I thought I should stop by Sarah’s old house.” My chest tightened as I spoke, each word becoming harder to say. “I was shocked to see how different the place is. I hadn’t been there in years, but I still remember exactly how it looked, you know?”
Mrs. Applebaum reached across the table and placed her wrinkled hand on my shoulder. “I know. It’s hard to face it every day, remembering what happened. Such a tragedy. To lose someone so young.” When her eyes began to water, she dabbed at them with a napkin. “I could barely make it through the memorial service. Were you there?”
“We came late, our flight from Seattle was delayed,” Lucas blurted out.
My fingers gripped the cup tightly.
“Damn airlines. You can’t rely on them to get you anywhere without a big hassle,” she said, wiping at her cheeks.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Rack up another save for Lucas.
“I miss that family so much,” Mrs. Applebaum went on. “My own kids, they moved halfway across the country, but with Nicole and Dan, I almost felt like they were my own. Though, did you know, my son and his wife and my three precious grandbabies are coming for a visit this Thanksgiving? It’s about time. I can’t wait. I don’t do much cooking anymore, since cooking for yourself isn’t much fun. But I am planning a feast! Pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, creamed spinach, the works!”
Next to her, Lucas nodded, eyes sparkling with genuine interest in her holiday plans. “That sounds great, Mrs. Applebaum. I’m sure your family will have a wonderful time.”
“Call me Maggie. I never have been one much for formalities,” she said.
“Maggie, then.” Lucas smiled, easing back in his chair a bit.
Whatever comfort Lucas and I were beginning to feel here, we were on borrowed time. We had a long way to go if we were going to find out what Holland was up to.
I had to cut to the chase.
“I was wondering, could I ask you some questions about the fire?”
Maggie’s face clouded over. “I suppose. Although I’m not sure why you’d want to discuss it now, on such a beautiful day.”
I glanced over at Lucas, who gave me an encouraging look. So I pressed on.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to dig up awful memories,” I said. “But Aunt Nicole and Uncle Daniel. They became estranged from us, once Sarah died. So I really have no clue what actually happened.”
“I know what you mean,” Maggie replied. “They just vanished from my life too. I wish they’d come by to see me one last time, but I understood. Losing a child like that . . . my word. I can’t even imagine.”
“So they never talked to you afterward?” I asked.
“Once all the hoopla died down, they were gone,” she said. “And the fire was ruled an accident. I read an article in the newspaper, some reporter said something about a lit cigarette.” Her lips pressed together tightly.
Lucas piped up. “Did Nicole or Daniel even smoke?” he asked me.
I shook my head. “And Sarah wasn’t the type to sneak around with any. She was a total good girl.”
Maggie slapped one hand on the table. “Exactly! That’s what I told the detectives, too, when they came around to investigate.”
Lucas shot me a look. “More than one detective?” That sounded unusual for investigating a fire.
“That’s right, though they didn’t come at the same time,” Maggie explained. “I liked the first one a whole lot better than that second one. He seemed, pardon my pun, like he had a fire lit under him.”
Why would two different detectives be sent to cover the same case? I wondered.
“I told the first guy that no one in that family smoked, not a day in their lives,” Maggie added. “But I’d seen a man lurking around the house the day of the fire. I figured he might have had something to do with it.”
My legs tensed. “You saw a stranger near their house? The day of the fire?”
Holland.
“Um-hum. This creep tried to look like he had business being over there, but something about him was way off.” Maggie took a sip of tea and then went on with her story. “When I called out to him and asked what he was doing, he pretended not to hear me, then drove away in a big SUV. I would have jotted down the license plate, but it didn’t have one. Just one of those temporary dealership things. Anyway. The first detective seemed very keen on that