he’d spent all his money on vehicles, not furniture.
“I don’t understand why you’re here now.” Herbert scratched his belly. “That fire happened over five years ago.”
“But the case was never solved. We’re hoping you can add some insight.”
Herbert rubbed the condensation on his beer can away with his beefy thumb. “I don’t know how. I told the cops I didn’t see anything suspicious.”
“Where were you when the fire started?” Jacob asked.
“Working in the ER,” he said. “The minute the alarm sounded, everyone flew into motion to help patients outside.”
“You were in the ER with Nurse Weiss?” Liam asked.
Herbert glanced down at his fingers where he’d started tapping the armchair. “Yeah, although I was in another exam room with a potential stroke victim and Nurse Weiss was working on another case.”
“Was she in the ER the entire time until the fire started, or did she leave at some point?” Jacob asked.
“Her patient was coding so she stepped out to get the crash cart.”
Liam crossed his arms. “Was the cart stored anywhere near the records room?”
Herbert squinted as if confused. “The equipment is kept in the ER in its own room but readily available to whoever needs it. Necessary medication for emergencies is stored inside. It’s locked and only the nurse has the code to open it.”
“And that would have been Peyton?”
He nodded. “Yeah, she was the charge nurse.”
“Did you see anyone suspicious in the ER or perhaps lurking in the hallway or the ER entrance?”
“Don’t remember anything,” Herbert said. “But like I told you, it was a busy night, and once the fire alarm sounded, it was total chaos. Firemen stormed the building, and the staff and visitors were rushing around trying to evacuate everyone.”
It was the same story they’d heard from Peyton.
“I thought you had a suspect in the fire,” Herbert said. “That guy whose wife died. He wanted revenge against the hospital or something.”
“He is a person of interest,” Jacob answered. “As a matter of fact, we have him in custody at the moment and have been questioning him.”
Herbert’s eyes widened in confusion, then worry. “He did it, didn’t he?”
“We’re not certain,” Liam said. “You were on duty that night as well, weren’t you?”
Liam studied Herbert’s reaction. He looked as if he might run but fidgeted and then said yes. “But I wasn’t in the ER. Peyton was.”
Back to Peyton.
“Mr. Inman claims he overheard Nurse Weiss talking to someone about a mistake, but he’s not specific. Do you know anything about that?”
Herbert gulped. “No. I heard he said that, but I have no idea what he was talking about.”
He shrugged. “For the record, I liked Nurse Weiss. If she messed up, I’m sure it was an accident.”
“Do you think she messed up?” Liam asked.
“That’s not what I meant. I meant she’s a good nurse and all.”
Liam decided on another angle. “A few weeks after the fire, you seemed to have come into some money.” He gestured around the room. “You bought this house, and a car and motorcycle. Those items aren’t cheap.”
Herbert’s posture went rigid. “What does that have to do with the fire?”
Jacob cleared his throat. “Where did you get the money, Herbert?”
Herbert stood. “That’s none of your business.”
Liam pinned him with an intimidating look. “It is, if someone paid you to keep quiet about Inman’s wife’s death. Or about who set that fire.”
Herbert swung his hand toward the door. “You can leave now. I’m done talking.”
The fact that he clammed up and grew so defensive roused Liam’s suspicions. Had someone paid Herbert to keep him from talking?
Chapter Five
Peyton held her breath as she inched around the side of her mother’s cottage and peered into the darkness. Yes, there was a shadow back there.
Someone was in the garden.
Fred, the security guard? But at this time of night?
She held her breath as she hovered by the corner of the building, watching. The shadow moved deeper into the garden and was hunched over, as if he was trying not to be seen.
Paranoid that her mother had been right about a stranger on the premises, she inched toward the garden, careful to stay at the edge of the tree line so she was shielded from sight. The gardener and residents who’d joined the gardening club had covered some of the plants in case of frost, and some of the plants had been trimmed in preparation for the winter.
A sound broke into the night, echoing from the concrete bench near the climbing roses, and she gripped her phone to call 9-1-1. But