Richard: Maria, you need to step back and let the medical team look at Toby. We'll handle our son from here.
Toby: No! I don't want to go with Daddy! I want to stay with Maria!
Mindy: Toby, stop being absurd! We are taking you to the hotel right now!
Maria: He's terrified of you, Mindy! You didn't even check his room before you ran out the front door!
Mindy: I assumed he was already outside with the butler! Now let go of my son!
A paramedic stepped between them, holding a blanket over Toby's shaking shoulders[cite: 1].
Paramedic: Ma'am, the child needs to be evaluated for smoke inhalation at the hospital. Both of them do.
Richard: Fine, take them in the ambulance. Mindy and I will follow in the car.
As the ambulance doors slammed shut, Richard turned to his wife, his face pale under the glare of the emergency lights[cite: 1].
Mindy: Richard, if the fire investigators look inside that safe, we're done for.
Richard: The safe is fireproof, Mindy. The steel will protect the documents. As long as nobody opens it before our private security team arrives, we're safe.
Mindy: What about Maria? She was in the bedroom. What if she saw the box?
Richard: She was trying to save Toby. She didn't have time to look at anything else.
Across town at the Dallas Memorial Hospital, Maria sat on an examination table while a nurse bandaged the burns on her arms[cite: 1]. Toby was sleeping soundly in the bed beside her, his hand resting in hers[cite: 1].
A tall man in a dark gray suit walked into the room, showing a badge to the nurse.
Detective Vance: Miss Maria? I'm Detective Vance with the arson squad.
Maria: Arson? You think someone set the fire on purpose?
Detective Vance: We found traces of synthetic accelerant in the main electric room under the stairs. It wasn't an accident, Maria.
Maria: Richard and Mindy... they took out a ten-million-dollar insurance policy on the estate last month.
Detective Vance: How do you know about that policy?
Maria: Because I found the insurance paperwork on Richard's desk yesterday while cleaning his study. He also filed for bankruptcy in federal court three days ago.
Detective Vance pulled out a small notepad, his eyes sharpening with interest.
Detective Vance: Did you happen to see anything else in that study before the fire started?
Maria: I didn't just see it, Detective. When I ran through the master bedroom to get Toby out onto the balcony, the floorboards had burned away... and a metal box fell right at my feet.