Chapter 2: The Statement
The county investigator arrived less than an hour later.
His name was Daniel Mercer, and unlike Frank, he didn’t approach Karen with an accusation.
He approached with a notebook.
That made Karen suspicious immediately.
“Am I being charged with something?”
“Not at this time,” Daniel said.
“Then why are you asking me questions?”
“Because your vehicle was seen near the forest perimeter.”
Karen folded her arms.
“I was driving through my own neighborhood.”
Daniel wrote something down.
Frank stood several feet away, keeping his phone in his pocket.
The investigator asked Karen what time she had been near the forest.
She gave him an answer.
Daniel checked his notes.
“The camera places you there eleven minutes earlier.”
Karen frowned.
“I don’t remember the exact time.”
“That is understandable.”
His calmness seemed to irritate her more than an argument would have.
Then he asked why she had stopped near the protected-forest sign.
Karen hesitated.
“I was checking something.”
“What?”
She looked toward Frank.
“This isn’t his business.”
Frank finally spoke.
“If the whole neighborhood is worried about another fire, maybe it is.”
Karen glared at him.
“You’ve been waiting for an excuse to blame me.”
Frank shook his head.
“I’ve been waiting for you to stop making this about me.”
Daniel raised one hand.
“Let’s keep this factual.”
He asked Karen whether she had touched anything near the forest entrance.
“No.”
“Moved anything?”
“No.”
“Spoken with anyone?”
Karen paused.
“No.”
Frank looked at her.
That answer bothered him.
He remembered seeing her earlier that afternoon near the old service gate, talking to someone.
But he couldn’t remember the person’s face.
Daniel left with copies of the available camera footage.
By sunset, the fire department had contained the immediate threat.
The neighborhood remained tense.
Residents stood outside their homes watching smoke disappear into the darkening sky. Some had garden hoses ready. Others checked on elderly neighbors.
Frank went home and reviewed the footage again.
This time he slowed it down.
Karen appeared at 4:17 p.m.
At 4:19, the second figure appeared.
At 4:22, smoke became visible.
Then Frank noticed something strange.
The second person wasn’t walking toward the forest.
He was walking away from it.
And in one frame, something small and reflective was visible in his hand.
Frank zoomed in.
It looked like a key ring.
He suddenly remembered the old service gate.
Only a handful of people had access to that gate.
Frank stared at the screen.
Karen might have been telling the truth about one thing.
She might not have started the fire.
But she had clearly been checking something.
And she had never told anyone what it was.
