quick inspection of his desk. It would take him a while to go through all the files in Robin's cabinet.
Despite his lock-picking and false name, she was surprised to find a gun at the back of his lower left-hand drawer. It was a small black pistol, and she couldn't help noticing that it was loaded. He was a fox and he had an enchanting voice and style running out of his beautiful hands, but guns were for killing, and that was too much for Shani. She would tell -
"Can I help you?"
It was Michael Ryan Richardson. Shani jumped, dropping the pistol. There was a delay, it couldn't have gone off. The violent explosion made no sense.
Robin called after him, but Park did not wait to unhook her tubes. One look through the blown-out window at the carport and garage - what had been the carport and garage - and he was racing for the front door. An absurd idea flashed in his head: they had been hit by a meteor.
The damage was beyond comprehension. The carport and garage and everything that had been inside them weregone. A dark cloud sparking with red lightning mushroomed towards the sky, obscuring the sun and temporarily plunging the landscape into a grim twilight. Through ashen mists, a torn black crater emerged, littered with rubble. Charred, dusty debris rained down. He doubted there was now anything he could do that would make any difference. The convulsion had simultaneously ignited and extinguished its flames. Besides, there was nothing to burn.
As if awakening from a dream, he noticed that Shani, Flynn, Sol and Lena had joined him. With relief, he saw Angie and Kerry approaching from the far side of the cataclysm. The smoke began to disperse. The sun blazed down. Park wiped the sweat from his upper lip.
"Where's Bert?" Shani asked. "He was with you, wasn't he, Sol?"
"I had to go to the head," Sol said evasively. Park understood in an instant. It did not seem possible.
"But he was with you," she said, not hysterical, but getting there.
Park asked Sol, "Was Bert in your van?"
Sol studied the desolation. "He was there when I went into the house."
"Maybe he had to go to the bathroom, too," Shani said quickly. "Bert! Bert!"
"Shani..." Park began.
"Bert! Come out, Bert! Where is he? Maybe he went surfing. Maybe he went for a walk.Bert !"
Sol grabbed her by the shoulders. Her last "Bert" stuck in her open mouth. "He was in the van, Shani,"
Sol said. "He's dead."
She nodded slowly, relaxing in his hands. "I know," she whispered. "I saw him in there when I walked by." Sol hugged her. She began to cry softly.
"I'll go and get Robin," Lena said, as cool as when the internist had come through the swinging green doors early one morning with the bad news about her sister.
"Wait a minute," Park said.
"I don't know how it happened," Lena said. "We don't keep nuclear warheads in our garage."
"How about dynamite? A propane tank? Drums of gasoline?"
Lena shook her head. "We have a propane tank, but it's buried on the far side of the house. There was absolutely nothing in the garage that could have made an explosion one hundredth that powerful. I'm going to get my sister. I'll be back in a minute." She squeezed Shani's arm. "I'm sorry about Bert."
Kerry and Angie joined them. Kerry started to cry when told about Bert, dropping her brightly coloured rocks on the cement walkway. Angie was bleeding from her head but it was just a scratch. Of them all -
except for Flynn - Angie had known Bert the least. She did not appear unduly upset.
"You were next to the carport," Park said. "How did you escape?"
"A bird was driving me nuts," Angie said. "It had already stolen one hot dog; then it came back and stole a whole packet. I was chasing it down the beach when what happened, happened."
"Did you see Bert leave, maybe?" Shani asked, having accepted the truth but unable to stop hoping.
Angie shook her head.
Park wanted to question Kerry but she was in no condition to give straight answers. It would probably accomplish nothing. Shani was trying to comfort her. He spoke to the men. "Any ideas?"
"Perhaps there was a natural gas cavity beneath the garage," Flynn said, "and the barbecue fire ignited it."
Park thought the idea insightful. Robin had once told him that there was a major oil field not far southeast of their house. Indeed, Mr. Carlton owned a portion of it.