“Mom, please, I’ve never been inside a fire scene,” Jonah whined. “And you’re not getting into this one,” Carol said flatly. They were standing in front of a small bungalow on Beaverton’s north side. The charred walls were still standing, but the fire had been intense enough to kill the home’s single resident, a pretty,…

It was a warm Saturday afternoon, and Jonah was on his skateboard, negotiating the curvy sidewalk along River Road. That’s when he almost hit the lemonade stand. He saw it just in time, swerving, then tumbling onto a brand-new lawn in front of a brand-new house. “Are you okay?” asked Denny. Denny was Sally Smith’s…

Detective Carol Bixby gazed at the corpse and couldn’t shake the feeling that she was taking part in a cheesy mystery novel. She had heard stories about murder victims writing a last dying message in their own blood. Such things actually did occur. But why would someone use his last ounce of strength to crawl…