After the Fire Page 2

  Chapter 2

  She arrived home just as Emily came out of the shower in the morning. Her daughter looked at her and said, “My God, Mom, where have you been? You're filthy.”

  “The Barn restaurant burned down last night. My company insured it.”

  “Since when do insurance adjusters help put out fires?”

  “I didn't help put out the fire, but they were short handed for the search and rescue part. They let me help with that.”

  “There were people inside?”

  “The place was packed.”

  Bev watched Emily's face as the reality of what happened dawned on her. “Were there people hurt?”

  “There were actually a lot of people who died in the fire. We pulled out a few who were still alive, but barely. I have to warn you, things could be very weird at school today.”

  Tears filled Emily's eyes and she walked over to give her mother a hug. Bev backed up, “Thanks for the thought, but you're already clean and I smell like the bottom of an ash tray. We'll hug and cry later. You get ready for school. I'm going to take a shower and go to bed for a while after I drop you off.”

  “I'll take the bus, Mom. You're a wreck. Take your shower and go on to bed. You think you could pick me up this afternoon, though?”

  “Sure.”

  Emily started to go into her bedroom, but she turned back to her mother. “I guess this means that for once I'll get to see you at work in person instead of over the phone from some hotel far away.”

  Bev blew her a kiss, “It's not that exciting.”

  Somehow she made it into the bathroom and turned on the shower before the sobbing started. Eventually, she pulled herself together, finished her shower and fell into bed. Several hours later she woke to the ringing of her cell phone, “Mom, it's me. Did I wake you? I'm sorry.”

  “Oh my God! What time is it? Am I late to pick you up?”

  “No. I'm sneaking a call between classes. I want to tell you that I've got a ride home so you don't need to pick me up. Also, I want you to know that weird is not the word for what's going on here today. There were a lot of people killed in that fire, and at least a dozen of them were kids from my school. It's crazy here. But, that's not why I called. I want you to know there are all kinds of rumors going around.”

  Bev sat up and pushed her hair out of her face. “What kind of rumors?”

  “Crazy shit. They're saying it was arson. Some people are saying that Mr. Mazzoli burned his place for the insurance money. Others are saying that he had some kind of Mafia ties that went bad and somebody burned it as a warning to him. I thought you should know.”

  “Thanks, hon. That's interesting. Do not say anything to anybody about me being inside the building last night.”

  “You were inside!?”

  “How the hell do you think I took part in rescuing victims if I wasn't inside?”

  “Was it arson?”

  “It's too soon to know, and I couldn't tell you if I did.”

  “I know. All that confidentiality stuff.”

  “That confidentiality stuff is going to be really important on this job because it's in my back yard. Actually, they may take the claim away from me for that reason. Go back to class. Love you.”

  “Love you, too. I'll talk to you later.”

  Bev didn't bother to dress. She made coffee and took her laptop and mug into the bedroom where she sat in bed typing her report. Most of the time she handled fire losses out of hotel rooms. She was accustomed to working from bed. She transcribed the statement she gave the police and saved it to a disc. Then she used that for an outline of her preliminary report to Midwestern Casualty Insurance Company.

  Just about the time she completed her first draft, Emily returned from school. She asked if Bev had eaten anything. She had not, so they decided to eat a very early supper before Emily had to go back to school for cheer-leading tryout practice. They chatted while they made dinner. Emily knew a couple of the kids who had been killed in the fire, but they were not close friends. She said that, based upon what she had heard, it did not appear that any of their relatives were among the victims.

  That did not surprise Bev. Their relatives were Mennonites who rarely patronized restaurants, and certainly not restaurants that served alcohol. For once in her life she was grateful for that. While they were eating, Bev's phone rang. She laughed, “It's your grandma.”

  Emily looked at the clock, “Gram and Aunt Paula must have just come back from their daily shopping and three martini lunch and tuned into the news.”

  “That would be my guess.”

  Bev picked up the phone and said, “Hi, Mom. Before you ask, we're fine.” She held the phone out from her ear and took a bite of her soup, while her mother talked, loud and fast. After swallowing her food, Bev interrupted, “Well, Mom, you see, I can't really talk about the investigation, but I can tell you that none of our relatives was in the restaurant, at least not as far as I know. They haven't published a list of the victims, but when they do, I'll let you know if any of your friends were in the restaurant. Yeah, for now they're going to let me handle the claim. Okay, you go ahead. Tell Aunt Paula I said hi. I'll call you soon.”

  Emily shook her head, “I hate to say this about your mother, but Gram is kind of a hoot.”

  “Kind of? My mother is just plain nuts!” She paused and said, “I think you're about old enough to hear some of that story, but I don't have the energy to tell it today. Tell me about the cheer-leading tryouts.”

  “It seems kind of wrong to go to cheer-leading tryouts under these circumstances.”

  “Any chance they will cancel the practice?”

  “No. The principal said he wanted everyone who can manage it to try to stick with their normal routines. They're going to bring in counselors tomorrow for those kids and teachers who need it.”

  “You okay?”

  “I think so. We went by the restaurant on the way home it was horrible. I can't imagine that it's gone. It must have been awful in there last night.”

  “Awful's barely the word for it, but I don't have a better one. Do you need a ride to cheer-leading camp?”

  “Nah. Christina got a car for her birthday. She's going to pick me up.”

  “You know I don't like you riding with new drivers.”

  “Actually she's not a new driver. She's seventeen. She's been driving her mom's car for a year. Her parents just bought her a car because she totally aced her SATs and she's gotten straight A's on her report card to boot. She's very responsible.”

  “Okay. I'll take your word for it, but come straight home afterwards.”

  “Alright.”

  Bev's phone rang again. She recognized the number and said to Emily, “This is my fire expert. I gotta take this call.”

  Emily kissed her mother on the cheek and went into her room to do homework. Bev went into her room and answered the phone. “Hey, Bev, it's Ben. Did I wait long enough? Dave said you were up all night. I hope I didn't wake you.”

  “I've been up for a while. Are you on your way?”

  “I'll arrive tomorrow. I'm flying into Cincinnati in the morning. Can you get me a room somewhere close to Stanforth?”

  “Well, there's only one motel in Stanforth. It's probably fairly nice because it's mainly used by families of the college students when they visit. If you don't like it you can stay in Dayton or you could bunk in my den.”

  “I don't want to put you out. What's the story? The word on the wire is that you got a suspiciously hot fire in a local institution and a bunch of dead people.”

  “That's pretty much the size of it. I have to check in with the fire chief today to get some more details, if he's inclined to share them with me. I can tell you that it appeared to me the source of origin was all in one corner of the building. The inside of the restaurant was all wood, so the blaze spread...”

  “What! You were in the building?”

  “Yeah. I helped with the rescue op
erations.”

  “How do you get away with that?”

  “I'm a certified EMT and I've been trained in search and rescue.”

  “Is the building still standing?”

  “Was as of five thirty this morning, but it's so badly damaged, I think a good puff of wind would blow it over. You need to get here ASAP.”

  “You gonna take care of the cops for me?”

  “Yeah, I'll go see the fire chief today.”

  After that she called her assistant, and explained that she would probably not be coming into the office anytime soon. “I'll be at home, but other than that, it'll be just like an out-of-town job. You hold down the fort in the office and I'll work remotely.”

  “Understood. I've pulled the policy and the underwriting file and scanned it. You can access it on the network.”

  “Good. Was the building sprinklered?”

  “What do you think?”

  “I think not, but I had to ask. Do we have any documentation of recommendations about sprinklers?”

  “Actually, we have some damned fine documentation on that. The last time the building was inspected the inspector called the fire department and asked them about the need to sprinkler the building. The fire chief came out and did a special inspection. Said he thought the place was close enough to the fire department and they had enough fire extinguishers. He didn't think they needed to go to the expense of having the building sprinklered.”

  “He put that in writing?”

  “Well not exactly, but the inspector made a dated and timed note in his file. What is more, the building has been regularly inspected by the fire department and has never failed.”

  “I'm shocked. How long ago was that inspection?”

  “About four years.”

  “Does it give the name of the fire chief?”

  “Yeah. Name of Clarence Sanders. Why?”

  Bev sighed, “There's a new fire chief now. Sanders was an old guy who was kind of a nut. The current chief is going to freak when he finds out about this.”

  “You gonna tell him?”

  “Sure. This is my home town. I'm playing this one totally by the book. .... Oh, quit laughing!

  “In case Dave hasn't told you, he's off-loading all my other stuff. Give the file on the Dallas hotel fire to Steve. And good riddance. I hate arguing over all that financial business interruption crap anyway. You'll need to take care of everything else you can. If something blows up let me know and I'll do what I can or I'll ask Dave to transfer it.”

  “I know the drill.”

  Bev dressed and called Ed Casey. He said he was in his office and welcomed her to join him. She pulled into the parking lot at the fire station in fifteen minutes. Casey offered her coffee and filled her in on the cleanup.

  “You got a casualty list yet?”

  “It's just about finished but I can't release it to you yet because there are still a few unidentified people and some more whose families still need to be notified.”

  “Can you give me the names of the ones who've already been ID'd and claimed.”

  “Nope. Coroner will do that when he's all done.”

  “Okay. I guess I don't really have a claim on that information until the lawsuits start coming in. By the way my fire expert will be here tomorrow. Name is Ben Tucker. He's a former fire marshal from California and has been doing special fire investigations for twenty years. You'll like him. You gonna give us a hard time?”

  “Heck no. I'm familiar with Tucker's work. He's good. I figure if you're picking up the tab for him, I'm saving the town money and getting the best investigator money can buy. I'm good with that.”

  “I was hoping you'd say that. Can we manage not to knock down the building between now and tomorrow.”

  “If the weather cooperates. I don't think the wind is supposed to blow. We will preserve the evidence until Tucker can get here. Did you find out about the sprinkler system?”

  “Yeah. I've got some bad news about that....” She told him what her file indicated about the fire inspections.

  “That doesn't surprise me. Chief Sanders hated to ask the local businesses to spend any money. I checked out our inspection records. They've never failed an inspection. Since I've been in this job, I've recommended every business in town that didn't have sprinklers to get them. We use volunteer firefighters. I think businesses should spend the money for sprinklers. But, you're right. I've never failed an inspection solely because a business didn't have sprinklers.”

  “You'll testify to that?”

  “I don't think I want to get into the specifics with you about what I'll testify to, if you don't mind.”

  She grinned into the phone. “Okay. We'll both play it straight.” She sighed and stared at the ceiling for a long time. “This is gonna be bad for this town, isn't it?”

  “Yeah. You'll understand when you see the casualty list, but there are a couple of local families who were all but wiped out and a bunch of our prominent citizens were killed as well.” He paused and narrowed his eyes. “Have you checked in with all your friends and relatives.”

  Bev waved her hand in the air and made a face, “I travel all the time and I'm an unsocial recluse when I'm home, so I don't have many friends. My daughter was safe at home. My father's dead. My mother lives in Chicago. All the rest of my relatives are Mennonite farmers. We are not close, but I'm pretty sure none of them would patronize an establishment like The Barn.”

  He made an interested face, “You don't act like a Mennonite.”

  She laughed, “Long story short: I'm the hell-bent spawn of the shunned black sheep of the family.”

  He nodded. “Even so, this is going to be bad for the whole community. The coroner told me that the casualties amount to a little more than 1% of the town's total population. The rest of the community is going to demand answers from us -- fast.”

  “I know that drill. The insured is going to want money, also fast. And everybody is going to want to tear down that building immediately. I've been down this road before. We will take the time necessary to do our investigation. I promise you we won't drag our feet, but I will not be rushed nor will I pressure Ben Tucker to rush. You understand?”

  “I understand. And I agree with you. We're together on this, but I've got more bad news.”

  “Oh, let me guess. Since there are dead people and possible arson, the FBI wants to treat this as a murder investigation.”

  “How'd you know?”

  “I've been down that road before, too. My position is that just because somebody burns down a building intentionally doesn't mean he or she intends to kill people. I've paid claims for injuries and deaths that we deemed incidental even if I denied coverage for the building when my insured burned it. It's a fine distinction, but my position is that this is not a murder case until/unless we discover evidence that the target was people and not property.”

  “Tell that to the FBI.”

  “Oh, I will. Give me the name of the agent.”

  “You ever win those arguments?”

  “Once or twice. I usually can at least fend them off until we finish the fire investigation. FBI agents don't like to get their shiny wingtips dirty by digging around in the ashes of a burned out building.”

  “That would buy us a little time.”

  “Have you called Ron Mazzoli in for an interview?”

  “I talked to him today. He's coming in tomorrow morning. I'm assuming you will want to be there.”

  “You got it. If you'll permit me to participate, we can put him through the statement process together.”

  “You want a statement under oath?”

  “Probably before it's over. For now I think we should just talk. Is he bringing a lawyer?”

  “He didn't say. Are you bringing a lawyer?”

  “Not for this round. I'll catch hell for taking the insured's statement without my lawyer present, but whenever possible I like to avoid lawyering up too soon.”

 
“Who are you thinking about hiring?”

  “I haven't decided. I want a local guy to be the out-front person. I'll probably have to get a big firm from Cincinnati or Columbus to manage the lawsuits. None of my regular insurance defense guys are right for this one. You got anybody in mind?”

  “Actually, I think I do. There's a kid in town who's in private practice. As in solo. He's from one of the old families in town, fortunately it doesn't appear any of his relatives were in the restaurant. He does mostly family law and some criminal work, but he's local. He's very smart and he's connected in the Kiwanis and Rotary. He a deacon in the Presbyterian church. People trust him.”

  “I'll talk to him. Who's the city attorney?”

  “Fred Sizemore.”

  She laughed. “The city might want to rethink that arrangement.”

  “There's nothing I can do. He's been the city attorney for twenty-five years.”

  “I'll interview the kid lawyer. What's his name?”

  “Paul Morehouse.”

  “What time is Mr. Mazzoli coming in tomorrow?”

  “Ten.”

  “I'll be there at 9:30. I'll go see Mr. Morehouse after we talk to Mr. Mazzoli.”