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I looked up at Gray, who nodded. "I'll talk to him as soon as he's back on his feet."
The paramedic returned to the ambulance, and I thought I could lean against Gray again, just to close my eyes for a moment, but Sergeant Williams appeared next to us.
"The guests are being relocated gradually. However, both of you need to accompany me to the station."
"Why?" Gray sounded skeptical.
"Interrogation. It's standard procedure. This isn't about blaming you for anything."
"Can't it wait?" I demanded in a feeble attempt to shield Gray from further ordeal.
Sergeant Williams shook her head. "But we can leave now. There's nothing more you can do here and… well, if you're lucky, you might be able to go back to your house later. The fire department says it's undamaged. But more on that soon."
She guided us to the car and, lacking the strength to resist any further, I followed her, my hand tightly clasped around Gray's upper arm to keep my bearings.
36
AMELIA
Istared at the photo on the sergeant's phone.
"And the only reason the house is still standing is the… sprinkler system?" It was just a fleeting thought to which I had succumbed.
"Yes. That was quick thinking, Amelia. One could see from the side of the house that the flames had reached quite high, but the sprinkler in the back garden put it out before it could do any real damage."
I closed my eyes. So it had been arson.
"If I hadn't woken up to…" I began, suddenly finding my mouth dry.
Sergeant Williams had insisted on questioning us individually, so now I stared out the window, where Gray was waiting. That had been the compromise—because he had told her he would head straight back to the mountain otherwise, and she could shove her questioning elsewhere.
"Let's not even think about that. The situation now is four destroyed cabins. The fire didn't spread to the forest. Two cabins are intact. Apparently, the arsonist couldn't reach them."
"Because he collapsed on the porch?"
"The fumes from the fire accelerant are toxic. It's akin to mixing the wrong cleaning products… He probably lost consciousness because of that."
"That's speculation, right?" I pressed.
"Yes. But it will likely prove correct in the next few hours. We just need more information."
"Why he did it."
"Exactly. Do you know if anyone had anything against Gray or the B and B?"
"You mean besides the entire town population because rumors have been swirling for weeks?"
"These people understand its importance to the infrastructure. Without the bed-and-breakfast, without Gray Fletcher, this town would be in big trouble." Sergeant Williams sounded serious.
"Do you know anything about the arsonist himself? Did he have any ID on him?"
She shook her head. "Most of his clothes were burned. If he had any documents on him, they're now ashes and probably fused with his skin."
That was a ghastly detail that made my stomach churn. Why was she telling me this?
"But we did take a photo of his face. The guests we questioned didn't recognize him."
Then it was certain that I wouldn't recognize him either. I knew no one from the city, and even if Sergeant Williams were to show me photos of the guests now, I would barely recognize any of the faces.
