Gideon shook hands with both. “Did the manager give you any trouble?”
“Not after we showed him the warrant,” Hank said.
Doug doled out gloves and booties, and when they were all geared up, he let them into the apartment.
Joan worked her fingers into her gloves as she stepped inside. She stood for a moment, allowing her gaze to survey the small space. She moved toward the bookshelf and pointed to the book on arson. “I’ve actually read this one,” she said as she bent down and snapped a picture with her phone. “Covers the motivations and case studies.”
“Don’t think she was studying to be an arson investigator one day,” Gideon said.
Joan rose and moved past the sparse kitchen toward the bedroom. An air mattress worked well on a tight budget. She had slept on her share.
They watched as Doug lifted a pair of neatly folded jeans from the suitcase. They smelled of laundry soap, as if they had just been washed. Lana did not appear to have owned many clothes, but what she had was well cared for. Doug checked the suitcase’s inside pocket. “It’s an itinerary for a flight dated for today. It was bound for Denver.”
“Why call her boyfriend if she was planning to fly out?” Gideon asked.
“Maybe she got spooked,” Joan said.
Doug carefully documented and photographed as he went through the contents. Once the suitcase was empty, Doug reached in a side pocket and removed a picture. It was of Joan and Ann, taken in front of their college house.
“Wow,” Joan said, too stunned to add much more.
Gideon muttered under his breath, “What the hell?”
“The picture was taken at the beginning of our senior year.”
“I should know,” Gideon said. “I took it.”
“Where did she get it?” Joan asked. “The last time I saw that photo was on the refrigerator of our house. Did you have copies?”
“No,” Gideon said. “But I had other versions of the same photo at my house. I haven’t seen it for years.”
Doug dropped the photo into a clear plastic bag. “We’ll dust it for prints back at the lab.”
She smoothed her hands down her thighs. “If that doesn’t tie the two fires together, I don’t know what does. Seems very convenient.”
A woman appeared as they were leaving Lana’s apartment. In her midthirties, she wore faded jeans and a leather jacket, and her dark hair was swept into a ponytail. “Why are the cops in Lana’s apartment?”
Gideon introduced himself, then asked, “And who are you?”
“I’m Penny Rae,” she said. “I live a couple doors down. Lana and I are friends.”
“How long have you known Lana?” Gideon asked.
“About a year. We met at a concert in Helena last year. She said she wanted to move to Montana, so I told her to try Missoula. She took me up on my offer to see the city and decided she liked it.”
“When exactly did you see her in Helena?” Joan asked.
“Early last summer. Why does that matter?” Penny asked.
“Was she with anyone at the time?” Gideon asked.
“No, she was all alone. Said she had just visited her boyfriend.” Penny tried to look around Gideon into the apartment. “What’s going on?”
“There was a fire at the salon where she worked,” Gideon said. “You think Lana had something to do with it?”
“Why would you say that?” Penny asked.
“Just asking,” Gideon said.
Penny pursed her lips. “Is Lana okay? I don’t want to get her in trouble.”
“Tell me what you know about Lana,” Gideon said.
Penny slid her hand into her pocket. “There was a guy. She didn’t see him much, but he wrote her letters, which I thought was a little old-fashioned.”
“Did you get a look at any of the letters?” Gideon asked.
“She read a few to me. He was pretty sexy.”
“Sexy how?” Joan asked.
“Not in an obvious kind of way. He just seemed totally focused on her.” She shrugged. “I started to pretend he was writing me.”
“It’s something to have someone feel that strongly about you,” Joan said.
“Yeah.”
“So Lana was hooked?” Joan asked.
“She would have done anything for him. And some of his requests were kind of weird.”
“Weird how?”
“He asked her to light a candle for him each night. Said the fire would remind her of him.”
“What else?”
“She burned her arm on the stove. She said it was an accident.”
“And you don’t think it was?” Joan asked.
“The first few times, but by the fifth time, I knew it was more than that.”
“Her boyfriend was asking her to burn herself?” Gideon asked.
“I hope you burn for me like I burn for you. She told me he said that in a letter,” Penny said.
“What was his name?” Gideon said.
“He only signed all his letters E.”
“E. Are you sure?”
“Yeah. You never said if Lana was okay?”
“When I can say, I’ll let you know.” Gideon thanked Penny. “Doug, we’re going to get out of your way. Call me with any updates.” He took Joan by the arm. “We need to get going.”
“I want to stay,” she said.
“No,” Gideon said. “We’ll get a recap later.”
Outside, Gideon settled his black Stetson on his head as he reached for his phone and searched his contacts for Warden Martin’s number. The number rang three times and went to voicemail.
“Warden, this is Detective Gideon Bailey in Missoula. I have a few questions for you about a former inmate, Elijah Weston. Can you call me back?” He hung up the phone.
“None of this makes sense, Gideon,” Joan said.
“No, but it will. Eventually.”
“We need to tell Ann. She needs to know about that picture.”
“Agreed.”
“What’s the next move? Helena?” she asked. “It’s less than two hours away.”
If he was annoyed that she had jumped into his investigation with both feet, he did not seem to mind. “Okay. Let’s go.”
In his car, he tossed his Stetson into the back seat and sat behind the wheel as she climbed into the passenger seat. As he slid on dark glasses, she unzipped her jacket and clicked her seat belt.
He easily maneuvered through
