Point of Origin by Patricia Cornwell

for there were so many shootings and so many people who caused trouble. 'Thank you for your help,' I said to him.
    We lifted the body by gripping the edges of the heavy vinyl pouch. We lowered the remains onto the stretcher and slid it into the back of the van. He slammed shut tailgate doors.
    'I hope it's not Kenneth Sparkes in there,' he said.
    'No identification yet,' I told him.
    He sighed and slid into the driver's seat.
    'Well, let me tell you something,' he said, cranking the engine. 'I don't care what anybody says. He was a good man.'
    I watched him drive away and could sense Lucy's eyes on me. She touched my arm.
    'You're exhausted,' she said. 'Why don't you spend the night and I'll fly you back in the morning. If we find anything else, we'll let you know right away. No point in your hanging around.'
    I had very difficult work ahead and the sensible thing to do was to head back to Richmond now. But in truth, I did not feel like walking inside my empty home. Benton would be at Hilton Head by now, and Lucy was staying in Warrenton. It was too late to call upon any of my friends, and I was too spent for polite conversation. It was one of those times when I could think of nothing that might soothe me.
    'Teun's moved us to a better place and I got an extra bed in my room, Aunt Kay,' Lucy added with a smile as she pulled a car key out of her pocket.
    'So now I'm Aunt Kay again.'
    'As long as nobody's around.'
    'I've got to get something to eat,' I said.
    WE BOUGHT DRIVE-THRU Whoppers and fries at a Burger King on Broadview, and it was dark out and very cool. Approaching headlights hurt my eyes, and no amount of Motrin would relieve the hot pain in my temples or the dread in my heart. Lucy had brought her own CDs and was playing one of them loudly as we glided through Warrenton in a rented black Ford LTD.
    'What's this you're listening to?' I asked as a way of registering a complaint.
    'Jim Brickman,' she said sweetly.
    'Not hardly,' I said over flutes and drums. 'Sounds Native American to me. And maybe we could turn it down a bit?'
    Instead, she turned it up.
    'David Arkenstone. Spirit Wind. Got to open your mind, Aunt Kay. This one right now is called Destiny .'
    Lucy drove like the wind, and my mind began to float.
    'You're getting kooky on me,' I said as I imagined wolves and campfires in the night.
    'His music's all about connectivity and finding your way and positive force,' she went on as the music got lively and added guitars. 'Don't you think that fits?'
    I couldn't help but laugh at her complicated explanation. Lucy had to know how everything worked and the reason why. The music, in truth, was soothing, and I felt a brightening and calm in frightening places in my mind.
    'What do you think happened, Aunt Kay?' Lucy suddenly broke the spell. 'I mean, in your heart of hearts.'
    'Right now it's impossible to say,' I answered her the way I would anybody else. 'And we shouldn't assume anything, including gender or who might have been staying in the house.'
    'Teun is already thinking arson, and so am I,' she matter-of-factly stated. 'What's weird is Pepper didn't alert on anything in any areas where we thought he might.'
    'Like the master bathroom on the first floor,' I said.
    'Nothing there. Poor Pepper worked like a dog and didn't get fed.'
    The Labrador retriever had been food-reward trained since his youth to detect hydrocarbon petroleum distillates, such as kerosene, gasoline, lighter fluid, paint thinner, solvents, lamp oil. All were possible, if not common, choices for the arsonist who wanted to start a major fire with the drop of a match. When accelerants are poured at a scene, they pool and flow as their vapors burn. The liquid soaks into fabric or bedding or carpet. It seeps under furniture and between the cracks in flooring. It is not water-soluble or easy to wash away, so if Pepper had found nothing to excite his nose, chances were good that nothing was there.
    'What we got to do is find out exactly what was