profiles was someone who had a hero-complex but had not made the cut to becoming a firefighter. Of course, there are active firefighters who also have this profile and set fires so they can be the ones to swoop in to save the day. Too fuckin’ many to look at. “Obviously, this is only one avenue of inquiry that we’re looking at.”
“Just keep up what you’re doing, and our guy will make a mistake. I have no doubt that we’ll get him.”
He and Jonas stood, but before they could get to the door, Todd called out, “Oh, one more thing. The IAAI is in the middle of a new round of certifying fire investigators. I’ve let them know that we’ll accept any evidence they find, but they’re to stay out of the way of our investigations.”
With short nods, he and Jonas walked out of Todd’s office, staying quiet until they got to their desks. Jonas threw himself into his seat, saying, “Hell, I don’t mind having private fire investigators, but I sure as fuck don’t want them messing up any of the sites.”
“They should know the rules. I was a guest speaker there about a year ago and that was one of the things I emphasized.” Todd would have made himself clear to the International Association of Arson Investigators, letting them know they weren’t allowed at an active investigation site. “What about the insurance company for the warehouse?”
“Shit, between the IAAI, insurance companies, homicide, and us, that warehouse is going to see a lot of traffic.” Snorting, he added, “Fuck, that doesn’t even include the press.”
Sean’s phone rang. “McBride.” As he listened, he pinched the bridge of his nose before sliding his hand over his face. “Thanks, Shamika. I’ll head back and see what I can get.”
Seeing Jonas’ curious gaze, he shrugged. “She may have isolated an accelerant but said she’d like another sample from sector seventeen in both a glass jar and a