Chapter 15 - The Witness Who Wasn't Supposed to SurvivePeter Holloway was fifty-nine and lived above a hardware store in Quincy.
He had worked as the evening custodian at Morrow House until three weeks before the fire.
When Adrian called him, Peter refused to speak.
When Tanya called, he hung up.
When Detective Asha Reed contacted him, he said he had nothing to contribute.
Then somebody slid a photograph beneath his apartment door.
It showed his granddaughter walking home from school.
On the back were four words.
KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.
Peter called Asha immediately.
They met in a secure interview room at police headquarters.
Peter arrived pale and sweating.
"I don't want my family involved."
Asha showed him the photograph.
"Do you know who took this?"
"No."
"Has anyone threatened you before?"
Peter laughed bitterly.
"For ten years."
Asha switched on the recording equipment after obtaining his agreement.
"Tell me about Morrow House."
Peter stared at his hands.
"It was old, but it wasn't falling apart. Celia kept pushing for proper repairs. The tenants trusted her."
"Why did you leave?"
"Because Marcus Pike told me I was finished."
"Did he give a reason?"
"He said Pinnacle was restructuring maintenance operations."
"Was there a dispute?"
Peter nodded.
"About the alarms."
Asha leaned forward.
"Explain."
"Two weeks before the fire, contractors worked on the alarm-control system. They said they were replacing damaged circuits."
"Did you observe the work?"
"Some of it."
"What concerned you?"
"They disabled parts of the system while the building was occupied. I asked where the fire watch was."
"What did they say?"
"That management had approved everything."
"Who was management?"
"Marcus."
Peter rubbed his face.
"I went to Celia. She copied the work order and told me not to sign anything I hadn't personally witnessed."
"Did anyone ask you to sign?"
"Yes. A fire-watch log."
"Had you performed a fire watch?"
"No."
"What did you do?"
"I refused."
Asha wrote something down.
"What happened next?"
"Marcus fired me."
Peter looked toward the door.
"Three days later, Celia called. She said she'd discovered invoices for work that had never been performed."
"Do you remember the companies?"
"North Quay and Pinnacle."
Asha nodded.
"Anything else?"
Peter hesitated.
"There was a man who kept coming to the building after I left."
"Who?"
"Victor Vale."
"Why was he there?"
"I don't know."
Peter swallowed.
"But Celia told me he wanted her to sign a statement saying the board had approved the sale."
"Did she?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because she told me she'd rather lose her job than put her name on a lie."
Asha stopped writing.
"Did you see Mr. Vale on the night of the fire?"
Peter shook his head.
"I wasn't there."
"Then why have you been afraid for ten years?"
Peter's eyes filled.
"Because the day before it happened, Marcus called me."
"What did he say?"
"He asked whether the rear stairwell had another exit."
Asha felt a chill.
"What did you tell him?"
"Yes. There was an exterior door."
"Was it usable?"
"As far as I knew."
"What else did he ask?"
Peter's voice broke.
"He asked whether someone could reach the street from Celia's office without passing the front entrance."
Asha leaned closer.
"Why would he ask that?"
"I don't know."
"Did he say anything else?"
Peter looked at the photograph of his granddaughter.
"He told me not to come near Morrow House the next evening."
Asha remained still.
Peter began crying.
"I thought he was planning to steal records. Maybe scare Celia. I didn't think anybody would set the building on fire."
Asha gave him a moment.
"Did you tell anyone about this afterward?"
Peter nodded.
"An investigator."
"Who?"
"Ruben Ortega."
Asha looked up.
"Did he record your statement?"
"He wrote it down."
"Do you have a copy?"
Peter shook his head.
"No."
Asha knew why that mattered.
Ortega had already reported that parts of his early findings were omitted from the final investigation.
Peter's testimony could help explain why.
But it also created a new question.
If Marcus had been planning something, who had given the orders?
That evening, Asha drove to Ruben Ortega's house.
His front door was open.
Inside, a lamp lay shattered on the floor.
Drawers had been emptied.
The kitchen chairs were overturned.
Asha drew her weapon and called for backup.
She searched the ground floor.
No one.
Then she found a dark stain on the hallway carpet.
Blood.
Beside it lay Ruben's old fire-department identification badge.
And beneath the badge was a photograph of Morrow House.
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Someone had written across it in black ink:
THE DEAD DON'T TESTIFY.
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