File M For Murder

Sean had gone out to the back porch around ten to have a cigar and unwind. When he finished an hour or so later, he decided to stay there a while longer. He liked to sit there in the darkness. The glow from the street lights at the front of the house barely penetrated, and he found the atmosphere conducive to thought.

As often happened, however, he drifted off in his chair, he told us. He awoke sometime later to sounds of an intruder in the backyard. Before he could even get out of the chair to investigate, he heard the noise of the fire as it took hold at the corner of the porch. He yelled as he scrambled through the door into the yard. He barely made out a dark shape as it fled around the corner of the house.

Sean continued to yell for help as he ran for the water hose to douse the flames. Both Laura and Justin, whose bedrooms overlook the back of the house, heard him. Laura called 911 while Justin ran downstairs, clad only in his underwear and a ratty T-shirt, to help Sean. Stewart soon followed after, handing his dog over to Laura, who also had Diesel with her. I woke up during this and was almost mindless with worry until I knew everyone was safely out of the house.

By the time the fire department and the police arrived, the fire was almost out. I met them on the front walk along with Laura, Diesel, and Dante. The firemen went into immediate action, and Sean, Stewart, and Justin joined us in the front a little later.

Time blurred after that. Between the questions from the police and the fire chief, I felt my head spinning. Neighbors had come from several nearby houses and stood on the sidewalk near the street, held back by two policemen. Diesel cowered against me, overcome by the number of strange people and the noisy activity going on around us. I did my best to reassure him, but before long I felt about as bewildered as he did.

Finally the fire department was satisfied the fire was out, without a lot of damage, I was happy to hear. Everyone submitted to thorough questioning, and by three-thirty we were all together in the kitchen trying to make sense of what happened.

“What I don’t get is, why would someone want to burn down this house?” Justin shook his head. “It makes no sense.”

“It’s my fault.” Laura, her expression grim, glanced at each of us in turn. “Whoever killed Connor must think I know something. Either that or someone hates me so much he doesn’t care whom he harms. I’m sorry to be the cause of this.”

“Nonsense,” I said, my voice a little heated. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Laura smiled briefly.

“The police are going to watch the house,” Sean reminded us.

“The rest of the night, at least.” Stewart frowned. “But what about tomorrow and after?”

“I’ll help keep watch. My earliest class is at ten, so I can stay up late and sleep in a little.” Justin gazed at Laura like a puppy watching its owner and hoping for a treat.

“Thank you, Justin,” I said, trying not to smile. “That won’t be necessary. The police will keep watching the house, and I’m sure once Kanesha Berry has heard about this, the sheriff’s department will probably get involved. If all else fails, I’ll hire a security firm to protect the house until whoever did it is caught.”

“I hate this. All because of that jackass Connor.” Laura’s savage tone shocked us all, I think. “I wish I’d never met him.”

I wish you hadn’t either, I thought. I would never say that to her, however. She was exhausted, as indeed we all were, not to mention the high level of stress she was under.

“It’s time everyone went back to bed.” Sean stood. “Come on, there’s nothing more we can do now. We’ll be safe with the police keeping an eye on the house.”

Stewart, with Dante still in his arms, stood also. “Good idea. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can use all the beauty sleep I can get.” He fluttered his eyelashes at Sean. “I have to look my best for my hunky housemate, or he won’t pay any attention to me.”

Sean guffawed. “Face it, Princess Not-So-Charming, you need more than sleep to get my attention.”

Stewart placed his free hand over his heart and pretended to swoon. Dante barked. “So cruel, so heartless.” He paused. “And so full of it. I’m more man than you could ever handle anyway.” He swept past Sean and strutted his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Justin looked slightly shocked at this interplay between Stewart and Sean, but he should have been used to it by now. Laura and I laughed, and Sean pretended to be wounded. His wide grin spoiled the effect, however.

“Off to bed, all of you,” I said. “Come on, Diesel. We need our beauty sleep, too.” I made shooing motions with my hands and started turning out lights.

The three preceded Diesel and me upstairs. As I headed for my bed I silently blessed Stewart. He always knew how—and when—to break the tension. We all needed to recover our balance, and by getting us to laugh, Stewart had us off to a good start.