The Cure - IV

I saw the smoke plume from miles away. When I arrived, the police and fire department had the whole block cordoned off. My Midtown apartment was obviously a total loss and they are hosing down the surrounding buildings to keep it from spreading.

A young woman wearing a New Orleans Fire Department jacket approached me and asked, "Are you Sawyer from 2C?"

"Yes Mam. What happened? Mrs. Tran kept a tight ship. Everything was up to code and inspected twice a year."

She showed me a badge, "I'm Alice Miloy. I'm an investigator with the fire department. We're going to try to figure it out. Right now we're just trying to make sure everybody got out."

I said, "Everybody worked so the place was pretty much empty during the day. The owners lived on the first floor. Mrs. Tran was there all the time. Her sons Hien and Gia are college age. I'm not sure where they go but they are usually both out by 7:30."

Miloy asked, "What about 3B?"

"3B are the Benard brothers. They work off shore and won't be back until next week."

Miloy nodded and said, "Thanks Mr. Sawyer. I think that accounts for everybody."

I said, "Miss Miloy, what happened here?"

She said, "I can't really get into until it cools down and we can look around but right now my gut is telling me its arson."

I shook my head in disbelief. "No way the Trans would be in on an insurance scam. They were straight arrows."

She said, "It could be anything from a pissed off ex to a fire to cover a burglary."

"What makes you think its arson?"

She took an instrument off of her belt and pointed it at the fire. "This gadget tells me how hot a fire is. Most structure fires top out around 1500-2000 degrees. Take a look at this."

She showed me the laser thermometer- it was reading 3700 degrees.

"Unless someone had a closet full of thermite, this fire is burning too hot. There is some sort of accelerant at work here. I'll have to get the lab results but I'm sure. We see this sort of thing in high end insurance jobs- they want the structure to burn fast and completely. It burns so hot that anything inside is completely incinerated: bodies, evidence, contents. With fires that burn this hot, there'll be nothing left."

* * * * *

After exchanging cards with Miloy, I got in my car and headed to Pierre's for a late lunch. I made a call to a friend who owned a cheap motel in Gentilly and secured a room for a few weeks.

As soon as the call was done, my phone rang. I answered, "Sawyer."

"Gabe Crenshaw boss. I ran down those names for you. They are all problem kids from big money families across the South."

I asked, "Problem kids?"

"Yeah. Partying, drugs, DUIs and rumors. Nothing solid. According to what I've dug up they were all in some kind of trouble. Then they went away for a year and change- I don't know rehab or something. The cover story is that they were studying abroad. That's not clear. When they all got back they were model citizens."

"Thanks Gabe. Write it up and email it to me. I'm beginning to think that list is important."

"Sure boss."

"Gabe, what are your plans for the weekend?"

"I don't know. I'll probably study at the dorm."

"Go see your folks in Gulfport and call me Sunday before you come back."

"Is this stuff that hot?"

"I'm beginning to think that it is."

I finished the call and got another another one almost immediately.

"Sawyer."

"This is Detective Brenner. You know a kid named Frank Luckett?"

I said, "Doesn't ring a bell."

Brenner said, "He's a sophomore at Tulane. He had Dr. Hess for World History I and II this year. We found him dead in his apartment this afternoon."

I asked, "Does it look related to the Hess case."

"When we started investigating him, we found out that the Feds were looking at him. It appears that he was some kind of hacker. Same M.O. It's definitely looking like it is related."

"Detective I'm beginning to get down right paranoid. Somebody torched my apartment building this morning sometime little after eleven o'clock."

"Sawyer, whatever you got from Hess is like plutonium. It's killing everybody that it touches. We've got to talk, maybe get you in a safe house."

I looked at my watch and said, "I've got to see a source at Oschner's Clinic at three. What you say I meet you downtown about five."

"Good enough for me. Watch your back."