Hot Fudge Fraud by Anisa Claire West Page B

everything he knows regarding the ice cream parlor and what could have caused the inferno.  I’d like to have a few words with you before the police take your formal statement later at the station.”
    Polished and professional, Stacey Graydon looked to be somewhere in her early fifties , and immediately calmed Melanie…except for the part about formal questioning at the police station.
    “Why do I need to be questioned?  Am I a suspect in an investigation of my own shop?” Melanie asked briskly.
    “It’s just a legal formality.  Sometimes store owners do set their own businesses on fire with the hope of obtaining an insurance payout.  I’m not accusing you of anything, please understand, Miss Bradley.  I’m just following police protocol since we are treating this as an arson crime scene.” Her words were sharp but her expression soft as she apprised Melanie of the next steps in the investigation.  “As I understand from your father, you’ve just gotten off a plane from Europe.  So we’ll try to wrap up the initial questioning phase as quickly as possible.”
    Fighting her inclination to hunch her shoulders and crumble, Melanie stood up a bit straighter and looked Detective Graydon directly in the eyes.  “I’m ready whenever you are.”
    “Good.  Let’s get started.”
    For the next half hour, the detective grilled Melanie to rule her out for possible motives other than raking in a hefty insurance settlement.  It was apparent to the seasoned investigator that Melanie Bradley was a straight shooter and clearly devastated about the desecration of her new business.  In her mind, Stacey Graydon ruled the young woman out as the culprit but continued a harsh line of questioning to cover all her bases.
    “I think you’ve answered enough questions for now, Miss Bradley.  Now let me show you what we’ve found so far with regard to evidence.” Detective Graydon produced a hermetically sealed bag from her pocket.  Inside the bag was a single tube of lipstick.
    “ Whose lipstick is that?” Melanie asked.
    “ That’s what we need to find out.  The lipstick was found in the rubble on the sidewalk.  The shade is Muted Iridescent Beige.  Not a very popular color for lipstick.  Do you know anyone who wears this hue?” Slipping a glove onto her hand to keep the evidence fingerprint-free, the detective opened the bag and twisted the tube of lipstick open to demonstrate.
    The shade was mucky brown with glitter undertones, a hue Melanie wouldn’t be caught dead in.  “I don’t know anyone who would wear that color,” she said distastefully, thinking of Chloe and her pink lip gloss, and Lynne with her matte red shade.
    Keith shifted his weight from side to side, but Melanie didn’t notice as she fine tuned her attention onto the clues the detective was revealing.  From a larger bag, Detective Graydon removed a security camera.  “This is the camera that was affixed to the outside of your store.  Interestingly, the arsonist didn’t take the actual camera.  Perhaps it was fastened too tightly to the top of the door.”
    Melanie unraveled the details out loud.  “And if the arsonist was a woman, then she wouldn’t be strong enough to pull the camera off from its mounted position.”
    “Exactly.  One of the firemen had to remove the camera with a wrench.  And here’s what he found.” Detective Graydon slid the camera open, revealing nothing but empty space inside.
    “The memory card is gone!” Melanie exclaimed.
    “Yes.  So whoever committed this crime was shrewd enough to realize that she would be caught on security footage.  But she apparently wasn’t smart enough to realize that we could still trace the contents of the camera,” Detective Graydon said with satisfaction.
    “How’s that?” Mr. Bradley, completely uninitiated into the magic of technology, was befuddled.
    “You see, Mr. Bradley, the camera also has a hard drive.  Buried in that hard drive is footage of every