Quiet Enlightenment

Part 2, Chapter 14 - Skeleton

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Charmaine held onto her son and fought back tears as she watched the firefighters extinguish the final burning part of her dream. They had barely been home for a few hours before she got the call.

"Kenton! Mrs. Hayes!" A voice called out from a block away. Despite it being barely seven-o-clock in the morning, Olivia was ready to be there for her boyfriend and his mother. Without saying another word, she wrapped her arms around the two of them.

"Charmaine Hayes?" another person said, causing her to look up from the two kids grabbing onto her.

"I'm Mr. Nelson, I'm the fire marshal for this area." He said, shaking her hand.

"Already? They barely have the fire out!" Kenton exclaimed.

"I apologize for intruding, but I would like to ask you a couple of questions, if you don't mind." The marshal said. Charmaine looked at the two kids and nodded.

"Kenton, go back home and make some coffee." Charmaine said. With some hesitation, Kenton turned around started to walk away with Olivia.

Later that evening, the latest shift of officers was sitting down and getting ready for their briefing.

"Tonight, I'm sure you all have heard the news. This is the Night Owl Café on the corner of Panther and Jaguar. As you can see from the picture, it went up in flames early this morning."

"Hey, that's the place owned by Andre Hayes' old lady, ain't it chief?"

"That's the one. Normally, we wouldn't be talking about a fire, but Fire Marshal Nelson's preliminary investigation raises the possibility of arson. As you can see, there's evidence that an accelerant has been used. We have a sample on the way to Portland, and when we know something, you'll all be knowing. Now, I want to turn the floor over to Agent Sequoia Anson."

The detective-turned-agent from Illinois walked up to the front of the briefing room.

"Good evening. I am here to investigate the possibility that Butch Conner might be here. We were given a tip that he and his son were in Los Angeles, but that was a dead end, and we have reason to believe that he might be passing through the area to escape to Canada. Be on the lookout."

The chief took back the floor and concluded the briefing before allowing the officers to start on their shift. Instead of leaving, too. Anson found himself staring at the pictures of the smoldering shell of Charmaine's restaurant.

"Something catch your fancy, Agent Anson?" the chief said, trying to remain cordial despite having a Fed imposing on his "territory".

"Not really, it just brings back memories. When I was a sheriff, the guy I helped take down ended up dead in a restaurant fire. Restaurant's almost similar in style."

"I've been wanting to talk to you about this if you have a minute. Charmaine Hayes owns this restaurant. Sweetest lady I've ever met. Her son was Elias Conner's best friend. Gave the eulogy at this funeral."

Anson stopped and turned to the chief.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm sure you already know the Elias Conner case, but there was a little side-deal with the kid that Elias whacked where they tried to sabotage the restaurant. It's almost kind of weird that you think that Butch might be in the area, and then this happens."

"No kidding. That is a coincidence for the ages. If you don't mind the imposition, can I look over the case files you have on the Elias Conner case? It was closed when Butch and his missus were taken into custody, but now I'm curious to see."