CHAPTER FIFTEEN AI: THE FINAL INTERVIEW
On the morning before the board issued its decision, the fire investigator asked whether I could answer several additional questions.
She said the case review had identified conflicting accounts of the minutes before Miriam crossed the street.
I agreed to meet at the station with Vanessa present.
The investigator showed me a diagram of Alder Court and asked where I had been when I first noticed Miriam.
I pointed to the living room window.
She asked whether I had seen Owen approach the mailbox before Miriam arrived.
I said I had seen him standing across the street, but I had not watched every movement he made.
She asked whether I had seen anything in his free hand.
I said I remembered a movement but could not identify an object.
She thanked me for refusing to guess.
Then she asked whether I had ever seen Miriam carry the same container before the fire.
I said I had seen a similar container in her garage during a neighborhood cleanup, but I could not say whether it was the same one.
The investigator showed me a photograph of the recovered container and asked whether its shape matched my memory.
I said it did, but I could not identify the contents by looking at it.
She said laboratory testing and witness statements would address that question.
Vanessa asked whether investigators had determined who supplied the container.
The investigator said she could not disclose all findings while the case remained active.
She did confirm that the chain of custody had been documented and that the recovered materials were being evaluated alongside the recordings.
I asked whether Miriam’s statement had changed the investigation.
The investigator said it had provided leads that could be checked independently.
She emphasized that a witness’s willingness to cooperate did not make every statement automatically accurate.
I appreciated hearing someone say that aloud.
The investigator then asked about the note pushed beneath my door.
I said I had not recognized the handwriting and had not seen anyone deliver it.
She asked whether the note had changed my daily routine.
I told her I had started working away from home and had asked Leonard to watch the street when I left.
She wrote down the answer and asked whether I wanted information about victim support services.
I said I would accept the information.
When the interview ended, Vanessa and I walked to the parking lot together.
She asked whether I felt safer knowing the investigation was moving forward.
I said I felt better knowing the investigators were willing to separate what I remembered from what I feared.
Vanessa said that distinction was often the difference between a persuasive story and a reliable account.
I drove home without stopping at the post office.
