The Mystery of the Flaming Ranch

Chapter 2

I brought the suspicious man into my office to talk privately. He seemed very uncomfortable in this situation, but I guarantee that, no matter how uncomfortable he was, I was even more uncomfortable. I have anxiety. This man was very suspicious, and I wasn't used to my customers being so professional. I overthought every little thing. Was I in trouble? Am I getting shut down? What if he asks for a case I'm not able to solve? I should've cleaned my desk; he probably thinks I'm a pig! Should I up my prices? Okay, maybe not the last one, but I was definitely in a panic. I sat down in my chair and almost instantly I started tapping my foot. I was extremely nervous like I had mentioned before. It didn't help that he wasn't saying anything! He was just sitting there either watching me or looking elsewhere.

"So why did you come here? Not to be rude or anything..."

"Oh, right. I have a case for you." He said, "I'm Nathan Tyler, a detective for the police department and I'm having trouble. I figured I could hire you to help."

"Well, what is it?"
"It's this Amish family ranch that caught on fire down in the countryside." he said.

"This case is going to be really costly if I'm working my ass off to figure out the cause of a fire."

"I'm aware of that." He said instantly.

So we talked for a long while about this case. Let's start at the beginning. Ever since the early 1900's there has been this ranch called Schneiders' Produce. They sold milk, different types of meat, cheese, spreads, veggies, and other goods. During the fall they would participate in farmer's markets and sometimes even carnivals. The Schneiders were Amish, so they had the most natural fresh foods around. The town loved them. As the years went by, the farm continued to expand. Every generation was included in the work and every generation lived on the ranch. The farm survived decades of disasters and recovered each time, coming back stronger than before. That is until recently when it caught on fire. It took all night to burn down both houses and the two barns. Every member of their family was asleep in these houses and the fire killed all of them. The Schneiders used kerosene lamps and candles to light their home, so maybe one of them got knocked over by a cat or something or they forgot to blow it out. Either way, this was going to be a simpletwo-day case.

We went to the site where the ranch burned down and looked for any surviving clues but didn't find any. Shocking right? We went to the neighbors to ask questions about the family. The neighbors to the left were too old, but the neighbors to the right knew just enough for us to document.

The Schneiders farm was around for three past generations, who all lived together on the ranch. A man and woman named Marley and Betty Schneider came down back in the 1960s when they first married to find a place to settle and grow a family. They claimed a large selection of land and started building their foundation. They started off with a singular log cabin and a small barn with only four to five cattle. In 1976, they had a little boy named Daniel. Daniel, according to the family was really close with their youngest son. He grew up working on the farm until he met his wife Helen, and they had their own child. In 2009, they had their son Dalen, who also grew up working on the farm.

"So, this supposed fire killed the whole family?"

"Yup." said Nathan.

"How is that even possible? I mean look at how far away the houses are!"

"So?" Is this guy an idiot?

"Nathan. Look at the grass. It doesn't look burnt at all. The only burnt grass is the bits around the houses where the fires were."

"Maybe the grass has grown back?" Seriously. Was he for real?

"No dumbass!" I sighed, "Listen, it's getting late. For now, let's just go home and go to bed. We're both extremely tired."

"I had five cups of coffee,"

That's when I interrupted, "Okay! I AM extremely tired. And I need to go home before I lose my damn mind!"

I stormed off to my car, leaving him behind. I don't care if I drove him there. He can call an Uber! Nathan Tyler was utterly stupid, AND insane! But I'm sure he felt the same about me in that moment. I took a deep breath and sighed. I felt my heart pounding in my chest as I drove home, feeling a mixture of anger, hurt, and confusion. Why would the police station suggest the stupidest detective ever to be my assistant in a serious investigation? Are they trying to make a fool of me? I banged my forehead against the middle of my steering wheel, accidentally honking the horn at the car in front of me.

I took a deep breath and counted to ten, trying to calm myself down. I forced myself to relax and focus on the task at hand. I was determined to find out what actually happened, and I was not going to let anyone stand in my way, not even my idiotic assistant. I don't care if he says he hired me to help him. I might as well be the professional here!

I pulled into the parking lot of the large apartment building, parking in my usual spot near the entrance. I havelived in the building since I moved out of my parents' house. I believe I was just turning eighteen when they kicked me out. I grabbed my purse, water bottle, chapstick, hairband, and car keys. I then put all my stuff in one hand before walking into the building. I took the elevator up. The music was decent that day, which meant my friend Kendra was working and was given radio privileges for the day.

I fumbled with my keys for a minute and then unlocked the door, heading instead. i took my coat off and threw it off to the side and onto the floor. Next, I kicked my shoes off and let them go wherever. I just wanted to sleep. My apartment is huge. I have this amazing kitchen with marble countertops and an island. The sink even has a shower nozzle! I have one of those L-shaped couches, but it's covered in pillows and throw pillows so you can barely tell that there's a shape to it. But it's comfortable, so I assume you already know where I went. I didn't even bother to fix my blankets., I just flopped down onto the couch and lay there. I fell asleep almost immediately.