CHAPTER NINETEEN — THE CONFESSION
Marlene requested a meeting with her attorney the next morning.
She did not call Elena.
She did not call the television station.
She asked to speak with investigators about the mailbox fire and the warehouse fire.
Her attorney arranged the interview with the agencies involved.
Marlene admitted that she had poured ignition fluid into Elena’s mailbox and set the contents alight.
She said she had selected a rainy evening because she believed the flames would remain contained.
She acknowledged that this belief had been reckless.
The federal warning had frightened her because Northcross had told her that a notice might reach households in the distribution registry.
She had hoped Elena would remain unaware long enough for a fresh shipment of replacement buckles to arrive.
“Did you know the seats might be defective?” an investigator asked.
Marlene closed her eyes.
“I knew there were questions about the labels.”
“Did you know the replacement parts had not been approved?”
“Tessa told me she couldn’t get confirmation.”
“Then why did distribution continue?”
Marlene struggled to answer.
“Because I thought stopping would mean telling people we had failed them.”
“Did you start the warehouse fire?”
Marlene glanced at her attorney, then nodded.
“I put labels and cartons in the dumpster and lit them.”
She admitted that she had wanted to prevent investigators from comparing old and new packaging.
She did not claim that anyone from Northcross had ordered the fires.
When asked about financial arrangements, she said she had accepted fundraising projections and donation valuations supplied by Dale.
She denied receiving personal payments from the distributor.
Investigators would need to test that claim against independent records.
Marlene’s admissions did not settle the product case or decide the outcome of any charges.
They did establish that the woman who had preached safety to hundreds of families had intentionally destroyed two sources of evidence.
Later that afternoon, Leila called Elena.
“We can confirm that your neighbor has admitted responsibility for the mailbox fire,” she said.
Elena stood by the kitchen sink where the blackened envelope fragment still rested in a sealed bag.
“What happens now?”
“The appropriate authorities will determine the next legal steps.”
“Did she say why?”
“Her stated reason was to prevent an important notice from reaching you while the seat distribution continued.”
Elena looked out at Finn playing in the yard under Noah’s supervision.
“She almost burned our house down to hide a warning.”
Leila let the sentence stand.
“You can provide an impact statement when that stage of the process arrives,” she said.
Elena thanked her and ended the call.
She did not feel triumphant.
She felt the strange exhaustion that follows the end of a question that should never have needed asking.
