break loose, he might have sworn that exploding trash can was a bomb, too.”
I thought about that. “Okay. I understand. I do. And nothing against your fire triangle, but have you ever heard of the blink theory of trusting your first impressions? As a detective, Mike believes—”
“Mike?”
“Yes,” I said. “Mike. Your cousin. He believes—”
“To hell with what my cousin believes! He’s not a fire investigator and neither are you. Stick to the facts, Clare, not what anyone believes.”
I sat very still for a moment, letting the man’s anger dissipate like those black balloons of smoke released by the burning caffè. Then calmly and quietly I asked—
“Why do you care what I think, anyway?”
“Because Enzo’s a good man, and I won’t have him accused of arson. He’s the last person who’d put his own life at risk, or anyone else’s, for some lousy insurance money.”
“I’m sure Enzo is a good man. My friend Madame has known him for years, decades—”
“But if you start shouting bomb, the press may get wind of it, and the marshals will be forced to start treating Enzo as a suspect before they even finish with the forensics.”
“Wait a second! I was with Enzo in that basement minutes before the fire started. He could have found an excuse to get out, but he didn’t. He was trapped down there, in harm’s way. Surely that exonerates him.”
“It does not. He may have played a part in the event to throw off suspicion.”
“So now you’re saying Enzo could be guilty?”
“No! I am not saying that. Listen, Clare, you and I know Enzo’s a stand-up guy. To these marshals, Mr. Testa is just another victim, but if this fire is found suspicious and he’s the beneficiary of an insurance payout, he’ll be their number one suspect. Then they’ll tear his life apart looking for evidence of guilt.”
I lowered my voice to a whisper. “But what if someone else had a motive to burn Enzo’s shop?”
The captain studied me again. He bent his head closer. “Like who? And why?”
Before I could reply, a voice called out: “Ma’am? Are you still here? Ma’am?”
It was my fireman, the one who’d been so kind to me earlier, the one who’d risked his life to rescue Madame and Enzo. He was wandering along the sidewalk, searching for me.
“I’m here, James!” I called. “In back of the fire truck!”
With perceptible reluctance, the captain put distance between his head and mine. A moment later, my young hero firefighter appeared wearing a grin and two handbags.
FIVE
“YO, ma’am, check it out!” James made a show of pointing to the women’s purses dangling off his broad shoulder. “Can you ID these so I can turn them over to you?”
“Of course. That one’s mine and the other is my employers. They’re the bags I asked you to look for.”
Bigsby Brewer strolled up behind James. His shoulders were so wide, I couldn’t imagine the guy going through an average doorway without tilting to one side. Massive muscles notwithstanding, Bigsby was far from intimidating. His manner was so happy-go-lucky, his spirit so energetic, he came off about as threatening as an excited puppy.
“So, how do I look, Bigs?” James said, showing off the women’s handbags to his friend. “Too last season?”
Shaking his head, Bigsby tugged the bags off James’s arm and thrust them into my hands. They reeked of smoke.
“You better take these back, ma’am.” Bigs jerked his thumb in James’s direction. “Noonan is too dumb to see they clash with his bunker gear!”
The two men laughed.
“Sorry it took so long,” James said. “The fire marshals had to inspect them before we could take them out. They wanted to make sure we weren’t removing evidence.”
“It’s okay. I’m just grateful you located them.” I regarded James again. “Did I hear your friend right? Is your last name Noonan?”
James nodded.
“You aren’t by any chance related to Valerie Noonan, the banquet manager at Union Square West Hotel?”
James opened his mouth to answer but Bigsby interrupted: “Oh, no, ma’am, you’ve got that wrong.”
“I do?”
“James isn’t related to Val. It’s much worse than that—” As if someone had died, Bigsby took off his helmet and placed it over his heart. “He’s married to her.”
With one sharp, hard thrust, James shot his elbow into his partner’s gut. It was a real blow, and Bigs doubled over, gasping and cussing.
“So, you know Val?” James said, ignoring Bigsby’s groans while calmly extending his hand. “I’m her husband. Very nice to meet you—”
I stared in horror for a second until Bigs came