The incident of arson that claimed the life of Anita Emory, 32, a Butler native, at her apartment in Pittsburgh in January 1993 now has a message to communicate.

That message is that it's never too late to solve a mystery. A shred of information that someone might not have disclosed for years because of fear, not wanting to get involved, or because it was considered insignificant could in fact be the missing piece of a baffling investigatory puzzle, allowing police to solve — and close — a case.

It was a resident of Pittsburgh's Bloomfield neighborhood who, after reading a recent newspaper article in which the Emory fire was a topic, confirmed that she had seen the suspect now under arrest walk from the building in which Emory lived just minutes before flames erupted.

The suspect, Daniel T. Carnevale, now 42, who lived in Bloomfield at the time of the fire, was arrested earlier this month in Placerville, Calif.

Carnevale moved to Placerville shortly after the fatal blaze in which two people besides Emory died.

With 13 years having elapsed since the fire, it was understandable that Emory's mother, Margaret Emory of Fairview Avenue in Butler, had virtually given up hope that the person responsible for her daughter's death would ever be apprehended. In the aftermath of the blaze, Margaret Emory was told that much, if not all, of the evidence connected with the fire probably had been destroyed by the flames.

Instead, there was evidence "out there" that until now had been unknown to investigators, and the mention of the fire in the recent newspaper article resulted in that evidence being disclosed.

Now, instead of a lingering mystery, there finally is the possibility — if Carnevale is convicted or pleads guilty — that the underlying details connected with the case might finally be unraveled.

Carnevale, or whoever is responsible for the three deaths, deserves to be punished. The passage of 13 years doesn't diminish the necessity for justice.

Margaret Emory and other relatives and friends of Anita Emory — as well as family members and friends of the other victims — deserve answers as to what led to the torching of the building in which the three people died.

So it is that the books remain open on many unsolved criminal cases in Butler County, serious and not so serious — cases awaiting just a fragment of information that would tie many seemingly unrelated facts together, or maybe enough information that it, by itself, leads to an arrest.

People should not fear going to the police with information and, if there remains a justifiable basis for fear, a tip can be provided anonymously.

What's important is that information reaches the proper authorities in a timely fashion.

For Margaret Emory, the new development in her daughter's case no doubt has revived some of the pain that she felt when her daughter's death was confirmed. But at the same time the development might help to bring some semblance of closure in regard to the loss that she has been made to endure for so many years.

Those who refuse to come forward with vital clues about a crime become a party to the injustice and loss that victims endure.

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