While his first impressions of the fire did not fit in with the serial arsonist, he knew as soon as the press found out who the murder victim was, they would begin making assumptions. The problem with assumptions is that in the minds of many, they become fact. The last thing he wanted was for the serial arsonist to feel as though all of the attention had been taken away from his work. That was the fastest way for the arsonist to increase his reign of terror, fighting to get the attention back on him.
He and Jonas finished collecting their evidence inside, and with a two-fingered salute toward Brock, they headed out of the warehouse. “What was out here?”
“Plenty of rubble but no pile of stones.”
They walked the entire exterior of the warehouse, noting the fire patterns visible with the lights set up for them. Taking pictures, as well as more ash samples, they canvassed the area. He turned to his partner as they approached their vehicles. “I’ll call it in and then meet you at the lab.”
After carefully placing his evidence collection bag in the back seat of his SUV, he pulled off his gloves and hardhat and tossed them to the floorboard. Settling in the driver’s seat, he picked up his travel mug of coffee, taking a large sip of the now cold beverage. Fuck, just once I’d love to have a hot cup of coffee while sitting on my back patio with my feet up.
2
Sean wished the police laboratory was newer and less crowded for the technicians that worked there. Can’t deny their professionalism even with the same fuckin’ budget cuts forced down their throats as the rest of us.
Showing his badge and signing in, he made his way up to the second floor and down the long, tiled hall. Jesus, this place reminds me of a high school. Doors on either side of the hall opened to various labs. Passing by the administrative offices, he made his way into the huge lab area, filled with all the equipment necessary to do blood alcohol tests, check for drugs and narcotics, arson analysis, and a host of other biological and chemical testing.
Observing Jonas at one of the tables near the back, he weaved his way through the crowded room, nodding at several of the analysts that he had worked with before. “Jonas. Shamika,” he greeted.
Receiving a chin lift from Jonas, he turned toward Shamika. Her smooth, dark skin was the perfect backdrop for her wide smile. Her hair was cropped close to her head and she wore no jewelry other than her wedding band. Her lab coat was crisp and white, and he glanced down to see what shoes she was wearing. Hot pink Crocs were her only nod to an individual fashion statement in the utilitarian lab. “Nice shoes.”
“Gee, thanks for noticing,” she said, shooting a wink his direction. “I’m just in-processing everything that Jonas delivered. If you hang on a minute, I’ll be ready for yours.”
He leaned his hip against the counter and watched as she carefully logged each container that Jonas had brought from the arson site. Once finished, she turned toward him. Repeating the process, he brought the containers out of his bag, and as she logged it in as evidence, he signed off on each one.
“You guys know the drill. I’ll get everything processed here and then take it over to the microscope room. My assumption is that we’ll get what we need from the residue and gases. Your tests will get moved ahead of some of the others I’m working on since you have a high-profile arsonist. Believe it or not, because of the number of arsons in the area, we’re going to get a new gas chromatograph with a headspace sampler.”
“Glad we can make your job easier,” Jonas quipped as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Sean fought a grin. “Ignore him. He always gets grumpy when he gets called out of bed at one in the morning.”
“The only reason you’re not grumpy is because you didn’t have anybody in bed with you.”
“Is that why your clothes are wrinkled?”
“Yeah, they were on the floor where she tossed them, not hanging in the closet, all pressed, ready to go like yours.” Jonas grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Dress for success... the clothes make the man.”
Jonas snorted again. “Yeah, well, I’d rather be naked with the fine piece I picked up last night. She was not happy with me having to