I told her I wasn’t planning to excuse Lorraine.
I just wanted to know whether my neighbor had acted alone or whether someone had pushed her into a corner.
Erin said I could care about both questions and still keep my daughter out of the middle.
We agreed Paige would remain with her for another week while officers checked the van and the security concern.
As we left, I saw an ambulance pass through the intersection with its lights on.
I watched the driver slow for a turning car and continue toward the hospital.
For most of my life, the sight had meant that help was on the way.
The Bellwood records had not destroyed that belief.
They had reminded me that trust depended on ordinary people doing their work correctly when nobody was watching.
Luis Moreno agreed to speak with investigators on a Thursday afternoon.
The interview took place in North Carolina and was recorded under the supervision of an attorney he had chosen.
I was not present.
Munroe later told me a limited summary because my role in the evidence discovery made some context necessary.
Luis confirmed that he worked two jobs the month of the Bellwood fire.
He had been assigned to the apartment complex’s maintenance desk but traded part of his shift so he could cover the warehouse security post.
The arrangement violated his employer’s scheduling rules.
He feared losing both jobs if anyone found out.
When the fire started, he heard emergency traffic through a radio in the warehouse office.
About twenty minutes later, an ambulance arrived at the loading dock.
Two crew members helped a man from the rear compartment.
Luis recognized the passenger as Daniel Strake, Bellwood’s maintenance supervisor.
Strake was conscious but badly injured.
He asked Luis to call the fire investigator because he had seen someone disable the building alarm panel earlier that evening.
Luis reached for the office telephone.
One of the crew members stopped him and said a company supervisor would handle the report.
The ambulance departed, leaving Strake inside the warehouse with another man who arrived in a separate vehicle.
Luis said the visitor wore an emergency transport company jacket.
He could not positively identify the visitor after eleven years.
He remembered the vehicle because its rear bumper carried a distinctive strip of reflective tape.
He also remembered the man saying Strake would be transferred to a medical facility outside the county.
