Page 71 of Charmed Forces

“I don’t know,” I said, “but I’m very suspicious about the cause of the fire and the fact that someone stole the recorder.”

“Did you bring this on us?”

“No, I...”

“You came here asking questions and then this happens?” he said, his voice rising just enough that his wife glanced over. He smiled at her and she went back to talking to Lily. “We put everything we own into this shop and only a few hours after you asked questions, someone does this? It wasn’t an electrical fire, was it?”

“I really don’t know. I think you should speak to Detective Graves and the fire investigator and insist on a full investigation. It might not be what it looked like.”

“Either way, I think you should leave.”

“I...”

“Please,” he said, “Just go.”

I nodded, turned and stepped out. There was no point upsetting him further. “Lily?” I said.

“Yeah?”

“Time to go,” I told her. “I hope you’re able to rebuild soon,” I said to the woman. “I have no doubt you’ll be very successful here.”

“Thanks,” she said. “It was nice of you both to check in on us. Thanks for the tips, Lily. I’ll try and come by the bar soon.”

“She was so nice,” said Lily as we walked away. “I think she’s feeling a little more upbeat now. She said there’re a few improvements they can make that they hadn’t thought of during the first remodel; and when I said I owned a bar, she asked me for business tips, which she said she’ll look at incorporating. It felt nice to be helpful. Did her husband give you the tape? Or a disc? Whatever it was?”

I glanced behind us. The man was talking and as he did, his wife’s mouth dropped open and she turned to look at us.

“The recorder was gone. It doesn’t back up anywhere so that’s it! No footage of who came into the coffee shop to get that order, and nothing on whoever made that place look like it caught on fire accidentally.”

“Why set the coffee shop on fire just to steal something?” asked Lily. “That’s awful.”

“I expect it was to cover up the burglary of the recordings. Possibly to make sure the owners have their minds full of this catastrophe and nothing else.”

“And they wanted to avoid any risk that the owners might recognize someone they served,” added Lily. “I feel terrible. If we hadn’t asked them questions, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

“It isn’t on us!” I said. “This is someone cleaning up after themselves.”

“Captain Brandt and Detective Crump saw us there.”

“I thought that when I first saw the news. I asked Garrett and he said Brandt was at the police station until he was called out and it looks like Crump was tailing me, although I haven’t seen him. So it couldn’t have been either of them. They could have told everyone on the squad, and anyone beyond that.”

“Damn.”

“I hope Angelica Randall can point us in the right direction. She’s my best lead currently.”

“Please tell me you won’t choose the firehouse red nail polish, then ask who sent the fire engine around to The Daily Roast?”

“I think that would be too obvious. Also, I doubt she knows anything specific about the business but she might know where her boyfriend was yesterday and she might have overheard something,” I said as we reached my car.

“Can’t wait to find out,” said Lily.

Blush was in an upmarket street, stuffed with designer boutiques that I would have liked to frequent but in practice, could only save for special occasions and browsing. The salon was one of the smaller units and had a pretty façade with a plate glass window and privacy glass that etched the salon’s name in a flowing script. A floral arch around the door made for a pretty entrance and when we stepped inside the black-clad hostess smiled warmly at us.

“How may I help you ladies?” she asked.

“We both have nail appointments,” I said.

“I see you’re new. Did you fill out the new client form when you booked the appointment?”