Page 46 of Edge of Steele
“We need to call the locksmith and ask if he cut any new ones in the last few weeks.”
“Good idea. Or it could be Gates’s key. We haven’t recovered any of his keys yet.”
“Or if he’s our bomber, he might not have cared if the inventory came up short because he planned to take off after the explosion.”
“That makes sense.” She hoped that was the case, as it would be so much easier to accept Gates’s death if he were the bomber.
“Were both kinds of explosives missing or just one?”
“An equal number of both,” she said. “Why are there two kinds anyway?”
“It’s all about saving money. The red tubes are cap-sensitive sticks that react well with the blasting cap, but are expensive. White is booster sensitive so the loggers pair a red and white together. Red ignites the white and they keep costs down that way.”
“Does the team blast a lot?”
“From what Tobias said, it’s become more and more common as the days of felling trees on flat ground is pretty much gone. Now they work hilly sites that are more dangerous to the men and using explosives helps save lives.”
“Tobias explained how dangerous it can be.” She shook her head. “I’d heard it was, but never to the extent I’m learning now.”
“Thankfully, Tobias has a solid safety record. He’s a stickler for maintaining OSHA’s standards. He allows his supervisors tosuperviseinstead of being responsible for a log quota like a lot of logging companies require. I was impressed most with Eckles and Gates too. They both thought of safety first. I wouldn’t have taken the job if I’d gotten a hint that they weren’t all aboveboard.”
Good information to have. “Which makes it seem odd that one of them could blow the place up at a time of day when lives could be at stake.”
“Yeah.”
“We’re assuming these missing explosives were used, but that might not be the case. It’ll be interesting to see if the Veritas team finds bits of the red and white plastic wrapping.”
Finn nodded. “Still, I’m sure other companies use the same explosives.”
“Yeah,” she said, thinking. “Could the supervisors have taken more tubes than they need for a job, and then stash it away somewhere?”
“Not likely. Tobias really watches the usage and would notice if it went up.”
“But it is possible, right? Like over a long period of time.”
“Yeah, it’s possible.” He looked away and gnawed on his cheek.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He rolled his shoulders. “I need to make sure Russ doesn’t publicly suspect me of stealing explosives and setting off a bomb. Social services could get wind of it and take Avery. They’d put her in foster care, and I just promised that would never happen again.”
“Then we have to prove it wasn’t you before you become an official suspect.” She tried to put her sincere desire to help in her tone. “We got the video for the exterior cameras and visitor sign-in log from Tobias, and Russ is combing through all of it tonight. Maybe he’ll figure out who accessed the building and this will be all over by morning.”
Finn’s gaze traveled around the area. “I won’t be on those videos, but if I need an alibi, Avery is with me most of the time when I’m not at work.”
“But not during driving times or even after she goes to bed at night. You could’ve snuck out.”
He shot to his feet. “I would never leave her alone here.”
“I know, and Russ plans to keep this quiet for now,” she said to Finn’s back as he paced across the patio. “We didn’t even tell Tobias that explosives were missing. And we won’t until after we meet with the task force and talk about a plan of action.”
He stopped pacing and looked at her. “You’re thinking you can use this info to somehow smoke out our bomber?”
She nodded. “Especially if we see him on the video and can ID him.”
Finn came back to sit down, but his knee bounced. “Then we have to get through the video stat.”
“Problem is, it’s been quite some time since I had the cameras installed. Even if Russ starts in reverse order to see the most likely feed, reviewing all of it will still take time.”
