Burn Patterns (28 page)

‘He didn't stay,' said Iris.

‘He's getting away,' said Scanlon.

Iris said, ‘He's not staying to enjoy his show.' She turned to John who she'd decided was a federal profiler of some kind. ‘We were thinking he enjoys the … results of his work.'

John said, ‘That fits.'

They returned to the screen.

The fire continued to spread. The silent vision was haunting, unreal. The fire spread up over one third of the roof like moss growing, like a tide coming in. It consumed the plastic netting, lapped at the wooden section.

Someone came up to a far wall and sprayed a fire extinguisher. Someone else waved a hose. At the other end zookeepers were pulling at the golf buggy. A white puff of smoke. The LPG cylinder rose up above the roof before falling into the enclosure, a hint of flame behind. The firefighting staff fell back. A whoosh of white, which the cameras or recording material couldn't handle, filled the screen for a couple of seconds. When they came back to the wide shot a third of the building was gone, the edge of the rest was smoking. The man with the extinguisher climbed up off the grass.

Iris said, ‘The fire just stopped.'

‘It was snuffed out. The easy fuel load was about gone, the explosion starved the fire of oxygen for enough time to kill it. The rest doesn't have enough heat to combust the heavier fuel.'

Charles Koch leaned on the doorjamb as if it were a saloon doorway and he'd just ridden into town. He was in jeans and boots, his fireman's belt buckle gleaming over a purple Rivers shirt. ‘How ya doin', Doc?'

‘Pretty good, Sheriff.'

Pavlovic said, ‘I thought you were working out of the Fire and Rescue op centre.'

‘I heard you were interrogating the doc.'

‘She's not a doctor,' said Scanlon.

Chuck sneered at Scanlon like he was a dried dog turd, then turned back to Pavlovic. ‘Maybe you should stop investigating your investigators so's we can catch this scumbag for you.'

Pavlovic said nothing.

Chuck said, ‘Yeah, I still got one or two friends.' He grinned at Iris. ‘The few I haven't taken a swing at.' Charles was happy, invigorated to be inside a big operation. Or he'd had a few glasses of scotch during the afternoon.

Iris said, ‘I didn't know he was there. I didn't know I was going to the butterflies until I went. Which means he's been watching me. He got his stuff, was ready by the time I got to the butterfly enclosure.'

‘What'd he use?' said Charles.

Pavlovic calculated before sharing.

Iris said, ‘Two oxygen cylinders and an LPG cylinder.'

‘He knew where everything was and how to get it,' said Scanlon. ‘Mapped out before he went in. This is a man who plans, he's very methodical and cool. Attracts no attention.'

‘Any signatures?' asked Chuck.

Pavlovic shook his head.

Iris said, ‘He didn't stay around. There were children, families, about twenty people. He lit the fire, jammed the exit, left without seeing the show.'

Charles grinned at Iris. ‘We must be getting close.'

Iris asked the media tech, ‘Is he the same man who was at the school?'

He looked to Scanlon, not Pavlovic.

Pavlovic said, ‘We're working the zoo right now.'

Scanlon said, ‘Show her.' He asked John, ‘Have you seen this?'

The psychologist shook his head.

‘Tell me more body language stuff.'

Iris noticed an identification card in a plastic folder suspended from the media tech's neck. He was a detective too. He changed thumb drives, opened different files. He hit play, and up came a high angle wide shot of the school gymnasium and the grass beyond. He said, ‘We have two angles. This is the only one showing the truck.'

It was an open-backed truck with metro landscaping painted on the side. Shovels and limestone blocks were visible in the back. When the truck did a U-turn on the bitumen they all strained to see through the front windscreen, getting only
dim reflections. The truck parked near a side door, leaving only a corner of the rear tray visible.

Chuck said, ‘He broke in the side door. Jimmied the lock. It's in the reports. Then he chained and padlocked it.

Hands came into the back of the truck, occasionally a hat. Rolls of reticulation hose were removed.

‘He works mostly the other side of the truck, so he's hidden by the gym wall.' The tech fast-forwarded the tape, pressed play again. ‘Except here.'

The man was up on the truck. He wore an orange visibility vest, a wide-brimmed hat. He straightened and waved off screen before picking up a large silver object.

‘The urn,' said Charles.

Iris said, ‘So who is he waving at?'

Scanlon, ‘We haven't found anyone.'

John said, ‘Us. He's waving at us. You can barely see it, it's a finger flutter.' He did the gesture, slightly effeminate, an ironic wave.

The man disappeared, the truck came forward, then veered out to the grass side of the gymnasium, no longer visible to the CCTV camera.

Chuck said, ‘He knows where the blind spots are.'

‘Yeah. He knows. You can see a bit of the truck from the camera near the home economics rooms, but not worth any detail. Here he comes.'

The man appeared again, coming back around the corner of the gym. He carried a broom, his head down.

Iris said, ‘You are right. He likes playing dress-ups. He likes props.'

John said, ‘You wear a high-visibility vest, you become invisible. The props are the things people notice.'

Chuck said, ‘Have you got him coming out?'

Pavlovic said, ‘We can go into that later.'

Charles said, ‘Why?'

Pavlovic said, ‘The timing of his egress might be crucial to the ongoing investigation.'

Iris thought this to be about an alibi, hers or James or whoever. They weren't sharing the time Zorro came out.

Scanlon said, ‘Keep us in the loop.' He pushed past Chuck who had to step out of the tiny media room to allow him to go.

John said to Iris, ‘He's a cool customer. He's done this before. I still think he's ex-military if not current.'

‘But why me?'

No one answered.

John followed the federal detective out.

Iris said, ‘Someone said something about a dog walker on the weekend before.'

‘On a couple of weekends.' The tech checked with Pavlovic who nodded.

Charles limped into the room, eased himself back onto a desk at the back.

The tech fast-forwarded. ‘It was set on a four-week turnaround, erasing the first week with the fifth week's recording. Luck for us. Bear in mind they're not recording twenty-five frames a second and they're saving in low-res.' People were kicking footballs, dogs walked, balls flew, all in a slightly jerky motion. It was the same angle as the previous shot. The tech went to another file, clicked on that.

A man in a dark coat and a floppy cricket hat. Sunglasses. He had a dog on a leash, a golden retriever. He walked into shot leading the dog. The retriever limped. The man regarded the camera. He was a long way away.

‘Does he have a fake beard?' said Iris.

Pavlovic said, ‘A scarf. We've got an enhancement. Pixilation noise so useless.'

Iris said, ‘It's a similar coat to the one worn going into the zoo.'

‘Yes.'

The man pulled the leash, dragged the limping dog out of shot.

A new shot came on. The same camera but in different light. It was later. The timer running at the bottom of screen showed 1713.

‘This is the week before.'

A woman with long blonde hair walked into shot leading a poodle. She wore the same coat, with a beanie and big sunglasses.
She walked like a man trying to walk like a woman. She went to the side of the gymnasium, disappeared near the side door. She re-emerged, walked away moments later.

‘Checking out the lock,' said Chuck.

‘Same man. Different dog,' said Iris.

Pavlovic said, ‘Dog hairs in the truck too. Lots of animal hairs on the truck seat. Looks like he scoped out the place walking his dogs.'

Chuck said, ‘Only the outside. I've been thinking about what you said at my boat, Doc. He knows where everything is. He comes prepared, sure, but he also knows the layout and precise technical elements.' Chuck asked, ‘Was a fire preparedness inspection carried out on the school gymnasium any time in the months before this?'

Pavlovic interrupted. ‘Thanks, Adam,' he said to the media detective, and, ‘Let's go get a coffee,' to Charles and Iris.

Pavlovic led them along another corridor.

Chuck said, ‘This place is hard to get into, by the way.'

‘Harder to get out of.'

‘Soldiers.'

‘Until we find the missing gas.'

‘How much is missing?'

‘From the calculations of the boffins, about half of what was stolen.' Pavlovic led them back into a detectives room. The desks were messy, some still occupied even after eleven on a Sunday night.

Chuck talked about the gas while Pavlovic dragged chairs over to his desk. ‘Diethyl ether is a strange choice. It can be used as starting fluid. Eighty-five to ninety-six cetane. Low flashpoint. Highly volatile. Not your regular bomb choice. Too bulky. Too unstable. As I've said, why it got away from him.'

Pavlovic said, ‘Ether, it's an anaesthetic.'

Chuck said, ‘Not anymore. Too flammable. It's used in laboratories though as a solvent. It can be mixed with other pharmaceuticals. Knockout drops and recreational drug use too.'

‘So, Chuck, what else you brought us?'

Charles said, ‘I've asked for more back files. The old people's home last year, the backpackers the year before, there's three house fires the year before I'm looking at especially one where the husband, wife and four kids were all killed. Security screens on all the windows and doors. Keys melt, but these keys might have been missing, which would be a fit for Zorro. Anyway, I
want to find out if any building inspections were carried out on those properties.'

Iris said, ‘And the school.'

‘I think it's how he gets the precise layout. It's not a firey, Doc, but you were close. He goes in as a fire safety inspector. Goes over where the water outlets are, what alarm systems are used, access points, probably disables some of the smoke detectors. Takes photos, does drawings, notes entrances, checks shift movements. He'd even be able to select the appliance he wants to trick up as the accidental ignition point.'

‘Scanlon. Yeah.' Pavlovic spoke into his mobile. ‘The building inspection done at the school gym. Yes. Yes, can we get descriptions of the inspector?' He listened, raising his eyebrows to Chuck and Iris. ‘Yeah, well back we go. I think the head of the sports department too. If this is our man, he knew when the coach was going on holidays. It might be the only time he doesn't wear a disguise. Oh, and we need to fast-track witness statements in at least two old cases Charles Koch is working. Can we get clerical help? Yes. Yes.'

Iris said, ‘Charles, can you thumbnail the earlier cases? Chronologically.'

‘I'm still getting more stuff in from police files, I reckon the deros were probably over a few years, not just December. Pretty sketchy reports, it's enough to look like a spree. Most of them were sleeping or passed out. Accelerant was poured over them and set alight. They wake up screaming, on fire and mostly they put it out. No one died. The ones in hospital were interviewed, not very thoroughly.' He shot a glance to Pavlovic.

Pavlovic nodded. ‘Deros.' It was not an endorsement. Simply an acknowledgment of past priorities. Possibly present ones too.

‘I've also got a teenage kid seen leaving one by a couple who came to the old man's rescue. I've got reports of two soft-drink cans. One's identified as Fanta, the other isn't identified. Smelled of petrol.'

Pavlovic, ‘Retest for prints?'

‘Weren't kept. Minor assaults. The following year Springsteen starts and no more deros are lit up.'

Iris asked, ‘Were they in parks, like the vagrants?'

‘Yes. Lover's Lane–type places. Where you'd park your car, deserted, private.'

‘Any on the coast?' asked Pavlovic.

‘No. I'll check again, mostly the hills.'

Iris said, ‘He's still a teenager. He can't drive. It's close to where he lives.'

Pavlovic made a note.

‘So, first these two are on a blanket near a creek, maybe under another blanket because the reports suggests in flagrante delicious-io. First thing they know their blanket is on fire. Petrol. No can found. Most might not be reported, of course.'

‘Why?' asked Iris.

‘Some lovers shouldn't be loving, either full stop or with whomever they're loving with,' replied Pavlovic.

Charles smirked then said, ‘I'm going to have to go get my notes if you want more detail, Doc. I think the next one was in a car. Door suddenly open, petrol tossed in. Doesn't light. The lover chases the kid. Thinks he's young although it's a gravel parking bay overlooking the city so it's dark, surrounded by bush.' Chuck took more time to think things through.

Pavlovic took more notes.

Chuck said, ‘I think young Zorro leaves cars alone for a while. Picnic blankets, couples sitting on benches. Always dark.'

Iris said, ‘Are they always lovers?'

‘Yep. Distracted when he sneaks up. He changes to lighter fluid halfway through the spree. Lights faster, I guess. Sprayed from the lighter can. Burns aren't as deep, mind you.'

Iris. ‘Does he spray both or only one of the couple?'

Charles thought for a while. ‘I'd have to check, but I think both are burned. Most of the times. I'll check it. By this time the police had stepped up their patrols, were taking the names of teenagers they found out and about. Sniffing them for petrol fumes.'