As expected, Duncan had anticipated Morris's reaction; he raised the topic merely to confirm his suspicions.
Just as the information he had gathered indicated, ordinary people like Morris knew nothing about any great fire—that conflagration existed only in Nina's and his own memory.
Or to be more precise, until he had taken possession of this body, that fire had existed solely in Nina's memory.
They quickly moved on from the topic, and Morris didn't harbor any suspicion due to the seemingly random conversation. He went on to brief Duncan on some matters concerning Nina's schooling and her classroom situation, and he inquired about Nina's family circumstances.
It was evident that this teacher, who cared deeply about his students, had wanted to learn about these matters for a long time, but Nina's uncle's previous disreputable and degenerate lifestyle had delayed such an inquiry until today.