Chapter 7: The Morning They Came for Greg
I showed Grace the text at 7:15 that evening.
"Forward it to me," she said immediately.
"Don't delete it, don't respond."
"It's from an unknown number."
"Doesn't matter.
It's traceable and it's a continuation of the pattern from this afternoon.
He's panicking." A short pause.
"Daniel, I need you and Emily to stay home tonight.
Don't speak to any press beyond what's already been said.
Don't contact Arthur directly until I give you the all-clear.
Can you do that?"
"Yes."
"Good.
Get some sleep if you can."
I didn't sleep much.
Emily did, eventually, one hand resting on her stomach, Kevin curled against her back the way he'd been doing since she got too large for him to climb on properly.
I sat in the kitchen with the lights low and thought about Paul Denton — the man in the jacket, the man with the canister — and what it meant to carry that into a building where people were home in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon.
At 6:20 the next morning, Grace called.
"They executed the warrant an hour ago," she said.
"Greg's office and his home address.
Paul Denton was picked up at his apartment at five forty-five.
He's already talking."
"Talking how?"
"Cooperating.
He's giving them Hale." A pause.
"Apparently Hale made the approach through Greg six weeks ago.
Right around the time the false inspection was filed.
Denton says Greg told him it was just going to be a small fire — controlled, contained, nobody home."
"There were people home."
"Denton says he didn't know that.
Whether that's true is for the lawyers to sort out." Her voice was even.
"Greg is being questioned now.
His attorney is asking for a continuance on everything, which means he's not talking yet.
But Denton is, and Hale's name is in the warrant."
I looked out the kitchen window.
The street was quiet.
The news van was gone.
"When does Greg get formally charged?"
"Today, most likely.
The fire marshal's report combined with Denton's statement and the footage is enough to move forward." She paused.
"The bribery and witness tampering charges are being filed separately, this morning.
The recording you made is the centerpiece."
"He didn't know I was recording."
"No.
He thought he was threatening a waiter." I heard something in her voice that wasn't quite a smile but was close to one.
"That was his second mistake.
His first was doing it at all."
Emily appeared in the kitchen doorway, hair loose, one hand on the door frame.
"Grace?" she mouthed.
I nodded.
She came and sat across from me at the table, and I put the phone between us so she could hear.
"What about Hale?" Emily asked.
"Grace," I said, "my wife is asking about Marcus Hale."
"Hale's attorney has already issued a statement denying any connection to the fire.
That statement was issued at eleven o'clock last night, which means he knew the warrant was coming before it was executed." A pause.
"That's a problem for him, not for us.
It suggests he has a source inside the investigation, which is its own separate issue."
"Will he face charges?" Emily asked.
"If Denton's account holds up and the documentation Arthur provided supports the timeline — yes.
It won't be fast.
Men like Hale have layers of protection.
But the fire marshal's office is treating this as a multi-party arson conspiracy.
That's a serious charge.
It doesn't go away."
We sat with that for a moment.
Kevin's footsteps crossed the ceiling above us.
Then his voice: "Mum?
Is breakfast?"
Emily looked up at the ceiling and smiled.
"Coming," she called.
She stood up, and as she passed me she put her hand briefly on my shoulder — just rested it there for a second, then moved to the stove.
"Grace," I said, "thank you."
May you like
"Don't thank me yet," she said.
"But you can thank me in about six weeks."
