Chapter 4 - The Man Who Changed the Records
Bosow didn't deny the photograph.
That was what surprised Dante most.
The security chief stood before the desk, staring at the image as though he had expected it to disappear years ago.
"I drove him there," Bosow admitted.
Dante remained standing.
"Why?"
"Mr. Mercer requested him."
Silas Mercer.
Executive director of the Castellani Foundation.
For nine years, Silas had managed the charitable programs Dante financed.
He was respected by city officials, welcomed by donors, and praised by hundreds of families whose lives had improved because of his work.
"Silas requested my dog?" Dante asked.
"For a photograph with the Harbor House families. The opening ceremony had been moved forward."
"And you didn't ask me?"
Bosow lowered his eyes.
"Mr. Mercer said you had approved it."
"Did you hear that from me?"
"No, sir."
Dante leaned against his desk.
"Keep talking."
Bosow explained that Argo had been brought to the residence shortly before seven.
The dog had become restless when the fire alarms began.
He broke away from Bosow and disappeared toward the eastern service corridor.
When Bosow finally found him, Argo was bleeding and limping.
"I carried him outside," Bosow said. "Mr. Mercer arranged treatment."
"And the kennel records?"
Bosow's jaw tightened.
"I changed them."
Elise drew a sharp breath.
Dante stared at the man who had served him for thirteen years.
"You fabricated records involving my property and an ongoing criminal investigation."
"I was told the dog couldn't become part of the inquiry."
"By Silas?"
Bosow didn't answer.
Dante understood enough.
"You're suspended from security duties effective immediately. Turn in your access card and radio."
Bosow looked devastated.
"Mr. Castellani, I've never stolen from you."
"You stole the truth from me."
Bosow removed his radio.
But before leaving, he looked at Elise.
"Mrs. Novak, there are things about that night you don't understand."
"Then you should have told the truth when my husband was on trial."
Bosow had no answer.
After he left, Dante called the foundation office through his study's regular line and requested that Silas bring the Harbor House records to the estate.
He didn't explain why.
Then he turned to Elise.
"I want to meet someone who was actually inside that building."
Elise knew exactly whom he meant.
Marta Bell.
Sixty-four years old.
Former resident coordinator at Harbor House.
A woman who had once written a statement supporting Peter Novak, only to watch it disappear from the courtroom discussion.
They found Marta that afternoon at a neighborhood food pantry in East Boston.
She was carrying boxes of canned soup when Dante arrived.
Her expression hardened.
"I know who you are."
"Then you know why I'm here."
"If you're looking for another statement about how generous your foundation was, you're wasting your afternoon."
Dante accepted the insult.
"I'm looking for the truth about the fire."
Marta stared at Elise.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Then Marta crossed the room and embraced her.
"How's Ivy?"
"Growing," Elise whispered. "Missing her daddy."
Marta pressed her lips together.
Dante waited.
Finally, Marta led them into a small office behind the pantry.
She remembered the evening clearly.
Families had been moved into Harbor House's renovated eastern wing three days earlier.
The wing was supposed to have remained closed until its final safety inspection.
Marta had objected.
Silas had assured her that everything important was finished.
"He said we were turning families away while perfectly good rooms sat empty," Marta recalled.
"Was that true?" Dante asked.
"Some rooms were ready. The emergency exit wasn't."
Elise leaned forward.
"Door H4?"
Marta nodded.
"The same door Peter was accused of securing."
She looked at Dante.
"Your investigators said Peter locked that door to conceal the work he'd done on the electrical system."
"That's what the evidence showed."
"No."
Marta's eyes filled.
"That's what the evidence was made to show."
She explained that Peter had discovered overheating wires shortly before the fire.
He had gone to the electrical panel to shut down the affected circuit.
When the smoke spread, he ran toward the eastern exit because residents were still trapped behind it.
"Argo followed him," she said.
Dante felt his chest tighten.
"How do you know?"
"Because I was there."
Marta opened a drawer and removed a folded blue cloth.
It had once been part of a man's work shirt.
One corner was stained brown.
"Peter gave me this after he wrapped the dog's leg. He asked me to hold it while he went back for Daniel."
Elise pressed a hand over her mouth.
Daniel Hsu.
The caretaker who never came home.
Marta's voice trembled.
"Peter tried to save him, Mr. Castellani. Even after that dog was hurt, they both kept going back."
Dante stared at the cloth.
He imagined Argo limping through smoke while his own security chief waited outside.
"Did you see who secured the door?"
Marta took a long breath.
"I didn't see the moment the locking bar went on."
Dante's hopes sank.
"But I saw something else."
She pulled a printed photograph from an envelope.
It showed the eastern corridor shortly before the fire.
A man in a charcoal suit stood beside door H4.
His hand rested on a heavy steel locking bar mounted across the outside of the emergency exit.
Dante recognized him.
Silas Mercer.
Marta pointed at the picture.
"That afternoon, I told him nobody could escape through that door."
May you like
She looked Dante directly in the eyes.
"And he told me to stop worrying because there wouldn't be a fire."
