Chapter 16 - THE FIRE WAS NOT AN ACCIDENTThe official origin-and-cause report arrived seven weeks after the fire.
Daniel Price met Megan in person.
He did not hand her the complete technical report.
Much of it remained part of an active investigation.
But he gave her the conclusion.
“The fire was intentionally set.”
Megan stared at him.
“You’re certain?”
“To the standard required for our classification, yes.”
“Could Caitlyn have caused it accidentally?”
“We found no evidence of that.”
“Could I?”
“You weren’t there.”
“I know.”
She closed her eyes.
Sometimes the obvious still needed to be said.
“So someone started a fire near a sleeping seven-year-old.”
“Yes.”
“And then locked her room.”
“The lock is being evaluated as part of the broader case.”
“Daniel.”
He looked at her.
“We believe the circumstances are connected.”
Megan sat down.
For weeks she had expected this.
Hearing it still destroyed something.
A house fire could be tragedy.
This was choice.
Someone had decided.
Someone had acted.
Someone had walked away.
Daniel continued.
“We found no evidence suggesting the fire spread from another location into Caitlyn’s bedroom.”
“So it started there.”
“In or immediately adjacent to that room.”
Megan covered her mouth.
“I’m sorry,” Daniel said.
She lowered her hand.
“Don’t be sorry. Help them prove it.”
“That’s what we’re doing.”
Evelyn’s attorney attacked the report immediately.
Alternative causes had not been adequately explored.
Investigators were biased.
Caitlyn’s memories were contaminated by adult influence.
The family trust created financial incentives for Megan to exclude Evelyn.
Megan read every statement.
Nicole told her to stop.
“You don’t need to consume everything her lawyer says.”
“It’s about my daughter.”
“It’s designed to make you angry.”
“It’s working.”
“Then stop helping him.”
Megan deleted the news alerts.
That lasted two days.
On the third, she received a message from a Monroe relative.
You should think about what Ethan would want.
Megan blocked the number.
Another relative wrote:
Evelyn made mistakes, but criminalizing grief is cruel.
Blocked.
Then Ethan’s cousin Rachel called.
Megan almost ignored it.
Rachel said:
“I believe Caitlyn.”
Megan closed her eyes.
“Thank you.”
“And I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Aunt Evelyn asked me about custody months ago.”
Megan sat upright.
“When?”
“Last Christmas.”
“What did she say?”
“She asked whether I thought Caitlyn was safe with you.”
Megan’s stomach tightened.
“And what did you say?”
“That you were a good mother.”
“What did she do?”
“She changed the subject.”
“Anything else?”
Rachel hesitated.
“She asked whether I would testify if something happened.”
Megan went cold.
“Something?”
“She said, ‘If Megan became unstable.’”
“Did she say why?”
“No.”
Rachel began crying.
“I thought she was being dramatic.”
“You couldn’t know.”
“I should’ve told you.”
“You’re telling me now.”
Rachel gave a statement to police.
Other relatives followed.
A pattern emerged.
Evelyn had spent months quietly asking questions.
Would Megan cope long-term?
Was she emotionally stable?
Was Caitlyn happy?
Would relatives support Evelyn if custody became an issue?
It was not enough alone.
But it showed preparation.
Then search warrants produced something stronger.
On Evelyn’s tablet, investigators recovered deleted calendar entries.
One read:
R.S. — emergency guardianship timing.
Another:
V.H. — trustee transition.
And on the night of the fire:
Megan back by 11.
Marcus Cole stared at that final note for a long time.
Megan asked:
“Why write down when I was coming home?”
No one knew.
Or no one wanted to speculate.
But Megan understood the implication.
Evelyn had known Caitlyn was home.
She had known Megan was not.
And she had known exactly when Megan planned to return.
The fire had begun around 9:25.
What had Evelyn expected to happen between then and eleven?
Megan could not know.
May you like
But for the first time, prosecutors began discussing charges not merely related to endangerment.
The investigation was moving toward something far more serious.
Related Stories
