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past.
    “Wonder what’s going on?” Vera asked, as she began digging through her purse. She brought out her phone. “I’ll see if Paul knows.”
    As Vera was dialing Paul, my phone—which I had set to vibrate—buzzed in my pocket.
    Ted.
    I was right. He’d sent me a text saying,
Fire at a local business. Have to check it out. Leaving Angus with plenty of water and a rawhide treat. Be back ASAP. Love you
.
    “Ted says a local business is on fire,” I told the class. “I hope everyone’s all right.”
    *   *   *
    I was concerned about the fire for the rest of the night. On the way home, I looked to see if any nearby businesses looked damaged, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The fire must’ve been on the outskirts of town.
    When I arrived home, I was disappointed that Ted wasn’t back. I was afraid that meant something even worse than a business fire had taken place. Had someone been working in the building and been unable to escape? Had the fire been the work of an arsonist?
    I unlocked the door and walked into the house. Angus was standing in the foyer to greet me. I put my purse on the hall table and gave the dog a hug. He trotted into the living room to chew the rawhide Ted had given him.
    I locked the door behind me and went into the kitchen. I was beginning to feel tired after the class, and the rain that had started that evening—along with the sirens and the dread—had chilled me. I wanted a cup of hot herbal tea.
    I settled onto the sofa with my chamomile tea, my feet wrapped in a fleece throw, and had just reached for the television remote when my phone buzzed. I’d forgotten to take it off of silent mode. I looked at the screen and was relieved to see that it was Ted calling.
    “Hi, sweetheart,” I said. “Are you all right?”
    “I’m fine,” he replied. “And I smell like soot. So I came on home. I’m going to take a shower and hit the sack.”
    “Was everyone okay at the business that caught fire?”
    “Yeah. There were no people inside, but virtually everything in the building was destroyed.”
    “I’m sorry,” I said.
    “You and me both, babe. Remember my telling you about the business partner who inherited upon the death of our cold case victim?”
    “Yeah . . .”
    “It was his building . . . his business.” He sighed. “A whole lot of evidence in that case probably went up in smoke this evening.”
    “But surely he keeps backup files offsite somewhere,” I said. “Wouldn’t you think?”
    “Maybe,” said Ted. “But the man knew we’d reopened the investigation of his partner’s murder. What better way to destroy evidence than with an
accidental
fire?”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “Me, too. Hey, I know you won’t say anything,” he said, “but now you’re going to know the name of one of the principals in this investigation.”
    “No one would be able to pry it out of me under threat of death,” I said.
    “I know.” He laughed. “It’s not that big a deal anyway. I mean, it was in all the papers during the initial investigation. I just don’t want anyone to think I spoke out of turn.”
    “No one who knows you would ever think youcapable of doing anything to compromise an investigation.”
    “I’m glad you have such confidence in me.”
    “I love you,” I said. “And I know you. You’re a man of honor.”
    “You’re laying it on thick, Inch-High. Maybe you should get some rest yourself.”
    I laughed. “I think you may be right.”

Chapter Five
    J ust before I left for work the next morning, I got a call from Sadie telling me there was going to be a meeting of the Ren Faire merchants at MacKenzies’ Mochas at lunchtime. I called Ted and told him I was planning to attend the meeting.
    “Would you want to join me?” I asked, well aware of the hopeful note I couldn’t keep out of my voice.
    “I’d love to, babe, but I’m going over the details of the fire with the arson investigator at eleven thirty this morning. I was