Ernest brought three folders onto the screened porch.
The first contained maps of the district’s old alarm circuits.
The second contained photographs of the Saint Alden site taken before demolition.
The third contained correspondence in which Ernest repeatedly asked for a complete chain-of-custody list for electrical components removed after the fire.
He said he had never been given one.
“Does that mean somebody tampered with the alarm?”
Daniel asked.
“It means I couldn’t account for parts that should have been logged,” Ernest answered.
“You don’t leap from a missing inventory to a murder theory.
You find out who handled the inventory.”
He showed Daniel a photograph of the basement service stair.
A brass bell pull hung beside a gray utility cabinet.
Beneath it, a handwritten sign read: Ring twice if door will not release.
The sign was visible in one photograph but had been cropped out of the image used at the inquest.
“Who controlled that door?”
Ernest turned the photograph over.
“Nobody ever gave me an answer I could verify.
The center had electronic locks on certain storage rooms.
They weren’t supposed to be used on occupied spaces.”
Daniel asked why Ernest had not spoken publicly after the case closed.
Ernest said he had spoken, in reports and letters that did not receive the attention they deserved.
By the time the final settlement was announced, the families were exhausted and the public had moved on.
An investigator could make a record without being able to make a courtroom act on it.
He had retired with that distinction weighing on him.
On the drive back Mara urged Daniel to be cautious about involving Jessica in interviews.
Jessica had been manipulated, but she also might have made statements to Richard that could be used against her credibility.
Mara did not want to hide that fact; she wanted Jessica to have independent counsel who could advise her before she became a witness.
Daniel called Jessica afterward and repeated the advice.
She said she had booked a meeting with attorney Priya Desai for the following week.
That night a photograph arrived in Daniel’s email from an account with no visible sender name.
It showed a cedar box resting on a metal table.
A card beside it displayed the date and a handwritten message: Ask your wife which photograph she didn’t show you.
The image was sharply lit, like an inventory picture rather than a personal threat.
Daniel forwarded the message to Mara without replying.
