Chapter 5: The Second Camera
The recovered footage was played in the community center.
Only a few residents attended.
Karen sat in the back.
Frank sat several chairs away.
Daniel stood beside a large monitor.
The footage began.
At first, nothing happened.
The road was empty.
Trees moved in the wind.
Then a dark pickup entered the frame.
It stopped near the service gate.
A man stepped out.
He looked around.
Then he opened the damaged gate.
Karen leaned forward.
Frank glanced at her.
Her face had gone pale.
The man disappeared into the forest.
Several minutes later, he returned.
He got into the truck and drove away.
Then, shortly afterward, Karen appeared on the road.
She was walking toward the gate.
She stopped.
She appeared to notice something on the ground.
Then she turned around.
The room stayed silent.
Daniel paused the footage.
“This does not establish who caused the fire,” he said. “But it establishes that the gate was accessed before the smoke appeared.”
Frank looked at Karen.
“What did you see on the ground?”
Karen swallowed.
“A small metal box.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“What kind of box?”
“I don’t know. It was near the gate.”
“Did you touch it?”
“No.”
“Where is it now?”
Karen shook her head.
“I left it there.”
Daniel immediately requested another search of the area.
By the following morning, investigators found the box.
It contained old maintenance equipment.
Nothing dangerous.
Nothing connected to the fire.
For a moment, it looked like another dead end.
Then the investigators noticed fresh tire impressions near the service road.
They matched the size and tread pattern of the dark pickup.
The vehicle was eventually identified as belonging to a private contractor working several miles away.
The contractor admitted entering the restricted area.
He claimed he had been looking for a misplaced surveying marker.
He denied causing the fire.
Investigators could not establish from the available evidence exactly how the fire began.
But one thing was now clear.
Karen had not been the only person near the forest.
And the original accusation against her had been built on timing rather than proof.
Frank approached Karen outside the community center.
“I owe you an apology.”
Karen looked at him.
“You accused me.”
“I questioned you.”
“You looked at me like I had burned the forest.”
Frank nodded.
“I was wrong to assume.”
Karen looked toward the hills.
“You weren’t the only one.”
For once, she didn’t sound angry.
She sounded tired.
Then Daniel walked toward them.
“We found something else.”
Frank and Karen turned.
Daniel held up a photograph.
It showed the dark pickup.
Behind it, partly hidden by the trees, was another vehicle.
A county maintenance truck.
The investigation wasn’t over.
