How long does the empeg take to respond to the ignition line going off? Could you keep cranking the car and see whether the empeg goes off? (oh for my old cars which didn't start so well!!).
I have a Focus too, so I know how that behaves..

Or could you probe the sled connector with some long probes?

I think I am too blase about taking my poor car dashboard to pieces! I do have the luxury of some tastefully (apparently only to me!) coloured spare dash pieces to play with!

Nick