Chapter 6: Six O'Clock
Grace Ellison called at 5:48.
"The footage airs in twelve minutes," she said.
"Arthur has already been in contact with the fire marshal's office.
They've been aware of the Channel 4 material since this afternoon — Carol Marsh sent them a copy at three o'clock as a courtesy."
"What does the footage actually show?" I asked.
"Clearly."
"A man in a contractor jacket placing a fuel canister near the exterior ventilation access of the Calloway Building at 2:31 PM.
The fire alarm activated at 2:47.
The man's face is partially visible in two frames.
Enough for identification." She paused.
"The jacket has Greg's company logo.
The canister is consistent with the accelerant residue the fire marshal found at the point of origin."
"Is it Greg himself?"
"No.
It's a man named Paul Denton.
He's been on Greg's payroll for eleven years.
He was the inspector who signed off on the suppression system repair that never happened."
I closed my eyes.
"So Greg sent the same man who falsified the inspection to start the fire."
"That's what the evidence suggests.
We're not at charges yet.
But the fire marshal is treating it as suspected arson, and the police have been briefed." Another pause.
"Daniel.
The recording you sent me — Greg's call this afternoon — combined with what he said on your doorstep this morning in front of the camera, that's witness tampering and attempted bribery.
That's separate from the arson investigation entirely."
"He threatened my family."
"I know.
It's in the recording." Her voice didn't change.
"That was a mistake on his part."
At 6:02, Emily called me into the living room.
The news was on.
The footage was grainy but clear enough.
A man in a dark jacket, a canister in both hands, moving quickly along the exterior landing.
The Channel 4 anchor's voice was calm and precise over the images.
Kevin was upstairs.
Emily stood next to me, one hand on her stomach, watching the screen.
When they showed the still frame — the logo on the jacket, enlarged and circled in red — she turned to look at me.
"You knew," she said.
"This afternoon.
You knew."
"I found out this morning.
I couldn't say anything until it aired."
She looked back at the screen.
"Those people," she said quietly.
"Thomas.
He's four years old."
"I know."
She didn't say anything else for a while.
The anchor moved on to an interview with Arthur Calloway, filmed earlier that afternoon outside his office.
He was composed.
He named the lease dispute.
He named the commercial tenant — a property developer named Marcus Hale — who had been pressuring him to sell for eight months.
He said he had provided documentation of that pressure to the police.
"Two names," Emily said.
"Greg and Hale."
"Do you think Hale ordered it?"
"I think Greg didn't set a fire in a building full of people to protect a failed inspection report."
She sat down on the couch.
Slowly, the way she did everything now in the last weeks of the pregnancy.
"What happens to us?" she said.
"Grace says the bribery and witness tampering charges are separate from the arson.
Greg's exposure is significant either way."
"That's not what I asked."
I sat down next to her.
"Arthur's job offer is real," I said.
"Grace thinks the civil case against Greg's company — for the inspection fraud alone — will settle.
She thinks we'll be named as witnesses, which means we're protected."
Emily looked at her hands.
"I keep thinking about what you said to Diane yesterday," she said.
"'You don't need to know my name.'" She looked up.
"And now the whole city knows your name."
My phone buzzed on the coffee table.
May you like
A text from an unknown number.
*You should have taken the money.*
