Slow Burn by S. L. Stoner

Author:S. L. Stoner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical, racism, martial arts, pacific northwest, arson, firefighters, mystery action
Publisher: S. L. Stoner

* * *

For the second time that afternoon, Sage charged into an office without knocking. This time, he was trailed by the clerk who futilely tried to grasp his coat sleeve while squeaking, “Sir, sir. . .”

Stone was in the midst of talking with two men sitting across the desk from him. Both had notebooks in their laps and pens between their fingers. Sage’s abrupt entrance halted Stone in mid-sentence. He calmly studied Sage for a moment then said to the two men, “Gentlemen, if you could wait outside? We will continue our review once I have addressed the reason for this interruption.”

Without a word, the men rose and returned to the reception area. “Roger, please close the door.” Once they were alone, Stone said, “What is so urgent that you had to steamroll over Roger?”

“I need to know,” Sage began in a raised voice. Stone glanced at the door and snapped, “Keep your voice down, Miner. These walls are thin. The others will hear.”

Sage sucked in a deep breath, then said quietly, “As I was saying, I need to know exactly what you think is going on with these arson fires. I have a woman whose house is under siege by a bunch of thugs, two innocent people in jail, one of them just a kid, and Andy Hosier is still missing. I am certain it’s all related and I want to know how.”

Stone put his elbows on his desk and his head in his hands. When he looked up, he looked determined. “As I’ve told you, I can’t tell you who I’m working with. I also can’t tell you at this time who we suspect. We’re still trying to put the pieces together. I will tell you that we think the arson attacks are for the purpose of defrauding our member insurance companies. We don’t know for certain whether anyone from the fire department is involved and we don’t know which insurance agents, if any, might be involved. We certainly don’t know who is setting the fires. That’s why we need you to observe the spectators at the scene. As I told you two days ago, firebugs like to watch the fires they set.”

Sage took a seat across from Stone. “How do you plan on finding out who is involved and how long will it take?”

“Our problem is that, if a local insurance agent is involved, we won’t get accurate information about the burned building from that agent. We’ve had to write the national offices of all the various insurers to see if they’ve paid out on the same addresses. It takes time. Roger out there has been working his fingers to the bone getting those letters typed and mailed. And, some of our biggest companies are proving awfully slow to respond.”

Sage silently considered Stone’s information. The pieces softly clicking into place was almost a physical sensation in his head. “Thank you,” he said.

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