Page 12 of Flash and Bang
Ada frowned, shaking her head. “I have a hard time believing Greg Mason would do that and yes, anyone involved in the setup would have to have been blind not to see it. It could have been anyone involved in the setup if it really was sabotage, but that’s what I’m having a hard time with.”
“Anyone in the crew you mean,” Jarrett added.
“Well, yes. The public wouldn’t be allowed near the display during setup or prior to the launch. And this display was set up as an electronic launch.”
“As opposed to a manual launch?” Thayne asked.
Ada nodded. “Yes. In smaller fireworks displays, the pyrotechnics experts would launch shells manually, but in a large display like this, they are hooked up to a central board which is then programed to launch the various colored ball or cylinder shells in a timed detonation. Large displays are sometimes choreographed to music. That type of show is called a pyro-musical and in a show of this size, it would have to be set up way ahead of time.”
Jarrett squatted and examined the launching system and Thayne watched him swivel and look back at the bleachers. He seemed to be studying the trajectory of the shells that had gone into the crowd by virtue of where the remnants of the tubes pointed.
“With the crowd that far off, how is it that there were so many injuries?” he asked, pinning Ada with a questioning look.
“The explosion happened right before the show so a lot of families were watching the setup,” Ada explained.
“So there would have been a lot of witnesses to what Greg Mason or the crew was doing,” Thayne conjectured.
“Yeah, but they wouldn’t know what they were lookin’ at,” Jarrett argued. His face was asserious as Thayne had ever seen it.
“Witnesses stated that they were told to stand back,” Ada said, “but we get a large crowd and it’s difficult to control everyone.”
Thayne sensed the investigator took the incident very personally. Whether it was because she knew the lead fireworks expert, or because she had been responsible to make sure that the licensees were trained and had passed their continuing education classes, he couldn’t be sure. What was clear was that she was becoming somewhat short-tempered and Thayne noticed her glance at her husband more than once, probably for moral support.
“The truth is I find it hard to believe Greg Mason would have let anyone get close if he was on top of things,” Ada said, stiffly. “He knew the danger to the public. That kind of mistake is rare when a professional crew is putting on a show. You might find that kind of carelessness with hobbyists who sometimes go out of their way to take rather large risks to try to outdo each other, but professionals are much more careful. Their livelihood depends on them maintaining their licenses and safety is always the top concern with handling explosives as you both know. I can’t believe Greg Mason would have been so lackadaisical. He ran his crew like a true professionaland they knew he had high expectations of them.”
Thayne noted her frown. She’d obviously respected Mason very much and he could tell she felt his loss. She walked them over to a pile of debris a couple of hundred feet away which was much closer than the bleachers. Along with scorched earth, the stench of smoke remained in the air, though less so than it had been when they were standing right beside the site of the detonation. It was sickening to know that some spectators had been injured where they stood. Thayne could clearly see remnants of what must have been fireworks, and the remains of medical intervention… the cap of a needle, gauze pads stained with blood and soot, and a rubber tourniquet littered the area. This spot must have been where at least one patient had been treated by paramedics or fire personnel. It was chilling to see.
“Son of a bitch,” Jarrett swore and Thayne turned to see him squatting again, staring down at the ground several feet away. When Thayne walked over, he saw a well-loved rag doll with the remnants of singed red yarn hair where a child had dropped it. Droplets of blood stained the ground beside a woman’s tennis shoe which had been abandoned nearby. Thayne put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath, glancing out over the horizon as anger pooled in his gut.
“How can someone do this to another person intentionally?” Ada suddenly asked, as if she’d thought about it for the first time. “He must have known there would be families here.”
“You’d be surprised what one person can do to another,” Jarrett said through gritted teeth. His jaw was set rigidly and his anger was palpable. “But this ain’t no war zone. This is innocent life and this bastard’s gonna pay for his crime if it’s the last thing he does.”
Thayne wanted to reach out and touch Jarrett’s shoulder but his partner took away that option when he stood and strode away from them, back toward the site of the explosion.
“He gonna be okay?” Ada asked after Jarrett was out of earshot.
“I imagine so. This probably puts him right back in the Marine Corps if I were to hazard a guess,” Thayne replied grimly.
Ada nodded, glancing at her husband as he stood beside Jarrett just outside the yellow police tape. “I hear that. Alfie did three tours in Afghanistan and he still wakes up with nightmares. I don’t know what it is he had to deal with over there but whatever it was, he doesn’t share it with me. It’s one reason they’re so close to their buddies in theCorps. No one else can understand what they went through but another one of them.”
Thayne nodded as he squatted, looking over the site from the perspective Jarrett had seen it when he’d been there. A crushed Coke can, a crumpled newspaper, an empty tube which once had cotton candy around it, and two tiny rolled-up yellow papers lay among the other detritus. The atmosphere had been carnival-like with kids and families having fun. He stood back up and glanced over at Ada. “We have photos of this site for later reference?”
She nodded. “Yes, of course. I can send you back to LA with copies.”
Thayne watched Jarrett’s back as he stood with Captain Carrillo, wondering what he could say to make him feel better. He knew something about the site got under his skin and as far as buddies went, Thayne got that too. What Ada had said went for cops and firefighters as well. The brotherhood existed for that purpose. There was a high rate of divorce among men and women in uniform for that very reason. Not all spouses could cope with the nightmares, the mood swings, and the closeness those who sacrificed had to their brothers. Thayne turned, walking beside Ada as they went to join her husband and Jarrett. “So besides the cockeyed launch tubes,what else might make this sabotage and not an accident?” Thayne asked as they walked up to the two men.
“Well, for one thing, the crew has a perfect safety record, having never had an accident like this before and the lead, Greg Mason, had been putting on shows for twenty-five years. He only had two new interns on his crew this season and he would have done an extensive background check on both before hiring them. That’s in addition to the background check that we do when we license anyone who handles fireworks. And yes, before you ask, Special Agent Evans, I did review their applications and have them ready for you to take a look at back at the SDPD’s offices.”
Thayne watched Jarrett narrow his eyes as he stared at her. The tension between the two of them was now palpable.
“Okay, so, I know that you’re not basing this investigation on the say-so of possible suspects so please tell me why we should be willing to give Mason the benefit of the doubt on your say-so. Please tell me what I’m missing, Investigator Carrillo,” Jarrett growled. “To me, it seems Mason is the most likely suspect. He ultimately had control over this scene. You may have known the guy for a long time but thatdon’t mean he ain’t the primary suspect.”
Thayne frowned at his partner, resisting the urge to reach out and punch him for his tone alone.
“I wasn’t basing my investigation on the say-so of possible suspects, Special Agent Evans,” she said curtly. “Actually, out here you can see that most of the evidence has been destroyed by the explosion. If someone had tampered with the display, then it would be nearly impossible to tell. Since the dead man was on the pyrotechnic crew, it’s hard to believe that one of his coworkers could have pulled anything off in front of him. The fact is, there’s also the note which was delivered to the base commander’s office in which the perpetrator took responsibility for the sabotage. I should think that’s worth looking into.”
Thayne’s jaw dropped as his partner gaped and threw him a disbelieving glance. The way his body coiled as if he wanted to scream was as impressive as it was frightening to watch.