Piper laughed, and Jude did as well as the little man came to stand in what Jude thought was the living room. Not speaking to him while he worked, she moved to stand with Piper to speak to her.
“Mercy said you were going to sell your condo. Have you had any luck in finding a place you’d like to live?” Piper said that all the good homes were taken by Mercy and Blaze. “Yes, well, I’m sure they didn’t take them all. I’m looking as well, but I have to admit, I’m in no hurry to buy just yet. I love a couple of houses here, but they’re very drab to me. I want something old like Mercy’s home, and as homey as Blaze’s. They both have the best taste in decorating a room. Don’t you think?”
“Yes. I suppose. I think with Blaze, however, she has some extra help in the décor of the house. I’m thinking Bryson has a lot do to with the things in the living room. I’ve never been so tempted to take a nap as I am when I sit on their couch. It doesn’t even matter if the fireplace is lit, I feel all warm and cozy when I’m there.” Jude said she had the same feelings. “I’d steal them from her if I thought I could get away with it. I guess I’ll have to go and buy me a set of them so I can have some too.”
“How nice of you.”
They were both laughing when the fire marshall asked them what they knew about the family. After Piper finished giving him what she knew, Jude told him the rest. “This is their second fire. This time I’m to understand they have an exceptionally large policy on their home and contents. Also, I don’t know if this matters to you or not, but when the house was inspected two months ago when they doubled their insurance, the value of the home didn’t meet the criteria for what they were insuring. I’m not sure what happened as to whether they were able to upgrade the policy or not.”
“They were turned down. But I have since found out the family was able to get a second policy from someone out of state. Once this is settled, not in their favor, I’m thinking, the secondary insurance company will have to surrender their license to sell homeowners’ insurance. This is not going to go well for the Martins, I’m afraid.” He turned to look at the two of them. “Lady Piper, can you tell me your opinion of the fire? I know you to be an expert on fires. I would greatly appreciate your insight on this one.”
“Do you smell the gasoline?” He nodded at Piper. “Then I believe you have your answer. I would also like to point out we’ve not found any furniture except a beaten up couch in the basement. There are no frames we can find for any mattresses, nor much in the way of food in the kitchen area to your right. Also, and I find this really weird, there isn’t a single television shell or anything in the way of picture frames with broken glass. There should have been at least one that would have survived, I think.”
“I noticed there isn’t a washer and dryer here, either.” Piper told him she’d not thought of that. “Yes, well, you haven’t been doing this for as long as I have. I believe, however, eventually, you would have noticed it.”
“Thank you.” The man looked around at the large barn, as well as the three storage sheds in the back of the property. He asked if they’d been in them. “We haven’t. I wasn’t aware that we could.”
“I can. It is my job to be as thorough as I can when inspecting a place after a fire. I would very much like it if you two were to go with me while I open them.” He smiled at them. “I seemed to have lost the note that was given to me just this morning on those buildings in the back. I don’t remember if it said I should or shouldn’t look inside of them. The contents belonged to someone else in the family. The sir’s mother, I think?”
“She’s no longer alive.” He nodded. “Oh, I see. You lost the note. I understand now. Yes, Piper and I will be only too happy to go out with you to the shed. But I’m thinking, just to be sure we don’t cause any harm to the building’s contents, we should call the police as witnesses to it.”
“Great idea, Lady Castle. Yes, I think you might well be onto something with that.”
Piper called the police, and the three of them waited for them to show up. Piper, like the rest of the birds, was on incredibly good terms with every cop on the force. When you donated enough money for them to have an entirely new building built, they didn’t mind coming around for little things like this. The inspection of a couple of buildings and the probable outcome would tickle them.
The police showed up in less than five minutes. After Mr. Patterson told them what he was doing and what he needed to do, it was the police who broke the large lock on the barn door to open it. He, Officer Dent, told them his body camera was on, and he’d make sure the insurance company had
