“It was arson,” the fire investigator confirmed. Even though the fire had occurred the day before, pungent odors still saturated the air, and Chris scrunched his nose at the acrid smell. He followed the older man through the damaged storage room on the sixth floor of the building where the remains of an old copy machines, broken furniture, and boxes of out-of-date training materials, paper and business supplies had previously been stored. The smoke had dissipated from the charred and melted contents of the room, but now what remained was a large mess of blackened heaps of refuse that still emanated an overpowering stench of burnt chemicals and plastic. He stepped over the mess, following the investigator until he stopped by a wall near one of the windows. There were burn marks on the Sheetrock, and a dark melted plastic mess near the outlet.
“Our initial impression is that the perpetrator used a timer to create a spark with a homemade device here,” the investigator intoned. He pointed toward the outlet. “He used paint thinner as an accelerant, which is what caused these marks.” His arm swept toward the black streaks on the wall. “There was also a large bag of Styrofoam packing peanuts placed here, near the ignition site. Once those get hot enough, they turn into a type of jelly that burns for quite a while.” He motioned around the entire room. “This whole space was actually the perfect location to start a fire—an arsonist’s playground. If you hadn’t called in the fire when you did, it probably would have been much worse. As it is, the cleanup is going to be quite expensive, but at least no one was hurt.”
Chris acknowledged the investigator’s comments, but focused on the immediate problem. “You know we found the doors on the seventh floor barred, and proof that someone had tampered with the elevators. Have you had any similar crimes that match this particular arsonist?”
The investigator shook his head. “Not recently. I’ll do a more thorough search once we’ve finished the investigation and get all of our test results, but at first impression, this is someone who took the time to do their research, but still seems rather new to the game. It very well could have been their first fire, and they were just smart enough and lucky enough to do a fairly competent job at it.”
“Okay, thanks.” Chris held out his hand and the investigator shook it. “I appreciate your time.” He left the storage room and headed down the stairs. The elevator was working now, but he wanted the extra time to think as he walked down to the main floor.
Eleni was waiting for him at the bottom with a group of other people who had been cordoned off behind some crime scene tape. Most of the other people were building employees waiting to be allowed back onto their particular floors to start their day. Law enforcement had refused to allow anybody but authorized personnel onto the floor where the fire had started until the investigation was completed, but had promised that some of the other floors would be opening shortly, hence the crowd of impatient workers. Chris had used his badge to get past the Chicago Police Department officer, and the same woman lifted the tape and let him pass back into the waiting throng as he approached. Eleni came up to him immediately, her eyes full of questions.
“Well? Did you learn anything?” she asked, her tone hopeful. Several people perked up and surrounded him, seeking answers, but he put his hands up and shook his head.
“Nothing I can share at this time,” he replied as he continued walking toward the exit.
The others fell back, but Eleni stayed with him like glue. “I understand that you’re giving them the ‘no comment’ line, but can’t you share what you learned since we’re working together?”
Chris couldn’t help himself. He laughed. He didn’t know if it was her expression or her words that got him, or the stress of the last few days that had been weighing heavily on him ever since he had seen poor little Katie lying in that hospital bed. “We’re not working together, Ms. Townsend. I think I’ve made that abundantly clear.”
“Eleni. You should call me Eleni,” she replied, ignoring his rebuff. “Look, I did quite a bit of research yesterday into the other victims. Can we sit down and grab a coffee and just talk for a few minutes? I promise you, it won’t be a waste of your time, or mine. I’d really like to show you what I found.”
He did not want to sit down and talk to her. He wanted to get away from her beautiful eyes and lavender-scented skin. But unfortunately, he had more questions than answers. Would it really hurt to hear what she had discovered, if anything, if it would help with his investigation? At this point, he didn’t even know if the fire and the poisoning were related in any way. If she could shed any light on what was going on, it was worth it to find out what she knew. “Okay. Coffee. Then we go our separate ways.”
Her smile was instant, and lit up her entire face. “Agreed.”
What a smile! She could do toothpaste commercials. He suddenly found himself wanting to see her smile more often, but then shuddered inwardly at the thought. Once again, his mind had taken him down a road that he did not want to travel.
They made their way down the street to a small open-air café, and even though the temperature was brisk, they sat at one of the outside tables and ordered coffee, croissants and blackberry jam from the waitress who met and seated them. Chris sat with his back to the building so he had a clear view of everyone coming and going—a habit he’d picked up during his younger days that he’d never quite broken. He took note of the people sitting around him as well as the people passing on the sidewalk, but once Eleni got seated and captured his attention, he had a hard time focusing on anything but her.
“So, I gather the investigator determined that the fire was deliberately set,” she said as she crossed her legs under the table.
“Yes, but we pretty much knew that already since it was obvious that someone barred the doors and was trying to keep everyone from escaping the building.”
“Or particularly a worker whose office was above the sixth floor,” Eleni added.
“Yes.” He shifted and glanced at his watch. “You mentioned you did some research you wanted to share?”
Eleni leaned forward, apparently not put off by his motion of impatience. “Direct and to the point. I like that.” She pulled an iPad from her purse and opened an app that was filled with notes. “I did a thorough background history of each of the victims from the park poisoning. None of us has any connection to one another, and nobody has any veritable skeletons in the closet. Frankly, before the fire, I was starting to believe that the poisoning was just a terrorist act meant to scare innocent people, with no particular victim singled out as the target.”
“But now...?” Chris stated, leaving the question hanging.
“But now, I’m starting to wonder if the fire was really a second attempt on my life. I didn’t think so yesterday, but last night after I finally got home, I did a quick search of each of the victims again in relation to the building where I work. No one has any connection but me. Two of the poisoning victims don’t even work downtown, and were just here sightseeing. The others work in other locations nowhere near my building.”
“You’re assuming the two events are linked.”
Eleni raised an eyebrow. “You’re not?”
Chris shrugged. “I really don’t know. I do know I don’t like coincidences either, and having two attempts on any person’s life in such a short time is really unusual, and makes me start asking more questions. The fire investigator is going to compare this arsonist’s MO to other fires that have taken place in Chicago, but he wasn’t confident that he would find anything.”
Eleni sighed. “I just can’t figure out why I or my daughter would be a target.”
“Can’t you?” Chris asked, surprised. “What about your work?”
It was Eleni’s turn to shrug. “What about it? My story broke a while ago, and I haven’t had anything quite as controversial hit the news in the last month or so. If I was going to be victimized for my big financial crimes exposé, it would have happened once the story broke or even before it came out, not weeks later. Last time I checked, none of the parties arrested have even got a trial date set.”
Chris paused as the waitress arrived with their coffee and food, then he buttered his croissant while thoughts swam through his mind. His research agreed with what Eleni had discovered—none of the victims knew each other, or had any apparent connections. But if Eleni’s writing wasn’t at the root of the attacks, then what else could it be?
He took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. “So, tell me again how often you ate at Marino’s restaurant?”
Eleni took a sip of coffee and sighed with evident pleasure as the hot brew warmed her from the inside out. “Almost every day of the week, like I told you before.”
Chris nodded. “And if I remember correctly, you also mentioned that you follow a similar schedule almost every day, which makes me think that you are definitely a person of habit. It would have been fairly easy to know where and when you would be eating, and even that you and Katie usually ate from the salad bar.”
“But if Katie or I are really the targets, why not attack us and us alone? Why hurt so many other innocent people?”
“To make us ask these questions about the other victims and slow down our investigation, and it’s working. I’m really starting to believe that hurting a group rather than an individual was intentional. Cases that don’t get closed in the first few days after they happen have significantly reduced rates of ever being solved. If we can’t even identify the actual target of a murder attempt, we’ll probably never discover the motive, and statistics show the perpetrators will have even a higher chance of getting away with the crime.”
He studied Eleni for a moment. In his eyes, she was a beautiful woman—there was no denying that. But she was so much more than just a pretty face. She was a professional journalist who had stepped on lots of toes, and was currently digging into several different topics for other stories. But was she the intended victim all along? What if these incidents had absolutely nothing to do with her job? Who would want to hurt her? Had the fire really been a second attempt on Eleni’s life? If so, why? Questions abounded in his mind as he took another bite of his croissant and washed it down with a swallow of coffee. “Okay. Tell me about you. If these attacks weren’t about your work, why else would someone want to hurt you or your daughter?”
Eleni shook her head. “I really don’t know. I do know my husband was killed in a car crash a year ago, and I’ll never accept that it was just an accident. He was run off the road—I’m sure of it. His car ended up in the quarry in Elmhurst.”
Chris frowned. “Where was he headed when the crash occurred?”
“To a property in the suburbs. He worked in real estate, and had to show a house. Actually, Katie and I were supposed to go with him, but at the last minute, Katie’s stomach started hurting and I ended up staying home with her. We were planning to go out to a movie once my husband was done showing the house.”
“And you think the crash was deliberate?”
“The client never even showed, so I think my husband was lured out there. Charlie was an excellent driver. He didn’t drink or use drugs, he rarely sped and he wasn’t exhausted that night as the police claimed. There was no reason for his car to go into that quarry unless he was forced off the road by another car, but the vehicle was so damaged from the fall that they couldn’t prove that another car was involved or not.”
Chris sat up a little straighter as the dots started to line up in his mind. “So, wait, you’re telling me whoever killed Charlie Townsend could very well have been trying to kill you and Katie, too? I mean, really, how was anybody to know that your daughter got sick and the two of you decided at the last minute not to come? If your husband was killed deliberately, maybe it was actually the first attempt on your life.”
“I considered that,” Eleni said softly. “But Charlie was killed almost a year ago. If Katie or I were actually the targets, why wait a year before trying again?”
“I don’t know, but these are even more coincidences, and I don’t like it.” He took another bite of croissant. “Did you research to see if any of the other victims from the poisoning had any recent deaths in their families, or were involved in any other crimes?”
“I did.” Eleni nodded. “They didn’t. Thankfully, Katie and I were the only ones involved in any suspicious activities within the last ten years. That’s as far back as I went.”
Chris was quiet for a minute, thinking through everything she had told him. There was still an important piece missing. “Okay. So, tell me about this man who’s been following you.”
Eleni took a deep breath, then described the man the best she could and how she had lost him in the hotel lobby.
Chris put down his mug, then rubbed his hands together, warming them. “You know, I think I saw your stalker outside your building last night, right before I came up to get you out. He was out on the sidewalk.”
Eleni’s eyes widened. “Did you recognize him from the hospital?”
“I think so,” Chris confirmed. “He had the same build and features, but I only saw him for a few seconds.” He took another sip from his mug. “If you or Katie really are the target of a killer, we might not be able to discover the motive without getting a few more pieces of the puzzle. I think I’m going to need to dig into your background and see what else fits. Do you mind?” He was going to do it anyway, but if he had her cooperation, it would make it that much easier. Something wasn’t right here. There were too many red flags.
Eleni shook her head. “I don’t. In fact, I welcome the intrusion. I want to do whatever I need to do to get to the bottom of this so I can bring Katie home again.” A cold chill suddenly went down Eleni’s spine as she noticed a man standing near the corner of the street, reading a paper. He was dressed in a gray jacket and jeans, but what caught her attention was the color of his hair and his build. He looked familiar, and when he turned, her suspicions were confirmed. She leaned closer to the table and lowered her voice. “Don’t look now, but the man who I saw following me is standing about thirty feet away from us on the street corner with a paper. He’s trying to act nonchalant, but it’s the same guy. I’m sure of it. He’s wearing jeans and has on a gray White Sox jacket. Do you see him?”
Chris acknowledged her words and smiled, reacting as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Then he took another sip of his coffee as if she’d just shared the clue to a crossword puzzle. He leaned back and glanced around unhurriedly until his eyes landed on the man Eleni had described. He kept his voice low as he responded. “That’s the same man I saw hanging around your building last night, right before I went in the lobby. Do you know who he is?”
Eleni shook her head, but smiled and took a bite from her croissant. She let another moment pass before continuing the conversation, hoping they were giving a realistic performance to the man who seemed to be glancing sideways over at them while pretending to read his paper. “He doesn’t look familiar to me, but if he was at my building yesterday, too, maybe he’s the arsonist.” She couldn’t keep the anger or shock from her voice. “Maybe he’s the killer!”
At that exact moment, the man in the jacket looked over at her. Stormy gray eyes met her own and locked. Then the man put the paper under his arm and quickly turned and headed down the street.
Eleni slapped some cash down on the table and jumped to her feet. “He’s getting away! We have to talk to him before he disappears.” To her dismay, Chris Springfield was already on his feet and leaving the enclosed restaurant area, pursuing the man at the same time that he was calling in a description on his phone, and leaving her behind. Eleni hurried to follow him, wanting answers if Chris was actually able to stop the suspect and start asking him questions. Her heart pounded as the man who had been watching them noticed their pursuit and started to run, darting around the crowds. Eleni started to run as well, but wasn’t a match for either man’s speed, and soon lost both of them in the crowd.
What was going on? Who was following her, and why? And why would anyone want to hurt her or her family? The idea was inconceivable, and yet, it was unfolding right before her eyes and was undeniable. Someone was following her. Twice, no three times, people around her had been hurt or killed. Fear made her feel somewhat light-headed, and she paused and leaned against the brownstone of a nearby building, trying to catch her breath and calm her racing thoughts.
A few minutes later, Chris returned. He wasn’t winded, but he was clearly frustrated. He ran his hand through his hair and then fisted his hands at his hips. “I lost him. The crowd was really thick three blocks down and a couple of tour buses were unloading. I have no idea if he went into a store, turned off the road or kept on going. For all I know, he jumped on one of the buses and is now headed back to a small town in rural Oklahoma.” He glanced up and caught her eye. “I’m sorry. I know we need answers. Did you get a good look at him?”
“I think so. I still don’t recognize him from anywhere, but he’s definitely the man who was following me before.” Despite her own exasperation at the man’s escape, she was glad to finally have this big, confusing agent on her side. For the first time since this case had begun, she felt safe.
“Any idea why he would be following you?”
Eleni shrugged. “None. I’m sorry.”
Chris tilted his head, and the look he gave her was intense. She could actually feel his pale blue eyes boring into her own. “That’s one too many coincidences for me. I don’t know what the motive might be, but I definitely think you’re in danger.”