Chapter Nine
“Are you telling me someone tried to kill me?” Mel felt the same abject terror she had felt in Florence, staring at the flashing blade of a knife. She hung on to her pendant, trying not to broadcast her fear. Breathe in, breathe out.
“No, ma’am,” the chief replied. “I’m saying that it appears there was a hole in your gas tank, and the gas fumes ignited. It was probably the pilot light on your—”
“I didn’t smell gas. Not until the fire started,” Mel said. “Just smoke.”
“I’m simply telling you what the guys saw out there.”
“I don’t see how they could see anything but ruins. There wasn’t anything left.” Nothing. Not a scrap of clothes or books. Well, there were pieces, but that was all. Little scorched pieces.
“They found enough to determine that the gas tank exploded and th
