Scout rose, nose pointed directly toward Henson, then sat again, motion complete. Merritt didn’t react outwardly; he only wrote in his notebook: Instinct precedes confession.
Hours later, investigators confirmed what instinct had already proven. Henson had disabled the alarm using his override fob, intending to retrieve the fundraiser cash after hours. When a faulty wire sparked the blaze, his silenced system delayed the alert until half the building was lost.