Regret is the Punishment novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: The Pan

I left the apartment at noon with my sweater on inside out.

Two blocks later, I turned it right side out in a doorway, shaking.

My body still hummed from him.

My conscience was already waiting at the end of the street.

The burn unit waiting room was crowded again.

Wanda sat in her usual chair by the window.

A woman from the department's family auxiliary held her hand.

Two firefighters stood by the door.

The gray-haired fire chief was there, and with him was the woman with the clipboard.

Jerome stood in the middle of them with a folder in his hand.

He looked up when I came in.

His eyes went to my collar, then my mouth, and then he looked away.

"Sue," the chief said. "Good."

"You should hear this."

"Hear what?"

"The marshal's report on the origin," said the woman with the clipboard.

"I've shared it with the captain. He asked that it be read in front of the family."

Wanda's hand went still in the auxiliary woman's.

"Mom," Jerome said. "Sit up."

"I am sitting up."

"Then listen."

He opened the folder, and his voice came out level and flat.

"Point of origin was the kitchen, at the gas range. Left rear burner."

"Cause was a pan of cooking oil heated on high and left unattended."

"The oil ignited, and the fire spread up the cabinets and across the ceiling."

"No accelerant. No electrical fault. No smoke detector alarm sounded."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Regret is the Punishment from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.