The Lost Prince

Starting Fresh

Eric Knight lay awake in the dorm he shared with 9 other kids between 8 and 17, him being the oldest as this would be his final night in the Orphanage he had lived in since he was just a few weeks old. Because he had been cut from his dead mother's womb, and there was no genetic match to the registry for the father, he was unadoptable. It had left him to this miserable place where he had learned from an early age that the only way he landed on his feet was if he left on his own terms.

So he did what no one else in his school did, he volunteered for summer school. He crammed so many credits into his time at school, that he was far ahead of everyone else, as well as paying for advanced placement and dual credit courses that counted as college credits. When he wasn't in school, he managed the front of house at a small diner that had 60 tables that would be packed Thursday through Sunday. The owner Damien Starr had hired his as a bus boy at just 10 years old.

Eric however had quickly proven he had an eye for the small details of running the business, using every trick he could think of to make the experience better for the customers. At 14 he had taken over as front of house manager when he had shown he not only could handle it, but thrived under the pressure. Especially as he had been the one to step up when the manager of the time had a massive heart attack. His quick and calm reaction had saved her life, despite the fact she was forced to retire early because of her health.

Eric knew he was ready as the next day was his high school graduation anyway. He had already made plans for a short term apartment so he could work the summer before he went to MIT in Cambridge Massachusetts on a full ride scholarship as well as nearly $200,000 over what the cost was for his first year. He had refused to speak as valedictorian, refusing the recognition despite the fact that he was the one with the highest grades and most volunteer work as his work at the Orphanage qualified for despite the fact he was paid for it. As soon as they told him it required a speech, he absolutely refused even with the 5,000 scholarship it came with.

So he sat through the entire ceremony with pride in his accomplishment, despite the fact that he had not one friend in the entire student body. They all made fun of the fact that he worked so much, all of them thinking he was just a waiter at the diner. The one and only reason he had come, he wanted his diploma that he received from the disappointed principal after the class President and airhead had been the runner up but taken the position he refused.

So he got into the old beater car he had restored by himself despite his boss Dimitry thinking for three years it was a lost cause. It had taken 3 years of meticulous work to get it running again, but he knew every nut and bolt in it as he had essentially rebuilt the entire thing by himself. When he pulled into the parking lot however, his heart sank as he saw thick black smoke pouring out the exhaust fan as he killed the car in the lot and ran into the kitchen. Before he could open the door though, a fireball sounding like a cannon shot from it. Eric wrenched the door open and saw a disaster zone as the blast had been worst in the kitchen with the fryers spewing boiling oil everywhere that was igniting into smaller fires. Before he could stop himself, he grabbed the suppression system handle and pulled hard as the system covered the entire kitchen in a white powder that smothered the entire fire. The only issue, the fryers were burning to intensely to be extinguished, which was fueling the exhaust fire that was quickly spreading as he ran in and began dragging the injured kitchen staff as he heard the sirens from a few blocks away. His use of the system had initiated an automatic call, none of it slowing down as he grabbed Dimitry last and dragged him out as the front of the restaurant opened and the guests evacuated before turning to see the problem as flames shot 30 feet into the sky.

Eric was preparing to go in to do a final sweep of the interior when the fire department arrived, quickly running in to ensure that there was no one else so they could address the fire.

The paramedics began treating the 4 cooks, Dimitry coming to to watch as the flames spread from the vent into the attic of the building and just began eating the building as the smoke intensified. He sat beside Eric as they watched the firefighters put in a valiant effort to save the building, the intensity of the fire making suppression efforts difficult as the water they used was evaporating before it could even touch the flames. Over 4 hours they battled the blaze, the news finally calling it a 5 alarm fire as 5 different stations had been dispatched to battle it as Dimitry watched in horror as his life's work went up in flames.

"What was it?" Eric asked Dimitry.

"Grease fire in the vent system, we used all three kitchen extinguishers, but they just fueled the fire it seemed. Then it exploded and it was like a bomb went off in the kitchen, I woke up out here." Dimitry said as the fire chief was listening.

"When was the last time it was serviced?" Chief Watson asked.

"3 days ago, every 3 months as required by license. Submit paperwork with all inspections every quarter as required, last done yesterday." Dimitry replied in his unusual way of speaking.

The chief pulled out a tablet and looked at the files he had access to and nodded, the service receipt showing that a level 3 cleaning had been performed by the city contractor as required every 3 months for at least 10 years. He looked from the tablet to the building before he looked at Dimitry again. "Your sure it was a grease fire?"

"Yes sir, type 1 extinguisher spread flames from exhaust vent into fryers. Where it come from, I don't know as we only pay for and maintain type 4 extinguishers for kitchen. Even they barely effective, only slowed progress before we ran out and fire exploded." Dimitry told him pulling up the security system that automatically uploaded to digital storage. It clearly showed a grease fire coming directly from the exhaust vent like he said and showed what they were using as they were high quality cameras for his system.

"Do you have footage of when they cleaned?" Chief Watson asked as Dimitry qued the video to Sunday and showed him how to work it. He watched, his hands gripping the phone until his knuckles were white as the contracted cleaner spent less than an hour in the building. "A level 3 cleaning takes at least 6 hours, he was there barely one and never even glanced at the vent." he steamed as he opened up his tablet again and reviewed the provided statement of service that clearly showed vent cleaning.

Eric watched Chief Watson make a phone call, it was clear he had just found a major smoking gun into the cause of the fire that utterly destroyed Damien's Restaurant. He overheard talks about warrants and arrests being planned as they stayed and watched until they put the fire out. They watched Chief Watson not waste any time as he began collecting evidence of the ventilation system and other components of the kitchen that only had one wall still standing and then skeletons of appliances that had been functioning perfectly just a few hours before.

"You no worry, I call brother in Boston who was a restaurant. He give you work while in school." Damien said pulling out his phone as the sun began to set as the police taped off the scene as it was now an active crime scene. The news spreading through town like wildfire, as everyone had assumed it was some kind of accident.

"What will you do?" Eric asked his boss and friend.

"Rebuild, might take some time and effort. But Damien's will reopen better than it was before." he said sounding sure of himself. "My brother says he has small apartment over garage you can stay in until you get own place."

Eric nodded as he hadn't even been thinking about that at the moment, he was more concerned with his friend who had months worth of rebuilding to do once they allowed him to start the process as the Chief walked over to them with several totes worth of evidence.

"How many months worth of footage do you keep Mr. Starr?" Chief Watson asked him.

Damien smiled looking at him. "I have last 5 years saved, ever since incident I was sued over." he answered as Chief Watson smiled.

"Evidence clearly shows this was a grease fire from an improperly cleaned and maintained kitchen. I want to review your tapes to prove that the contractor has been negligent and as such is responsible. We will also have to review your cleaning practices however as well." he explained as Damien nodded.

"We do level 1 daily, level 2 weekly and level 3 quarterly. I even have receipts for level 4 cleaning every year." Damien said as Chief Watson looked at him.

"There is no authorized level 4 cleaning. Level 3 covers the entire building." Chief Watson said as Damien pulled up a file in his phone and showed where he paid for a supposed level 4 cleaning just 6 months ago. As well as the same thing every year like clockwork for at least 7 years. "Oh shit." he said as Eric looked at him.

"You are suspecting fraud, aren't you?" he asked as Chief Watson nodded.

"With a level 3 cleaning every quarter that you have receipts for, there should be no possible place for grease to build up. The intensity of this fire and what I have seen so far of the evidence, tells me that there was at least several years worth of buildup. With you records and logs, I think we are about to have a big scandal with the city contractor." he explained as Eric nodded.

"What this mean for me?" Damien asked.

"It means we need to secure the scene for some time so we can investigate along with your insurance. Once it is finished we can allow you to begin rebuilding."

"How long?" Damien asked frustrated.

"Several months, minimum." Chief Watson said uneasily.