When Gurney went and opened it, the arson investigator was standing there. The man was older, heavier, grayer-haired, and considerably less athletic-looking than most BCI detectives. The outside corners of his unsympathetic eyes seemed permanently drawn down by a lifetime of disappointment in human beings.

“I’ve completed my initial inspection of the site.” His weary voice complemented his expression. “Now I need to get some information from you.”

“Come in,” said Gurney.

The man wiped his feet carefully, almost obsessively, on the doormat, then followed Gurney past the little mudroom into the kitchen. He glanced around with an air of disinterest that Gurney was sure veiled a habit of suspicious scrutiny. The arson investigators he’d known in the city were all keenly observant.

“As I just informed Mr. Gurney, I need to get some information from each of you.”

“What’s your name again?” asked Kyle. “I missed it when you arrived this morning.”

The man looked at him blankly—no doubt, thought Gurney, assessing the aggressive edge in the young man’s tone. After a moment he said, “Investigator Kramden.”

“Really? Like Ralph?”

Another blank look.

“Ralph? In The Honeymooners?”

The man shook his head in a way that seemed more a dismissal of the question than an answer. He turned to Gurney. “I can conduct these interviews in my van or here in the house, if there’s an appropriate area.”

“Right here at the table would be good.”

“I have to conduct them individually, without everyone present, to avoid one witness’s recollections being influenced by another’s.”

“That’s fine with me. Whether my wife and son and Ms. Corazon agree is up to them.”

“It’s fine with me, too,” said Madeleine, although her tone was not very agreeable.

“I have … no objection,” said Kim uncertainly.

“Sounds like Investigator Kramden is thinking we might turn out to be suspects,” said Kyle, sounding eager for an argument.

The man withdrew a small iPod-like recording device from his pocket and studied it as though it were far more interesting than Kyle’s comment.

Gurney smiled. “I wouldn’t blame him. In arson, owners are usually prime suspects.”

“Not always,” said Kramden mildly.

“Did you get a good soil sample?” asked Gurney.

“Why do you ask?”

“Why do I ask? Because someone set fire to my barn last night, and I’d like to know whether the two hours you spent down there were productive.”

“I’d say so.” He paused. “What we need to do right now is complete these interviews.”

“In what sequence?”

Kramden blinked again. “You first.”

“I guess the rest of us should go into the den,” said Madeleine coolly, “and wait for our turns?”

“If you don’t mind.”

As Kyle and Kim were leaving the room with her, she turned in the doorway. “I assume, Investigator Kramden, that you’ll share with us at some point what, if anything, you’ve discovered about our barn?”