“Why did you want to talk to me?”

“I wanted to warn you about the Cope family. They run this town,” Jolene began. “They control everything: police, the mayor’s office, fire department. Hell, just about everything.” Her words were harsh and bitter. “Most of the townsfolk accept it, providing they don’t do anything to upset the Copes. Those who have rebelled have been sent packing. But the biggest thorn in the Copes’ side is the Indians and their Reservation. Don’t misunderstand me; they are modern Americans with a proud heritage and a past that goes back, well, centuries. They own a lot of land out here, but a large chunk of it is protected under some kind of heritage law. They own the mining rights, which Cope wants, but which the Indians won’t relinquish. They mostly live at the far end of town. They’re separated a little from the town itself, but still part of Mason Falls. Everyone refers to it as ‘The Reservation’, which it is. Even the Indians call it that. It isn’t the only one. The biggest is the Wind River Reservation south of here.”

“How is this connected to the Indian girl who died?”

She nodded. “There was a party couple of months back, mostly young folk: all Indians. The house where they were partying caught fire in the early hours of the morning.” She stopped there and lifted the cup to her lips. Her head moved from side to side: slow, small movements. She drank from the cup, lost in thought. “Thirteen of them died,” she said eventually.

Marcus could imagine the horror that must have swept through the town at such a terrible disaster.

“Was it an accident?” he asked.

Jolene looked at him but didn’t say anything; she didn’t have to.

“Is it being investigated?” he asked.

“Oh sure, the Feds are involved. But if it was started deliberately, they’ll need witnesses, and if the Copes were involved, they will make sure that ain’t gonna happen.”

“And what about Elina?”

She pushed herself away from the worktop and took her empty cup over to the sink where she rinsed it under the tap and placed it in a drying rack. Then she picked up a hand towel and dried her hands, flinging it on top of the rack.

“She wants answers.” She walked up to Marcus. “Elina doesn’t believe it was an accident, and she’s determined to cause havoc until she learns the truth.”

“The truth?”

Jolene clenched her teeth. “Her truth: the one she wants us all to believe.”

“She just wants to know why her sister died.”

Jolene shook her head vigorously. “No, she just wants to stir up trouble. She had to leave town. Captain Hunter told her he would lock her up if she persisted.”

“But she’s back,” Marcus pointed out.

“And that’s the reason you need to leave. Elina is fiery woman, a danger to herself — she always was.”

“But if she’s right, and the fire was not an accident, then she’s a danger to the person who started it.”