Fire Engine Dead by Sheila Connolly Read Free Book Online Page B

much about the place?”
    “I used to date a fireman.” She didn’t elaborate.
    “Do you know if they’ve continued collecting, after that first effort? I know it’s not a large place, so space for exhibits must be limited.”
    “In a small way, as I understand it. And of course, there was that fire engine, given by the Terwilligers.”
    “Of course. Marty filled me in on that. Was that the only one they had?” She nodded. I stood up. “Well, I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.”
    As I was leaving, she said, “Nell, what’s the FBI’s interest in this? I thought it was a case of arson, according to the press.”
    “The FBI has a lot of arson resources, and there is a lot of information to wade through regarding whatever was stored at the warehouse. Plus the Fireman’s Museum is a public institution.” I didn’t think I should say any more, and I didn’t want to voice my suspicions about the fire engine to Latoya. “Thanks.”
    While I was at it, I decided I might as well dot my i’s and cross my t’s, and sought out Shelby, stopping by my office first to retrieve the file of photographs.
    “Hey, lady. You need me?” She greeted me.
    I dropped into a chair in front of her desk. “I need to pick your brain, and your files. Do we have any Terwilliger wills or inventories in our files?”
    “Like who gave what to whom?” Shelby asked. “Wouldn’t that be in collections?”
    “Probably, but we would have copies, too, in the personal files.” I didn’t want to keep going back to Latoya. I wrestled for a moment with the ethics of telling Shelby the whole story while giving Latoya the edited version, but I trusted Shelby more than Latoya. Plus I had a feeling theanswers lay somewhere in the development files rather than the collections files.
    “And might this have something to do with that real nice fire engine that went up in smoke?”
    “Can’t get a thing past you, can I?” I smiled. “It would. I understand Marty’s grandfather gave it to the Fireman’s Museum, in the seventies, maybe? I’ve already got some pictures, but I wondered if any additional information had sneaked into the development files. Uh, about that fire engine…” I pulled out the two photos and laid them on Shelby’s desk, side by side. She looked confused at first, and then I could see the light dawning in her expression.
    “Something funny going on here?” she asked.
    I nodded. “I’m thinking insurance fraud gone wrong. Keep this quiet, will you?”
    “Of course I will. So why don’t we take a look at those files? You going to help? Because you’ve got to know the records better than I do.”
    “Sure.”
    It took us a couple of hours to wade through the extensive Terwilliger files, since Marty was the third generation of the family to be involved with the Society. It appeared that all members of that family had been exceedingly thorough in their documentation, which shouldn’t have surprised me after what I’d seen of the historical collections. It was almost as though they knew that future generations would be looking at them. For all of that, we didn’t come up with much more than I already knew. Since the Society had not been the recipient of the fire engine, most references to it were tangential. There was, however, a copy of Marty’s grandfather’s will (which included substantial bequeststo the Society) and inventory, which described the fire engine in broad terms. It confirmed the story but didn’t provide much more information.
    When I looked at my watch, I realized that it was nearly five and James might be arriving at any moment. “Thanks, Shelby. I think we’ve found whatever there is to find here. I’m sorry to leave you with all the mess, but I’m expecting someone at five.”
    She laughed, unruffled. “That’s right, leave it for me to clean up. But to tell the truth, I was glad of the chance to go through it all. The Terwilligers really were something, weren’t they?