Someone threw flammable liquid at a commercial property in the strict centre of Skopje. The facade and the front door are damaged. Nobody was hurt, and that is very nearly the only good news in this story.

The incident happened around 03:45. It was reported at 20:40 the same day. That is almost seventeen hours between the event and the moment police learned about it - and that number says more than the entire press release. The property belongs to a 47-year-old man from Skopje, and so far nobody is explaining why anyone would want to set it on fire.

From the Interior Ministry: no name, no motive, no suspect. Just the formula we all know by heart - "measures are being taken to clear up the case". A sentence repeated so often it has stopped meaning anything at all.

What we are talking about here is somebody arriving at night with a jerrycan in front of another person's shop in Centar. Not a stray spark, not faulty wiring. Someone made a decision, walked up to the front door and lit it. The difference between a damaged facade and a burning building with people inside is a question of the hour and of luck.

Centar is a neighbourhood with cameras on every second corner, private security outside half the commercial premises, and a police station minutes away. If flammable liquid can be thrown there and almost a whole day can pass before it is reported, what does that mean for businesses in the smaller municipalities?

We will not know whether this was a debt being collected, personal revenge or a warning - not until somebody is detained, at least. Until then, all that is left of the whole night is a damaged door and one more open case on a list that grows faster than it closes.