First I need everyone clear.”

Two firefighters moved toward the house with equipment.

Others began checking neighboring properties.

Nobody asked me to show them the panel or lead them downstairs.

Hassan pointed toward the curb.

“That is where I noticed it.”

Reyes looked at the place he indicated, then asked precisely where he had been standing and when he had noticed the odor.

His answers were ordinary: he had driven past, stopped, smelled it again outside the car.