You have the good cops, you have the bad cops and the polygraphs. It felt like law and order. The fire broke out before dawn in the daylight they found this mother of two Young Children dead. She lived a very courageous life. She was very bold in the things she did. But after the smoke cleared, a mystery lingered. We knew she did not die in that fire. She died before the fire. Who do you look to as the suspect . Obviously the spouse is the first person you look to. But her husband had a clear alibi and he passed a lie detector test. Eventually, the case grew cold until this witness came forward with a tale of love and lust gone wrong. He wrapped it around her neck. But could she be believed . I was sleeping around. I think i slept with half the town. Was she out for justice or revenge . In a Perfect World, no. Will she get hers . Yes. When she dies. What was the lie and what was the truth . How could you miss it . He wasnt there. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Andrea Canning with secrets and lies. On a frigid december morning in 2008 in a tiny picturesque down on thebacks of the delaware. The whole house is on fire. A deadly blaze burned a small Country House to the ground. And left behind in the ashes more secrets, love gone wrong, illicit affairs, friends turning against each other. It would take years to unravel the mystery of that fire, haunting this town. And those who loved the couple who once lived in that house, paul and Catherine Novak. The novaks had both grown up as city kids. Paul was a new york city paramedic, a job that seemed the perfect fit. I wanted to be that person that would show up that would help my parents and help my sister if she was in a car accident or Something Like that. But he also saw the dark side of city life, a little too close to home. I would do shootings and stabbings two blocks away from my apartment and i always thought to myself, i would never raise a child in this area. So in 2002, paul and his wife catherine went house hunting in narrowsburg, new york, a small hamlet tucked between the cat skill and pocono mountains. They didnt look for long. It was the big red house as she called it. She would talk about the big red house all the time. Catherines brother michael and sisterinlaw joanne said she worked hard to make the big red house a home. Growing up, we lived in apartments. You know, this was a space of her own. She was thrilled to have five acres or ten acres of property and she loved it there. The Perfect Place for the perfectly matched couple. They seemed meant for each other right from the start. I liked her from the first moment i met her. She was very effervescent and very funny and opinionated and i really liked that in her. So you really saw into the future the first time you saw her . Yes. We ended up getting married, i think seven months later. Two years after that, their first child, natalie, was born. Very special. Catherines mom, christina, was ever the proud grandmother. Natalie looks so much like her mom. So much like her mom. What was it like the first time you laid eyes on your new daughter . Natalie, wow, it was like falling in love like a thousand times more than you have with any other person. Natalie is just shes a part of me. Four years later, along came nicholas. She was in her glory and to have a boy and a girl, which was good. Things were all coming together. Yeah. She got directly engaged in the community, in the church. She taught sunday school. She became a girl scout leader, the school board. She did many, many things. And she did almost all of it by herself. Paul was still working as a paramedic in new york city. More than 100 miles away. Thats a big commitment. This is pretty far from the city. Its a twohour drive drive. I was making the new york city money but living up here. The sacrifice was i couldnt be home every night. And that they soon discovered can be tough on a marriage. We went to counseling for about a year and she just felt that she never got a break from being a fulltime mom. But they were both committed to making their marriage work. On their tenth wedding anniversary, valentines day, paul surprised catherine with a ceremony to renew their vows. Im not a church going type. For me to do that is a big thing. I planned a little, you know, couple of days get away and she was really taken by surprise by that. And things were good for a couple of months after that. It wasnt enough. The glow of that get away faded and life became routine again. Soon pauls eyes wandered to a much younger woman, someone from work. They had an affair and paul moved out leaving catherine and the kids alone in the house. She was beside herself. She was absolutely hysterical. Catherines good friend and neighbor, sue muller, remembered when the marriage ended. She couldnt even get breath, she was sobbing so hard. But catherines family who considered her the eternal optimist, watched her move on with her life, pouring all her love and attention into her children. She was very focused on that, very engaged in their lives, did everything with them. Sounds like thats what was important in her life anyway. Absolutely. She was working at her Childrens School and had been on a few dates. Catherine was creating a life without paul. Then in december 2008, sometime in the Early Morning hours, somewhere in her house a fire started. A house is totally on fire, its on fire. When firefighters arrived, the big red house was a wall of flames. They had no idea if anyone was still inside. Does anyone live there . Yes, yes. There are kids. Do you know if theyre out of the house . I dont know. Neighbors knew paul wasnt there. He was living in an apartment three hours away with his new girlfriend. That morning he got a call from catherines pastor. Picked it up and it was pastor phyllis. She goes where are the kids . Im like theyre with me. Whats going on . Shes like the house is on fire. Firefighters worked for hours dousing the flames. When sue muller arrived, the fire was still raging. She stood vigil for hours waiting to hear news of her friend. All of a sudden, the firefighters were concentrated in one area, looking down into the basement and the local funeral home was there with the body bag. I saw them bring the body bag into the basement. In the destruction and muck of the basement, under massive pieces of what had been the house, firefighters found the remains of the family dog and, to their horror, the body of 41yearold Catherine Novak. Oh, no, oh, no. It cant be. I think it takes a while to grasp that death is forever. What did you think when you heard that news . I was a blank. A complete blank. What on earth am i going to tell these children . How am i going to tell them . She was a great mom. I didnt know how i was going to be able to fill that void. The autopsy report said she was killed when heavy debris fell on her. Catherines death was officiallily ruled accidental. She lived a courageous life. She knew what she wanted, she went after it. She was very bold in the things she did. A tragic end to a life that held so much promise. But as youve probably guessed, the story didnt end there. For investigators, it was just the beginning. Not everyone believed this was an accident. If it wasnt an accident, was it murder . It certainly didnt look that way until a second autopsy report came back. We knew she did not die in that fire. She died before the fire. Went to take a polygraph test. Tends to stay at rest. While a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Staying active can ease arthritis symptoms. But if you have arthritis, this can be difficult. Prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain and improve daily physical function so moving is easier. 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[ male announcer ] at t knows you dont want anything to come between you and your new iphone. Thats why were offering at t next at 0 down on all new iphones. The remains of that old Country House were still smoldering as investigators dug through the debris looking for clues. They wanted to know what caused the fire and exactly how Catherine Novak died there. Her mothers question was more simple. The big thing for me was why didnt she get out, that was what kept going over in my mind. Why didnt she get out. Even her estranged husband paul was puzzled. I didnt know what to think about it. Ive been surrounded by death and violence my entire life and now it hits home the pathologist ruled the death an accident but investigators werent so sure. They turned to District AttorneySteve Lun John to take a closer look. You were contacted despite this talk that it was an accident . Yes. We had a fire and we had a death. The question of how the two of those items were going to come together would not play out for a couple days later and actually years later. The police, as they often do, began by interviewing catherines soon to be exhusband, paul novak. What happened in the interview as far as the way they treated you, the questions they asked you . They were nice. They just asked me about cathys last whereabouts, if i knew of any boyfriends, who was in the house, any utilities that may have had a problem or Something Like that. The interview was all very routine. But the investigation at the scene was not. Fire inspectors couldnt figure out what ignited the blaze. They checked the wiring, the appliances, the stove, the propane tank. Nothing conclusive. But then, things changed. The d. A. Brought in a specialist, a forensic pathologist do a second autopsy a few days later. And the results this time told a different story. We knew she did not die in that fire. She did before the fire. The second pathologist discovered there was no Carbon Monoxide in catherines blood or soot in her lungs, meaning she stopped breathing before the fire started. She changed the manner of death from accidental to pending investigation. The question is, what else can we gain or learn before we can start to classify this as a homicide . Who do you look to as a suspect . The state police had done some initial interviews, obviously the spouse is the first person you look to. The spouse had a clear alibi. Paul and his new girlfriend, Michelle Lafrance said they were far from catherines beloved red house when the fire broke out. A threehour drive away in their apartment on long island. Still, investigators didnt just take the couples word for it. They made a request. He goes, we want to take a polygraph test. Did you feel you were in a tv show by this point . It felt like a bad episode of law and order. When did you get the results . He came back 15 minutes later and said youre all done, you passed. He was driving home from the investigation and he was hysteric hysterical. Pauls sister had never heard him so emotional. They asked me if i killed her and he found it so unbelievable that he was being asked these questions. So if it wasnt paul, investigators needed to look for other suspects. The state police did a complete canvas of the area. Anybody who had any connection to Catherine Novak, the state police reviewed, found, interviewed. But after many months and no leads, investigators hid a dead end. The case turned cold. None of that mattered much to catherines mom. I still miss my daughter the same. I miss her no matter what happened to her, i miss her. Seven months after catherines death, paul and his girlfriend packed up the kids and their apartment on long island and moved a thousand miles south to florida. I figured with my experience that it would probably be pretty easy for me to get a job somewhere. Kind of a fresh start . A fresh start. I thought it would be good for the kids, great school. Nice neighborhood. Paul said not long after their move, things with michelle started to sour. When they first met, she was a paramedic in training. He was her teacher. Her friend. She confided about her history of mental illness, long bouts of depression and alcohol abuse. But now he says her problems were beginning to take a toll on their relationship. His young daughter, a sore spot. She was very jealous of natalie and her mental issues definitely became more apparent as time went on. At one point she actually threatened to commit suicide inside my own house. This was no surprise to alone a and her mom who loved catherine but never approved of michelle. What are your First Impressions of michelle . We didnt like her. Why . She immediately wanted catherines pictures turned around because she felt catherine was looking at her. Paul said it took him a bit longer to realize that he and michelle were not the best match. They had been together for three years when he found out she was cheating on him with a married man. He didnt want to stand for that. He had to ask her to leave. He did it very nicely and she didnt want to go. In what paul described as a bitter breakup, he forced michelle to move out and told her it was over. By that time, it had been more than two years since catherines death. Investigators back in new york had moved on to other cases. The years were ticking by with no new leads. But the d. A. Was a patient man. We never put the file away. It was always a matter of when something is going to come forward, well be ready to go forward. We never accepted an accidental cause of death, ever. His patience would be rewarded. A break was coming in this cold case and it would surprise everyone. Coming up a surprise knock at paul novaks door. My girlfriend comes in and she goes theres something fishy going on outside. Theres two Police Detectives and they want to talk about your car being involved in a hit and run. Is that what they really wanted when dateline continues. Everyone thats still in town, is at friendsgiving, so come on down. The turkeys hot and the tables fun, join the party, everyone. Thats my kind of holiday. They think of a soldier. As a way of saying thanks to those who have served, applebees is offering vets a free meal on veterans day. Ill be showing my support by playing a concert for our veterans. And you get to decide the neighborhood. Give thanks at thankyoumovement. Com. And the most thankful neighborhood will host the concert. Well, ill be so join the movement and thank a vet today. Na, na, na, na, na, na with my redcard, i bring them all to life thats my kind of holiday. Save big all season long with 5 off plus Free Shipping with your debit or credit redcard. I needed a new laptop for my premed classes, something that runs office and has a keyboard. But i wanted a tablet for me, for stuff like twitter and xbox, so my downtime can be more like uptime. Thats why i got a windows 2 in 1 which does both works as a laptop and a tablet. So i can manage my crazy life, and also have a life. [ beep ] gotta go. Years had passed since Catherine Novaks body was discovered among the blackened ruins of her big red house. The passage of time didnt make it any easier for her mother. Its the thing that never happens to you. It always happens to someone else. Doesnt happen to you. You dont lose a child like that. Its such a horrible way, fire. Catherines brother michael and his wife joanne had stopped asking questions, choosing instead to accept they might never know what really happened to her. To take catherines perspective, she would look for the positive side, the good things and she would want us to move on. And thats what we tried do. We made our peace with it. And we went on living. But as time went by in the little town of narrowsburg, dark suspicions were whispered from neighbor to neighbor and one name kept coming up. Catherines estranged husband paul novak. Her close friend, sue muller. I was angry as time went on and i thought more and more about it and i thought that paul might somehow be involved. As she looked back, she was particularly haunted by the way paul acted the day of catherines memorial service. The whole congregation were sobbing so loud. I mean, pastor couldnt even finish her sermon. I went up to him and i hugged him. I kind of was struck by how he really showed no emotion after 11 years of marriage that she might have meant a little bit more to him that he might shed a tear. But i didnt see any. But there was no evidence that paul had anything to do with catherines death. No dna or fingerprints at the crime scene, no witnesses. He had even passed a polygraph test. And he had an alibi for the morning of the fire. He was three hours away with his girlfriend michelle in their apartment on long island. Paul continued to enjoy his new life in fl