“Pretty bad. I think the dock’s a total loss,” I said.
“What about Sheila?” Buck asked.
“Who’s Sheila?”
“The boat.”
“Oh,” I said. “Um, I’m sorry. I don’t think there’s much left of her.”
Buck walked to where he could get a good view of the burning boat and placed his hands on his hips. “I told you that naming the boat after that wicked woman would curse us. Now look what’s happened.”
“Oh, quit your bitching. I’ve got insurance. Unlike the real Sheila, I can get a newer and better replacement.”
“All right, fellas, let’s get back on track. What happened here tonight?” Chuck asked.
“Walter’s daughter, Daphne, lives here. We were walking home after having dinner at Byte’s house, which is just down the street. As we got closer to the house, I thought I saw movement in the back yard. Daphne’s dog growled and ran toward what ended up being a person. The person saw the dog and ran toward the dock. I chased after them but couldn’t catch them before they hopped in a boat and drove away. As they were leaving, the dock went up in flames. We called nine-one-one, and here we are,” I explained.
“Hey, Chuck,” an officer said. “Can you come take a look at something?”
“Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”
Of course, we all followed him to see what the officer found. The officer led us to the back of Daphne’s house, where a partially empty five-gallon can of gas lay haphazardly on its side.
“Holy shit,” I breathed. “They were going to set the house on fire.”
“That’s what it looks like,” Phoenix agreed.
“Can the homeowner confirm this wasn’t here prior to the fire?” Chuck asked.
Walter stepped forward. “My daughter lives here, but technically, I’m the homeowner. I can confirm that the gas can doesn’t belong to either one of us.”
“I took Diablo out before we left to have dinner at Byte’s house. I can also confirm that gas can wasn’t there,” I added.
Chuck sighed. “Any idea who might’ve done it?”
“Yes, and no,” Phoenix said. “Perhaps we should go inside and talk. This might take a while.”
While the firefighters dealt with the fire and the officers processed the scene, the rest of us filed into Daphne’s kitchen.
“Y’all go ahead. I’ll start some coffee,” Buck said.
“I’ll get right to the point,” Phoenix said. “We believe someone is harassing Daphne and trying to harm her, but wedon’t know who it is. Several things have happened, but the most recent and most severe was a little over a week ago. She’s a real estate agent and was attacked at a house she was supposed to show. That happened in Cedar Valley, so the police report is with one of their departments.”
“Was the suspect apprehended?”
“Yes. He was arrested at the scene, but he refused to give any information, and we haven’t been able to find a connection between him and Daphne.”
“I see,” Chuck said.
“There’s more,” I added. “She’s going through a divorce, and her soon-to-be ex-husband is missing. I believe his mother filed a missing person report.”
“What’s the husband’s name?”
“Sean Sanders,” Walter answered, not bothering to hide the disgust in his voice.
Chuck gave him a quizzical look.
Walter laughed. “Don’t look at me like that. Sean was awful to my baby. He treated her like crap, and then he cheated on her. There’s no love lost for him as far as I’m concerned, but Daphne can’t be rid of him while he’s missing, so I’m all for him being found.”