floated upward with the draft, we might be able to pull something off of that.”
“But what about the spontaneous combustion in the air?” Jonas asked, rubbing his chin.
“If it didn’t have any of the accelerant on it or only an insignificant amount, that might be why it’s intact.”
Feeling a spark of excitement, Sean said, “Jesus, if we can get a fingerprint or even a partial, that would be fuckin’ amazing.”
“I know. We’re going to need a huge break in this case.”
“Even if there’s no fingerprint, there may be something else we can get from it.”
Sean retrieved a collapsible ladder from the back of his SUV, and they placed it against the building since he did not have far to climb. Snagging the piece of newspaper with his gloved fingers, he carefully placed it in an evidence bag.
Climbing back down, the two men looked at each other, a specter of hope in their eyes for the first time.
16
Sean and Jonas headed into the laboratory, following the same procedure every time they entered. Jonas was carrying the evidence bag with the newspaper and Sean brought the cardboard box with more glass containers.
Not wanting to miss anything, Sean followed Jonas into the room where he would drop off his evidence.
“Hey, Steve,” Jonas greeted the technician. “We’ve got something for you to take a look at.”
The technician and his partner both signed off on the forms before Steve began taking notes as Jonas spoke.
“Found this stuck next to a light fixture above where some of the fire origin points were on the building we were checking last night. Our thought is that there might be a fingerprint on it, or if not, then some kind of traceable evidence. We know the arsonist uses paper and cloth when they’re setting the fires and wondered if this piece was caught in an updraft, managing to get away without burning.”
Steve nodded as he wrote everything down. Stopping, he picked up the plastic bag and held it up, still nodding. “I’ll work on it personally and see what we can get. We’ll be able to tell which newspaper this came from, and if I can pull a print, well—”
“That’d be fuckin’ amazing,” Jonas exuded.
“What about other DNA?” Sean asked.
Rolling his eyes, Steve replied, “You know it can take twelve months to get DNA through the system.”
“You’re that backed up?”
Nodding, Steve sighed. “Maybe with this being from the serial arsonist and that’s so high-profile right now… I promise I’ll do everything I can to pull anything off of this.”
“I don’t know if there’s any chemical analysis that would go along with the arson work that Shamika is doing, but can you check with her?” Sean asked.
“Absolutely. I’ll work with her, and we’ll see what we can find.”
Leaving their scrap of evidence in good hands, they continued further down the hall to where Shamika’s laboratory was located. Greeting her, they handed over the box and then Sean explained what had been given to Steve.
Nodding, she agreed. “It’ll be no problem for us to work together on this.” She reached over to her desk and pulled up a file, saying, “I sent this to you this morning, but I realize you haven’t been in the office yet to receive it. It’s some information about the phosphorus levels along with the carbon disulfide.”
“Thanks. I’ll read it when I get in. We already had an idea that might be what we were dealing with.” Seeing her furrowed brow questioning him, he continued, “I was with a friend who knows someone in a private lab. He showed us how the two can spontaneously combust.”
“Why are you going to a private lab?” Her shoulders slumped, and she shook her head. “I know, I know, that’s a stupid question. Hell, they have lighter caseloads and the money for all the cool toys.”
Sean rushed to assure her that was not what happened. “Honestly, I’m dating someone who’s a fire evidence technician for an insurance company. One of the buildings that the arsonist hit is covered by her company, so she was sent in.”
“That makes sense. And like I said, private labs don’t have the budgetary restrictions that we end up having... although some aren’t certified.”
“John gave us a demonstration of the phosphorus and carbon disulfide combustion,” Jonas said. “Gotta admit, it was pretty cool.”
Shamika was writing down the evidence that had been turned in, and asked, “John who?”
“John Simpson.”
She barked out a laugh. “Firestarter?”
Sean and Jonas looked at each other in confusion, then turned back to Shamika.