Chapter 25

I walked through the front doors and the newness of the building, only a few months old, immediately struck me. Unlike the crime labs seen on TV, the walls were not all made of glass. In fact, the entrance was a large, very nice lobby with a central desk. A single uniformed officer sat behind the desk, typing away at a keyboard.

I walked up to the desk and politely waited for the officer to acknowledge me.

And I waited.

When I turned to go to one door leading further into the building, the officer said, “You do not have authorization to go any further.”

I turned to face the officer again. He continued to focus on the monitor of his computer rather than look up at me. I knew not all the officers in Arlington saw me as useful or anything more than a kid, but this was flat out rude. I looked around again, wondering if maybe there was a phone I could use to call Lieutenant Stanfield or someone else who could help me.

The officer finally stopped typing and looked up at me. His expression never changed. He looked bored. His aura, a deep blue almost identical to his uniform, betrayed his disgust.

“Lieutenant Stanfield sent me,” I told him immediately. I looked around at the doors and said, “Lorraine knows me.” I looked back at him and said, “My name is Ral Sutton.”

His aura instantly shifted from disgust to deep loathing, even though his expression never changed. I didn’t know what I had done to deserve that type of reaction. Then he pointed off to his left and said, “Have a seat.”

Did I even have a choice? Not having any kind of official status with either the police or the forensics team, I didn’t have the clearance to be there. I looked him over one more time, catching his name above his badge - Fischer - and then I stepped over to the plastic seats along the wall.

Officer Fischer went back to hammering on his keyboard. Why was I sitting and waiting if he wasn’t calling anyone to confirm my story? And, almost immediately, he stopped typing and picked up a phone. He made a phone call but only said five words. Then he called someone else. It didn’t sound like it had anything to do with my presence, either. Did I have a choice? Oh, sure, I could leave, which was probably what he wanted, or I could force my way past the doors to let someone know I had arrived. Someone had to know I was coming. Mr. Foster, or Lieutenant Stanfield, had probably talked to several officials regarding my presence here. However, I also realized forcing my way past the doors to go talk to anyone would probably give Officer Fischer all the more reason to cuff me and drag me away. If Senator Hammon was basing his bill on the fear and bigotry this officer expressed, then he wouldn’t have any opposition.

Sitting there, staring at the gloomy weather outside, I wondered how I would get past this goon. I thought about everything that had happened since I gave Stanfield and Hathway my statement. It wasn’t like I was just here to hang out or cause trouble. There was a purpose for my presence. More than my need to know whether my telekinesis left my DNA on anything I manipulated, the police needed to know, too.

Wouldn’t it be a simple process? I would move some things around and the scientists would swab them for possible DNA samples. Plus, it was plausible they would want to know HOW I manipulated things. Hell, I wanted to know that myself.

One particular member of the crime lab crossed my mind. I had mentioned her to Officer Fischer, but I hadn’t really thought about her otherwise. I wondered how Lorraine was doing. Had she caught any flack from Lieutenant Stanfield? Would she even be at work today?

I shook my head. It didn’t matter. If this officer wouldn’t let me pass him, then all of this was for nothing.

The door to my left opened, and Lorraine came striding out. She spotted me and smiled. “Hey, Ral. Whatchu doin’ here?”

“I’m supposed to be here to run some tests,” I said. “Stanfield arranged with your lab to find out if I leave behind samples of my DNA when I manipulate things with my telekinesis.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s you?” I nodded, and she looked past me at Officer Fischer. “Why haven’t you gotten a visitor’s pass?”

I shrugged. “He just told me to sit down.”

She rolled her eyes and strode over to the officer’s desk. “I need a visitor’s pass for Mr. Sutton.”

Officer Fischer looked at her with the same expression he had shown me, but his aura was much happier. He obviously preferred her presence over mine. There was also some reluctance in his aura. He didn’t want to give me a visitor’s pass.

She stood there, waiting. She wouldn’t back down.

After a few more seconds, he pulled out a clipboard. “Mr. Sutton, I’ll need to see your ID,” he said, without even looking my way.

I stood up, pulled it out of my wallet, and handed it to him. He handed me the clipboard. I signed my name and filled in the time and date of my arrival. I looked up and noticed that he was scrutinizing my ID like he was determined to find a flaw that would flag it as a fake. How much more of this was I going to endure? A lot, probably.

He gave up on his inspection and handed it back to me. He took the clipboard and put it away. Then he pulled out a clip-on badge that clearly said ‘Visitor’. “Just drop this in the In Basket on the desk when you leave.”

I nodded and clipped it onto the strap of my sling. Lorraine said, “Thanks Jack.”

Jack smiled at her and nodded. He was happy to help her, just not me.

I followed Lorraine back through the same door. Once past it, Lorraine asked, “What’s with the sling?”

I shrugged and winced at the pain. “A tree wrenched my arm.”

She stopped and looked at me. “What?”

I smiled and shook my head. I was being intentionally obtuse, purely for my amusement. “I ran into a guy who could alter his body into a tree-like form. He was very strong and wanted to kill me. Actually, someone hired him to kill me. He grabbed my arm and lifted me off the ground, which wrenched my shoulder.”

She stared at me with a raised eyebrow. Then she pointed at me and said, “I’m going to want to hear more about that later.”

I shrugged my good shoulder and continued to follow her.

Lorraine’s aura, a purple that reminded me of grape lollipops, displayed her amusement. She seemed happy about something, but I didn’t know what. I thought about asking, but held back my questions. I didn’t know her well enough to feel comfortable asking.

She led me to the lab where she had been working. She handed me a pair of safety glasses. “You’ll need these.” Then she put on a pair herself. “I’ve been working on another case that has stumped the police over in Dallas.”

A block of wood was the only occupant of the central table. I grinned and shook my head at her pun, but then I also realized we weren’t going straight to my tests. I focused on what she said and asked, “Don’t they have their own forensics team?”

“They do,” she said, “but this was such a low priority for them they asked us to look into it.”

Low priority? What, was the Arlington crime lab the B-Team as opposed to Dallas’ crime lab as A-Team? “Low priority?” I asked simply.

“It was a fire,” she said, looking up. “A minor case of arson, but no one has tried to claim insurance, and there were no injuries. So, since neither money nor a human life was involved, it’s a low priority.”

I nodded. “So, any idea what started it?”

She shook her head. “That’s what’s troubling me. The fire marshal sent me a book that is one of the top instructional guides for firefighters. It’s really interesting...” she looked back at me. “If you’re into that sort of thing.”

I grinned. “I’m trying to get into that sort of thing. The scientific bit of it, anyway.”

She nodded and looked back at the desks, which held a big microscope, several vials of various chemicals and bits of the burned object on the table. The object itself, I simply didn’t recognize.

She pointed at the object. “That is a section of the structure that burned. They believe the fire started with this section, but that’s all they’ve been able to deduce.”

I moved around the table and looked at it from various angles. Having never been in the labs before, I had a feeling that touching was out of the question. I kept my left hand against my gut, and my right locked behind my back while I looked at it.

Looking at it closer, I could tell it was wood. Why hadn’t the fire eaten it up completely, especially if this section was where the fire started? I voiced my question.

“My first guess would be that some other agent was used to start the fire, like gasoline or kerosene.”

“That still doesn’t explain how the entire structure burnt down and left this much behind,” I said.

She nodded. “I know. The place would have been hot enough to make the wood burn too, but it didn’t.”

Shaking my head, I straightened up. I had no clue. I could read the book she had, but it seemed she needed advice from an expert. However, if this stumped the Fire Marshal, then who else could figure it out? Firefighters worked with fire for years, learning several methods to extinguish fires. They used that experience to develop the forensic techniques that determined where and how fires started. The only other kind of person who might have a better understanding of fire would be someone who had a power related to fire.

“I know someone who’s an expert regarding fire. I could call him and see what he thinks.” Then I remembered an important detail. “But I would have to borrow a phone since I lost mine.”

“Who?” she asked.

I shook my head. “He’s a student at the school. I don’t want to say anything more if he doesn’t want me to.”

“What kind of expert is still in school?” she asked with a quirky tilt of her head.

I arched an eyebrow. “What expert ever stops learning?”

She smiled and nodded. “Okay. So, he knows more than the Fire Marshal?”

I shrugged. “I’ll only know if I ask him.”

She nodded. “But you have to understand, this is an official investigation...”

“And what would the other officials say if you brought in a visitor to have a look?” I asked, waving at myself.

She nodded again. “Good point. But if he can explain what happened, what should I put in the report?”

“The truth,” I said simply. “I’m sure if he wants his name in the report, he’ll offer it. Otherwise, you get credit for figuring it out.”

“I don’t care about the credit,” she said with a touch of annoyance. “I just want to know how this happened.”

I nodded. “Then I have to call him. I’ll only tell him what you’ve told me and see what he says.”

She stared at me for a moment and then pulled her phone out of her pocket and held it out to me. “I’m trusting you not to screw me in this.”

I set the phone on the table and recalled Ellen’s phone number. I set the phone on speaker because, other than Nate’s name, I didn’t want her to miss anything. Nate - the guy Ellen was dating - was the expert, and I didn’t know how to get in touch with him directly. Ellen was my best hope. She picked up fairly quickly. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Ral,” I said.

“Ral!” she screamed, and I backed away from the phone. Lorraine watched me curiously. I heard some fumbling with the phone and then Ellen came back, apparently on speaker, and rapid-fired several questions. “Ral, what’s going on? How are you? Are you still in danger? What’s going on?”

“I have questions, I’m fine, yes, and I have questions,” I said, answering all of her questions.

“Don’t do that,” she complained. “Whose number are you calling from?”

“Lorraine of the APCL,” I said, giving her a nod. She nodded back. “She’s here with me on speaker.”

“APCL?” Ellen asked and then answered her own question. “The Arlington Police Crime Lab?”