Firebreak: A Mystery by Tricia Fields

little house behind it that Lou Ellen rented from the Church. Apparently that gave the priest, a man in his early thirties, the right to snoop around in her private life, or Lou Ellen just freely gave away her private life to the priest—either way it made Dell uncomfortable. He didn’t share his business with anyone. He had lifted his hand to ring her doorbell when he heard his name being called from behind him. He turned to find Father Paul standing in a bed of thorny red roses, watering them with a garden hose. He waved cheerfully, and Dell tipped his hat.
    Lou Ellen opened the door wearing a flowered skirt and a light pink blouse. He had to admit, she was a fine-looking woman, slim and smelling like soap and vanilla, with her white hair fixed and her teeth shiny. He’d met her a few weeks ago at the Texas Tractor Implements store where she worked as a clerk. She’d had to help him order a part for his tractor. It had taken three visits to the store before he finally got the part he actually needed. On the last visit she offered to buy him a cup of coffee for all the trouble he’d been through. He’d been so shocked that he’d not been able to say no. He’d been even more shocked four times since when she’d suggested new outings, and he’d simply agreed to the arrangements for lack of a better response.
    This afternoon he was taking her to a musical being performed by someone she knew, or someone she wanted to know, or some such thing. He had no interest whatsoever in musicals of any sort and he’d begun to wonder what he’d gotten himself into. Except she smelled like soap and vanilla, a smell more intoxicating than he wanted to admit.
    *   *   *
    “Otto. We got a problem,” Josie said.
    He stepped up to the edge of the living room, but remained outside on the concrete pad. “What’s wrong?”
    Josie turned her head away from the couch, sickened. “There’s a body. Looks like a male. He’s burnt up bad.” She heard Otto exhale and saw him rub his hands over his face. There was nothing more horrendous to see than a body burned in a fire.
    “Billy Nix?”
    Josie forced herself to look again. “The face is unrecognizable.”
    “I thought we’d dodged the bullet. No fatalities.” Otto started to step inside the house and took his leg back out. “You’re sure this floor will hold my weight?”
    She peered down at the floor and bounced on her toes, checking the give in the floor. She walked slowly toward the loveseat and stood behind it, as if it provided some measure of protection from the grotesque body on the couch. “I don’t feel any give. I think it’s okay.” She glanced up at the ceiling where the rafters were burned. “The fire burned all the way through the roof. You can see daylight.”
    He frowned. “I think you’d better get out of there until we find out if it’s safe.”
    “It’s a smoldering house, Otto. We need to get details logged before we lose them.”
    “Not if it means a house falling in on us!” He beckoned with his hand for Josie to come outside. “Call Doug. Have him get the fire marshal down here to start an investigation. I’ll call the coroner.”
    Josie started toward the opening in the living room wall and stopped next to the body. She looked at Otto for a moment. “If you were in your living room, and it caught fire, what would you do?”
    He smirked, refusing to answer what appeared to be a stupid question.
    “Let’s say something inside your house exploded even, and caught your house on fire, what would you do?”
    “Are you serious?”
    “Yes.”
    “I’d get out.”
    “How would you get out?”
    He stared at her.
    “What do they teach every kid in school about a fire?”
    Otto finally caught on. “Stop, drop, and roll.”
    She pointed at the couch. “Billy Nix, or whoever this is, is lying on his back on the couch. His hands are curled up around his head like he’s trying to shield his face. Wouldn’t he have rolled off the couch,