Justice

"Your honor, Assistant District Attorney Roger Melton pleaded before Judge Brandon Lock, there were exigent circumstances. A twelve-year-old child was being held against her will by the defendant, Mister Parsons here. The officers believe he was about to torture, rape and kill her. There was no time to get a warrant if the officers were to save Brandy Linton from that fate. What if it was your daughter or your sister that Mister Parsons had taken and was about to torture, rape and then kill? Would you require the police to get a warrant?!?! It was three in the morning, your honor, that meant they might have to wait until nine or ten to break in. They had every reason to believe that Brandy would be dead by then."

But, your honor, defense attorney Melvin Young was on his feet saying, my client was only talking to Miss Linton. She wasn’t bound, gagged or in any immediate danger. The doors were not locked, she was not being held against her will. My client did not take Miss Linton away from her parents, she sought him out. My client did nothing wrong.

He’s a child molester, Melton said. He had lured Miss Linton to his house. It’s all on his computer, everything including kiddy porn. He was in chat rooms for kids to lure young innocent girls like Miss Linton to his house.

Your honor, Young said, chatting with a twelve-year-old is not a crime. Furthermore, the computer was seized after the police arrested my client. As I said, they had no warrant. They broke in and arrested my client. He was engaged in nothing more sinister than feeding Miss Linton a well-balanced meal before he called her parents to come and pick her up. Any evidence found at my client’s house, including the contents of his hard drive were the result of an unlawful search after an unwarranted intrusion into my client’s house.

Your honor, Melton pleaded realizing he was losing the case. Judge Brandon Lock was the most liberal judge on the bench in Allegheny County. It was Melton’s misfortune to draw Lock. Any other judge and this would have been a slam dunk for the Prosecution. The police found various perverted sexual implements that I wouldn’t even consider using on my wife. He was going to use them on a twelve-year-old innocent virgin!

Your honor, Young said still on his feet. Those sex toys are all legal. They were not in any place that would allow Miss Linton to see them. They were not even in the same room as the two of them. My client has stated he had them for sexual fantasies with consenting adult women, not twelve-year-old children. My client has no record of abuse, sexual or otherwise......

Only because he hasn’t been caught, Melton chimed in.

That’s enough, Mister Melton, Lock said.

The only evidence against my client is the result of an illegal search after the police illegally broke into my client’s house and illegally arrested him.

It would seem, Mister Melton, Lock began, that Mister Young has a point. The police may have believed that Miss Linton was in danger, so I’ll allow the fact that they broke into Mister Parsons’ house without a warrant. However, once inside, it should have been obvious that Miss Linton was not in any danger. We cannot arrest someone for a crime they may commit in the future. This is not that Tom Cruise movie, this is real life. Therefore, all evidence obtained by the police after they broke in including the kiddy porn, is out. If they would have gotten a warrant it might be different, but they did not......

Your honor, Mister Parsons would have gotten rid of it if that would have been the case, Melton argued.

Nevertheless, Lock pointed out, they did not have a warrant, and once inside there was no exigent circumstances since the girl was not in any visible danger. Everything that the police got after they broke in, is out. If you want to try Mister Parsons for having dinner with a twelve-year-old, you may.

Your honor, Young stated, since the only real evidence against my client of any rapes and murders is what the police found after their unlawful search, I ask that you dismiss the charges against my client.

Do you have any other evidence, Mister Melton? Lock asked.

Not that we can use to get a conviction at this time, he answered.

Very well, I’m dismissing the charges against Mister Parsons. Since there is no jury, there is no jeopardy attached, and the State is free to try and make a case against Mister Parsons, but unless you can convince me that the evidence in Mister Parsons house would have been discovered by other means, it is out and will stay out. Is that clear, Mister Melton?

Yes, your honor, Melton said defeated as he put his stuff in his brief case to leave. Across the aisle, Parsons was shaking Young’s hand, thanking him. Then the bailiffs told Parsons that if he comes with them, they will get his stuff so he can leave.

After Parsons left, Melton turned to Young. Well you’re lucky you drew Lock, or else your client would be in jail where he belongs.

Yes, Young said. Sometimes I hate this job. Parsons is fucking slime. We both know he was going to torture, rape and kill that girl, but because he hadn’t got that far when the police arrested him, he gets to go free.

Come over to my side of the aisle, Melton said. The DA’s office can always use a good attorney.

No, Young said, as much as I hate slime like Parsons, I believe in the system. Someone has to make sure your side doesn’t cheat.

Maybe, Melton said, but I can sleep at night, can you?

The fees I charge allow me to buy sleeping pills, Young said, smiling. Dinner?

You buying? Melton asked.

Fuck no, Young said, I won, that means you buy?

Fine, but personally I think we both lost.

Maybe, was all Young said as he walked to his car to head to a bar for a nice stiff drink before his dinner.

Chapter One

Dispatch, Four Truck is on the scene. We have a three-story brick house, ordinary construction. We have fire blowing out the front windows and the Sector D windows on the second floor. It appears to be an abandoned house. We have an exposure in Sector D. That house appears to be abandoned also. Four Truck is establishing Command. Give me a second alarm."

Well that pretty much sums it up, Bart Meadows the captain on Four Truck thought as he stood outside the building on fire. The Deputy might actually get here before BC Two. We’re only four blocks away from Number Four.

Jerry, you and Dan open up the roof, Meadows told his driver, Jerry Smith. Then turning to his probie, Kurt Leland, Meadows told him to stay with him.

Ten Engine was calling in for instructions. Meadows told them to take a hydrant and go to the rear of the structure. He wanted them to take a line into the third floor. They’d have to put a ladder to the window. He also told them to leave room for the truck if the chief wanted it in the rear, Sector C.

Linda Kertchbaum was the Deputy on this shift. She had been Deputy for three months, filling in for Mark Heron who had a broken leg. He would be out for another three months. Linda had gone from the Captain of Thirty-two Truck to the Deputy Chief of this shift. She did that because for a year her and her team, her husband, Fred Mandelman, Police Homicide Lieutenant Stan Jaworski, and County Fire Marshal Malcolm Greene had worked for the Secret Service to protect President John Thomas from being burned to death by former Pittsburgh Deputy Police Chief Robert Johnson. As an incentive, Linda, her husband Peter and Fred were all promised a two-rank jump. Linda was a captain at the time, so she became a Deputy. As soon as an opening occurred, Linda was made a Deputy Chief.

She didn’t feel like she deserved it, she didn’t pass the tests that were required to get that rank. She knew she could do the job, but she didn’t get it the way you were supposed to get it. The Union and Fire Chief Steve Hanssen had agreed that she would be a Deputy Chief. Her and her team took every firefighting and rescue class that it was possible to take. The Secret Service had no way of knowing what would and would not be needed to protect the President from Robert Johnson. Since Linda was the leader of the team, she was also given all the command classes. So now, in addition to being considered a Deputy Chief by the Fire Department, she also had more national certificates than anyone else in the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire and had as much knowledge of fire behavior and tactics as anyone. She still felt that she had been given an unfair advantage, but like her father and others had said, life gives everyone certain breaks. This was her break, and for the remaining three months, she was going to enjoy being Deputy Chief before she had to return to Captain and await another opening for Chief.

Linda was very young for the position of Deputy Chief, and that was another thing that bothered her. When she was a probie at Number Four about eleven years ago, Don O’Neal, was promoted to BC Six. He was in his mid-thirties and many people thought he was too young to be a Battalion Chief, that he didn’t have enough experience. Now eleven years later, O’Neal was the Deputy on a different shift, and Linda as the Deputy on this shift was about O’Neal’s age when he became a Battalion Chief.

She had blonde hair which she liked to keep above her shoulders. She would like to have it longer, shoulder length, but it was just easier to put it in her nomex hood and helmet at this length. She was married to the love of her life, Peter Kertchbaum, or Kertch as he was known to everyone, even Linda, that or big boy, for reasons that she didn’t share with others.

Kertch was Linda’s second husband. Her first husband, Tim Mathews had been killed by Robert Johnson in a fire he set for the purpose of killing Tim. It was Robert that first saw what a beautiful and sexy woman Linda was, something even she didn’t see in herself. Now after about five years of marriage to Kertch, she also believed herself to be beautiful and sexy. She would never show that side at the station, but she had been known to dress rather provocatively for certain formal functions, functions that other firefighters also attended. Deputy in service, Linda said as she got into her car to head the four blocks to assume command of the fire.

She had listened to the companies on Channel Six. She listened to the Lieutenant on Four Engine, Lester Archibald give his report. That report was followed almost immediately by a slightly more detailed report by Bart Meadows on the Truck. Now she was only a block away from the fire. Heavy black smoke was visible in the sky. It was only eight in the morning, and it was a beautiful blue sky on this nice spring morning.

She arrived at the fire about the same time as BC Two, Nick Cutler. Ten Engine was taking a hydrant and Three Engine was asking for instructions. Deputy on the scene, assuming Locust Command. BC Two will be Operations. Then she gave a situation report that was virtually the same as Meadows. When she finished, she went to Meadows to confer with him. Cutler was there also.

Talk to me, Bart, what do we have? she asked.

Linda, Four Engine is taking a line in the front. We have no visible fire on the first floor. They are headed up to the second floor to fight the fire. I have Ten headed up to three from the back. Three is uncommitted. Half my crew is going up to the roof to vent. I called a second alarm for extra manpower.

Good, okay Bart, ladder the building and start breaking the glass. Laddering the building meant putting a ladder on every side that had a window in case interior crews had to get out fast. If they didn, they already had a ladder in place. Next she turned to Cutler and said, Nick, you want to take the interior?

Yeah, Linda, I’ll be your eyes and ears inside.

Good, thanks, Nick, she said as Cutler went to his car to get an SCBA.

Lieutenant Scott Robinson was heading up a ladder to the third-floor window. As the Lieutenant, he would be the first one in the building. He would make sure there was a floor and it was safe before he had his crew drag the hose line inside.

Robinson had been a probie at Number Three when Linda was a probie at Number Four. Linda’s first Captain, Rick Smith was now a Battalion Chief on a different shift. Robinson’s first Captain, Mike Dombrowski had transferred to Twenty Engine a few years ago. Twenty was a lot slower than Three and since Dombrowski was close to retiring he wanted a slower company. When Hanssen took the captains off the engines and put them on the trucks, Dombrowski retired instead of going to a truck.

Robinson looked at Linda and thought that if he had been sent to Four instead of her he might be Deputy now, but in his mind, he realized he could never do the things she had done. In fact, he realized that if he had been in her place at the Harrison House fire, if he had to repel down to save Kertch, they would both be dead now.

After Linda repelled down to Kertch, who hated her because she was a woman doing a man’s job, she hooked him on to her harness. Then she lowered the two of them down to the tenth floor. Kertch had been repelling down to ten when an explosion on fifteen caused him to break his shoulder and he had to hang on his rope for dear life.

On the way to ten, Linda’s rope burned through as she was at the eleventh floor. Somehow, she managed to catch the eleventh-floor balcony, support her weight as well as Kertch’s and come up with a plan to save both of their lives before she became too weak to hold on any longer. Robinson, as much as he would have liked to have had Smith for a training Captain realized that if it was him and Kertch, then even if he could have caught that balcony, he could never have supported their combined weight with his arms. Even if he could somehow, he never would have thought of Kertch swinging so his momentum would carry them into the tenth floor when he let go.

That was Linda’s true strong point, and Robinson, and everyone else knew that. Linda Pavak-Mathews-Kertchbaum could think on her feet better and faster than anyone. She had saved herself and others on more than one occasion because under pressure she came up with a hair-brained plan, and it worked. As a Deputy Chief, she still did that, but now, Robinson and everyone else knew, most of her plans were designed to get the fire out with the least danger to the firefighters. No one could see as many variables so quickly and figure out a way to get the fire out while putting her firefighters in as little danger as possible. As much as Robinson was envious of her, he was glad she was his Deputy and secretly hoped that Mark Heron didn’t return.

Mark Heron wasn’t a bad or unsafe Deputy, just the exact opposite, but no one, no other Deputy or even Hanssen, could see all the options and pick the correct one like Linda Kertchbaum could.

Chapter Two

The smoke on the third floor was thick. Robinson put one leg over the window ledge after he broke out the glass and cleaned it out of the window. Then sitting on the window, he took the head of his axe and pounded it onto the floor. When he discovered that the floor was still intact and not spongy, he climbed into the window and signaled for his people to advance the hose line.

Jim Wilson was on the nozzle, he had been at Ten before Robinson went there as the Lieutenant four years ago. Behind Wilson was Robinson’s probie, Tray Gordon. Gordon had been his probie for four months. He was learning quickly. Robinson vowed he would not do like Dombrowski did, Gordon would get the nozzle as soon as he was ready and not have to wait a year like Dombrowski made Robinson do.

Once the two firefighters were inside the third floor, Robinson let Wilson lead. He had the nozzle, he would find the fire first. Gordon was behind Wilson and Robinson was in the rear. He could look out for his people there.

Four Engine had taken their line in the front door. They found no fire on the first floor and headed up to the second. As they ascended the steps, they found heavy fire. Like Robinson, Archibald was behind the nozzle. When the nozzle man saw the fire, he opened up on it. Archibald then radioed that they would need a second line because they had heavy fire.

Cutler was on his way into the building and Linda was outside looking at what she had. She sent Three Engine in the front door with another line. As she did, she saw the fire break a window on the exposure building. That had to mean the fire would spread to that building. Dispatch, Locust Command, give me a third alarm, she radioed.

BC Four, Robert Parker was her Safety Chief and he was now standing next to her. What do you think, Jim, she began, should I call them all out and go to a defensive attack? These are just abandoned buildings. If I go defensive, we are going to have nothing but basements when we’re finished, but no one will get hurt.

You make a good point, Linda, but as a firefighter, what would you want the Chief to do?

I’d want him to let us fight the fire, she said, but I’m not a firefighter anymore.

So, let them have some fun, he said. You can always pull them out. Besides if it is just basements, how will arson figure out the cause.

Okay, she said. We’ll let them play. I’ll put the second alarm on the second and third floor of the fire building and the third alarm next door.

Sounds like a good plan, Chief, he said. I’ll check out the back and make sure everything is fine back there.

Thanks, Jim, and have Fourteen Truck put ladders to the windows Four didn’t ladder, second and third floor, she said and continued to stare at the fire.

The smoke on the third floor was getting heavier by the minute. Wilson had stopped and opened up the line on the ceiling in case there was fire above them. They had discovered that there was still furniture in the building as he kept running into it while doing his left-hand search with the nozzle in his right hand. He had his left hand on the wall and was dragging the nozzle with his right hand. He figured there were three bedrooms on the floor, either that or two bedrooms and a bathroom. He was expecting to find fire, since there was smoke on the floor. He heard the sound of a chain saw above him.

Roof Division from Ten Engine, Robinson radioed.

Ten Engine, someone radioed back.

Roof, we are below you, let us know before you drop the roof on us.

No problem, Ten, Jerry Smith told Robinson.

Once out of the bedroom and into the hall, the three of them saw the fire. It was roaring up an opening from below. Probably the stairs between us and the second floor, Robinson thought. Wilson opened the nozzle on the fire as soon as he saw it. It was heavy fire and it was just starting to roll over the ceiling.

It’s rolling on us, Jim, Robinson said.

I see, Loo, he said and went to a wider fog to cover more of the ceiling at one time. It covered more of the ceiling, but it had less reach. This meant the fire would come closer to them, but the nozzle covered more of the fire in one pass.

Command, Ten Engine, Robinson radioed, and without waiting for an acknowledgment continued. We have heavy fire on the third floor. It’s rolling the ceiling. We need another line up here.

Help is on the way, Ten, Linda radioed and turned to her Go Team. Lieutenant, take your people and get two lines off Ten Engine. I want you on the third floor, I’ll send the Safety Chief up to take command of the floor.

Right, Chief, the lieutenant said and had her men moving toward the back of the structure.

Then Linda turned to Meadows, "Bart, change of plans, you are Division Three command. Take the probie with you, he can hump hose if needed.

Right, Linda, he said, and turned to Leland. Come one, probie, time to earn our pay.

Dispatch from Locust Command.

Command, the Channel Six voice answered her.

Dispatch, the Captain of Four Truck is now Division Three Command. Send me a fourth alarm and an investigator. Fourteen Truck from Command.

Fourteen Truck, Joe Lyton the Captain radioed back.

Fourteen Truck, when you are finished with your assignment, I want your crew to search the exposure house and let me know about any fire there.

"Affirmative, Command, we’ve finished laddering the building and we are heading to the exposure building now.

On the third floor, the fire was slowly moving forward on the crew of Ten Engine. Robinson knew that help was on the way, it was just a matter of holding out a little longer. If he kept the fire at bay until another hose line arrived, they would be okay. Wilson was playing the hose around the ceiling. The rollover was slowed, but the flames were still moving forward and now the walls on the third floor in front of them were crawling with flames. The heat was rising and if Robinson didn’t get another hose line soon, he was going to have to back out.

On the roof, Smith and Lodeman had completed all the cuts they needed. It was now just a matter of making the last cut and letting the roof drop into the attic and then open the ceiling between the third floor and the roof. Ten Engine from Roof, Smith called.

Ten, a very worried Robinson answered.

Ready to drop the roof. We are in the middle of the structure.

We’re clear, Robinson told him.

On the second floor, Three had joined the battle along with Four. With the two hose lines they were making some progress. There was a lot of fire on two, but they were creating an island in the sea of flames. Still a third hose line would be better. Cutler, now in command of that floor, believed that there were three rooms on that floor. A third hose line would be one line per room. He knew that Linda had enough to worry about and knew what he needed. She told him a third line would be here shortly. He knew she was a woman that kept her word.

Lieutenant Janet Townsend was in charge of the Go Team. She took a line off Ten Engine and climbed the ladder with it. She didn’t charge the line. She decided there was no fire in the bedroom they were going to enter and with the line dry, she could advance it faster. She had the line, because she was in the lead. She wanted to get water on the fire so Robinson and his crew would be out of danger. The rest of her crew was bringing up a second line and Meadows was heading up there for command.

Once in the room, she followed the hose line to the door. As soon as she saw the fire, she told the pump operator on Ten to charge her line. The water rushed to her nozzle, straightening out the curves and kinks in the line as it went. When she had water, she opened it up on straight stream, sending the water toward the fire trying to devour the crew of Ten Engine.

In the exposure building, Lyton had divided his crew into two groups. He and his partner checked the second floor for victims and the other half of his crew went to three to check that floor. Smoke was moderate and there was a little visibility. He knew that Linda had the third alarm slated for this building. What she needed to know was where the fire was. It wasn’t that difficult to find. It was in the bedroom closest to the other building on fire. When he found it, he told Linda that? It was one less thing she had to worry about.

When Smith and Lodeman made their final cut in the roof and let it drop, a column of fire erupted out of the hole. Command, we have fire in the attic, Smith radioed. Roof Division is now getting off the roof.

Affirmative, Roof, Linda said. Division Three from Command.

Division Three, Meadows radioed back from his new position as third floor commander.

Division Three, you have fire in the attic above you. What is your status?

Command, he radioed, we have three lines on the fire. It is retreating back toward the stairs.

I’ll send your truckies up with pike poles so you can open the ceiling.

When Janet Townsend hit the fire with her water stream, it caused the fire to blacken down and retreat back toward the stairs. When it did, Wilson turned his nozzle down to a much narrower fog pattern and started to advance on the fire. Robinson followed him. It had been close, but once again it would be the firefighters that would win this round.

Chapter Three

The fourth alarm was arriving. Linda sent the truck company to the second floor of the fire building. She sent one engine company to the third floor of that building to help pull ceilings. There was still fire above them in the attic, but it was under control and they needed as much of that ceiling pulled as possible to fight that fire. The other engine company was in reserve. Twenty-four Engine, the arriving engine on the second alarm, was now her new Go Team, having replaced her old Go Team that was still on the third floor fighting the fire.

Linda was standing there in front of the building looking it over and again talking with her Safety Chief. Things were to the point now that Cutler was Operations for the entire fire and Meadows was acting as company officer of Four Truck and helping to pull the ceilings. As she was talking to Parker she heard, Dispatch, Official Four on the Scene, assuming Locust Command. Hanssen had arrived on the scene.

Hello, Chief, Linda said when he walked over to her.

Hello, Chief, Hanssen replied. Personally I don’t know why I bother. You don’t need me. So how are we doing?

Under control, she said. Not officially, but in reality, it is. Just a matter of time now.

Good, he said. Anything I need to know about?

Nope, she stated matter-of-factly.

Good, that’s the way I like it.

Four Engine was in the master bedroom. It appeared to be devoid of furniture. The fire was knocked down and that was when Archibald made the discovery. It was the one thing he didn’t want to see. It was something no firefighter ever wanted to see. He called Cutler and told him he needed to come to the second floor.

Cutler was on three when he got the call. He could tell from the tone of Archibald’s voice that it wasn’t good news. He walked down to two and went to the bedroom Four was in. He saw it as well. Command from Operations, he radioed.

Command, Linda radioed back.

Command, you need to come to the second floor and see this.

Linda just looked at Hanssen and Parker. She wondered what Four had found. She shrugged her shoulders and said. On the way, Operations. She walked over to her car and put on her SCBA and masked up. Then she proceeded to walk to the second floor.

She followed the hose lines and went looking for Four Engine. The smoke was gone, and she probably didn’t need the mask, but it was her rule; even during overhaul, unless the room is fully vented to the outside, firefighters will wear SCBA’s. Carbon monoxide is a byproduct of incomplete combustion, and incomplete combustion is highest during overhaul.

Much of the second floor was black with a heavy deep alligator charring. It had been a hot fire, she could see. She wasn’t an expert on arson, but she also figured someone had poured an accelerant on the second floor. The first floor was free of any fire damage, just some smoke damage and a lot of water damage.

She went to the left and discovered Three Engine fighting the fire. Linda didn’t ask where Four Engine was. She figured since she was in here, she might as well take a tour of the floor where the fire started.

There was a little fire in the bedroom Three was in, but not much. She told them they did a good job and then heard a bell sound, a low air bell. Now they were ringing in much of the second floor.

She went the other way and found Four Engine and Cutler. Their bells were going off as well, but they were waiting for her. She saw it as soon as she entered the room. It was a body. It appeared to have been a man, and he was badly burned. He was laying on the floor, but there was still a rope around his left wrist. Linda looked up and saw two eye hooks in the ceiling where he had to have been tied. She told Four and Cutler to leave, their bottles were going off. She radioed Hanssen that she was sending out Four Engine and BC Two, but she would stay inside. She told Hanssen that BC Two would explain. Then she picked up the nozzle and began to extinguish any other fire in the room. She decided that no one else needed to see this. It was bad enough that Four Engine, BC Two and herself had to see it.

Chapter Four

Jaworski," he said as Stan answered his phone in Homicide.

Stan, it’s Linda. I’m at a fire on Locust, and I need you to respond here. After BC Two and Four Engine changed bottles, they were back up to that room. They had seen the body, there was no need for Linda to stay up there by herself. The fire was really under control so they didn’t have to worry about the amount of work they might have to do.

Are you asking for me as a member of your team, Linda, or as a Homicide officer?

Homicide, Linda said. I’m asking for you personally. I don’t know if I have that authority. I asked Chief Hanssen and he says I can, but your boss or bosses could overrule me.

What do you have?

Just let me say, it’s murder, and arson was the weapon unless I’m mistaken.

I’ll be there, Jaworski said and hung up. Then he walked into his boss’s office. Jill, I just got a call from Deputy Fire Chief Kertchbaum requesting me at her fire. She says she has a murder victim there that was killed by fire.

Accidentally or on purpose? Homicide Commander Jill Bowen asked.

Linda seems to think it was murder. I don’t know.

Jill thought a few moments and said. Are you working on anything right now?

No, Stan answered. I’m assisting in a few homicide investigations and overseeing a few also, but I don’t have one of my own.

Fine, she said, and looked around. Barrows, do you have a case you’re working on?

No, Commander, he replied.

Sergeant, you’re with Lieutenant Jaworski. Then Jaworski and Barrows left to get in Stan’s official car.

When Jaworski and Barrows arrived, Jaworski saw that two county fire marshals were standing there with Linda. Jaworski recognized them both from his days in Pittsburgh Arson. They were Ted Hastings and Frank Willows, Hastings having slightly more seniority and the one that usually took the lead. Hastings was about average height, with sandy blond hair and rugged good looks. Willows by contrast was short, shorter than Linda with a bald head that he shaved every day, and average looks, neither handsome nor ugly. When Jaworski and Barrows approached, he saw a smile and then a frown on Hastings face.

Well Stan, he said, someone seems to think this is a murder scene. So did they ask for the big gun or was it just your turn?

They asked for the big gun, Jaworski said, but all they had were me and Barrows available. He shook their hands when he said that. Then he turned to Linda. So what’s up, Chief?

Linda looked at her good friend Stan Jaworski, whom she had known all her career as a firefighter and was the person that she fought for the most to be on her team to protect the President from Robert Johnson. He was just a little taller than her and still worked out, but not like he used to. He was in good shape, but now, in his forties, he just wasn’t as motivated. He had a fair complexion, black curly hair and brown eyes. When she first met Jaworski he had a handlebar moustache which was his main source of pride in his appearance, but again as he got older he decided it was just too much work and didn’t care about it so he shaved it off about a year or so ago.

He went to Homicide as a lieutenant after Johnson made him the leader of the task force to solve the murder of a firefighter that was burned to death by an arsonist. The irony was it was Johnson that was the arsonist. Johnson didn’t think that Jaworski, the former arson cop, was smart enough to figure out Johnson was the murderer. After he did, the Pittsburgh Police Department realized that Stan Jaworski was a great Homicide detective, and kept him on.

Barrows, Linda didn’t really know. She had seen him at different fires that were ruled murders, but never really talked to the man. He was tall, well over six feet, very good looking, even better than Hastings, or for that matter Kertch or Robert Johnson. He had dark hair, dark eyes and a somber face until he smiled. Then his smile lit up his whole face. He had worked Homicide for three years now, after working Robbery for four. He had a trim and lean body much like Kertch’s, only less muscular than her husband’s.

Now that the whole gang is here, Linda said, I’ll tell you what we found. Four Engine found a burnt body on the second floor in the front bedroom. I’m not an expert, but it appears that the body has ropes on one hand. So I’m guessing it’s murder, but what do I know, I’m just a blonde. She smiled when she said that.

That’s true, Jaworski said, you do realized the bill of the helmet goes to the front, right?

It does? Linda said, and turned her helmet around. Here all these years I’ve been wearing it backwards.

Hanssen was watching the exchange and smiling. Stan, maybe you and Chief Kertchbaum should take your show on the road, two shows a day at different fire stations.

Good idea, Chief, Jaworski said. But seriously, I guess we should go up and look at this body. How soon can we get inside the building?

We should be wrapping up soon, Linda said, I’m going to release the fourth alarm and shortly the third alarm. I’m guessing you can get inside in twenty minutes.

Fine, Jaworski said, Steve and I will go over to the Sally Wagon and check out their donut selection. Ted, you and Frank want to join us and pretend you’re real cops?

Sure, Hastings said, nothing like a donut with real cops to set the tone.

As they walked away, Hanssen looked at Linda. Chief, I’m leaving for now, but I want you in my office today at three. Don’t be late, he said. The only excuse I’ll accept is a fire. Is that understood?

Linda swallowed hard, wondering what she had done. Yes, Chief, she said. Then Hanssen walked away. As he did, she kept asking herself what she had done wrong and why did Hanssen want to see her in his office.

Chapter Five

It took half an hour before Linda could leave and turn the scene over to BC Two. She wanted to ask Cutler what she had done wrong, why Hanssen told her to be in his office at three. She went over everything she had done in the last three months as Deputy. She felt that she didn’t get the job fairly because unlike the other Deputies, she didn’t take the test. She also spent no time as a Battalion Chief, but still, she thought she was doing a good job. Now Hanssen demanded she be in his office at three. Well at least this fire is under control, she thought. It may be the last fire I’m ever in charge of, but it’s all but out and no one is hurt. I like being a Captain, I can do that. I’ll still take the test for Battalion Chief. When I get this position, I’ll just be that much better. Then whatever mistake I made, I’ll correct. Then she had another thought. Could he be upset because I tell everyone to call me Linda, not Chief or Deputy? Maybe I should start demanding they call me Chief. I don’t know! I guess I’ll find out soon enough. With those thoughts of doom and gloom, she climbed back into her Deputy Chief’s car. Guess I’ll have to take Gracie’s car seat out of the back. Could that be what Steve is upset about? Then she drove back to Number Four.

Half an hour after Linda left, Cutler told them it was safe to enter the building and begin their investigation. Everyone had already talked to Cutler and the crew from Four Engine. They knew what to expect in the front bedroom. Jaworski talked with Hastings. Between the two of them, they decided that Hastings and Willows would look for the source of the fire to determine if it was arson or not. Jaworski and Barrows would look at the body to determine if it was murder.

It would seem straight forward. The body was bound in some manner and then the house was set on fire, either to kill the victim or to mask the fact that the victim was already dead. The killer might have thought that the fire would cover the signs of murder. It wouldn’t, but many murderers didn’t realize that, but it might not be murder and arson. That was difficult to imagine, but you still needed to keep an open mind.

They climbed the steps. They noticed that there was little fire damage to the steps, but tons of debris on them. When the ceiling had burned, it fell onto the steps. When the water put out the fire it washed parts of the walls and ceiling onto the steps. Those steps were the natural cascade for the exiting torrent of water. When the water cascaded down the steps, it took the debris with it, just like any natural waterfall or cascade would, but most of the debris didn’t make it out of the building. Much of it ended up on the steps.

The quartet slowly made their way to the second floor. They had to look for places to put their feet. Fire hoses had been on these steps and that helped, but still in places it was impossible to see the steps from the debris on them.

At the top of the steps it was different. There was heavy fire damage to the walls and all the ceiling was missing. In a few places there were holes in the third floor, but for the most part, the floor above them was intact. Jaworski was guessing this wasn’t the origin of the fire, not if an accelerant was used. Jaworski knew that Ten Engine came in the back-bedroom window on the third floor and didn’t find fire there, so Jaworski thought the fire originated in either the front or middle bedrooms. If it was the front bedroom, where the body was, then unless this was suicide, it would be hard to miss a body when you set that room on fire.

As Hastings and Willows started looking for the seat of the fire in the hallway, Jaworski and Barrows went to the front bedroom. They saw the body lying in the middle of the floor. It was burned beyond recognition. The body appeared to have been nude when the fire started. Jaworski could see what was left of a penis and assumed it was a man.

He didn’t touch anything, instead both Homicide detectives put on latex gloves. Well, Steve, Jaworski said, this looks like a bad day to have worn a good suit. It was different when I was in arson, I knew not to wear good suits. I didn’t think I’d have to do this today.

Tell me about it, Barrows replied, looking at very little water on the floor, but a lot of debris.

Jaworski knelt on one knee. Then he reached down and raised the right wrist of the victim. It appeared he had the remains of a hemp rope on his wrist. Jaworski dropped it and raised the left wrist. There were the remains of a hemp rope there as well. It wasn’t as much, but some remained. Next Jaworski got up and went