Chapter 12 - THE NIGHT OF EMMA’S FIRE
Investigators reconstructed the night more accurately.
6:42 p.m. — Emma texted Rebecca: Need to talk tomorrow.
7:05 — Greg’s truck left Miller Property Recovery headquarters.
7:21 — Greg’s phone disconnected from cellular data.
7:34 — Emma’s neighbor heard raised voices from the Miller property.
7:52 — Greg’s truck appeared on a traffic camera two miles from home.
8:11 — smoke was first visible from the workshop.
8:16 — neighbor called 911.
8:19 — Greg called 911 from the property.
8:24 — firefighters arrived.
9:03 — Emma was pronounced dead.
10:18 — someone used Emma’s phone to cancel Susan Blake’s meeting.
Greg initially told investigators he arrived at 8:18.
The traffic and neighbor evidence suggested earlier.
Still not murder.
The fire engineer found one more relevant detail in old photographs.
The workshop’s smoke alarm had been removed from its mounting bracket.
Greg told original investigators Emma removed it because it chirped.
Rebecca said Emma was obsessive about smoke alarms after Leo was born.
No one could prove who removed it.
The rear door was unlocked.
No sign Emma had been restrained.
Autopsy showed smoke inhalation and thermal injury.
No sedatives.
No blunt-force trauma.
If Greg started or knowingly allowed the fire, Emma might still have been able to escape until smoke overwhelmed her.
The uncertainty was enormous.
Prosecutors refused to rush.
Greg’s larger fraud case proceeded first.
His lawyer offered a plea covering business fraud and Leo’s assault if prosecutors agreed not to use admissions in any future homicide case.
The state refused broad immunity.
Negotiations stopped.
Leo turned seven.
Rebecca held a small birthday party.
No bug theme.
No brave-survivor cake.
Dinosaurs.
Pizza.
Three classmates.
I knew because Rebecca sent Sarah a thank-you card after Sarah had helped coordinate Leo’s follow-up care.
Sarah read it aloud in the break room.
I told her:
“We are not family.”
“No one said we are.”
“You’re smiling like an aunt.”
“I’m allowed to care.”
She had told me that before.
I was learning.
Rebecca later asked whether I would speak with Leo once by video because he had a medical question.
I agreed with the pediatrician’s approval.
Leo appeared on screen holding his cheek.
“Could another bug still be hiding?”
“Your scans and follow-up exams found none.”
“What if it’s tiny?”
“Your skin healed. There is no evidence another one remains.”
“Would I feel it?”
“Maybe, but anxiety can also make normal sensations feel important.”
He looked suspicious.
“That means you think I’m making it up.”
“No. It means sensations are real even when the explanation is uncertain.”
He thought about that.
“Okay.”
Before ending, he said:
“Dr. Thomas?”
“Yes?”
“Dad said doctors lie when they want your family.”
“What do you think?”
“I think doctors can be wrong. That’s why we use records, second opinions, tests, and other people checking our work.”
May you like
He smiled slightly.
That was the answer I hoped he remembered.
