Page 1 of Murder in Shades of Fire and Ash

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Saturday morning

The only good thing to be said about the heat was that it was worse further south. North Wales wasn’t used to these kinds of temperatures, and certainly not day after day. At first, people in Llanfair were allIt’s like being abroad,andisn’t it lovely to be able to eat outside?along withI shouldn’t complain, but …followed by a long and detailed complaint about not liking it to betoohot. Often the moaners would be the same people who grouched about the cold, the damp, the rain, and the grey skies that were the norm in this part of the world. But then, British people love to talk about the weather, and especially love wishing for it to be different.

Patsy Hargreaves, who had newly finished her probation, and was nowPolice ConstableHargreaves, was opening and closing windows. Closing them on the south side of the little Llanfair police station; opening them to the north. Detective Constable Eddy Edwards was following her round with a long face, demanding that all the windows be opened, to allow what he called ‘a through draught.’

“No such thing in this weather,” Patsy told him. “If we open the back windows, all we do is let the hot air in. The only windows we should open are the ones in the shade.”

“We need air conditioning,” Eddy grumped.

“Eds, this isnorth Wales.How many days sunshine do we have? Come on, get a grip.”

Charlie heard the two of them bickering as he made his way up the stairs to the open plan office with his own little office in the corner. Without PC Mags Protheroe to call them to order, they would carry on all day. But Mags was on holiday in France, which was apparently cooler than here, so keeping the peace was going to be his responsibility. Or he could leave them to it, on the basis that he had spent enough of this morning trying to keep the peace at home and largely failing. The truth was, he’d only come in to work to get away from the arguments at home. Slammed doors and raised voices had not previously been a feature of his relationship with his beloved husband, Tom, but recently … He sat down heavily in his chair and turned on the fan behind the desk. It did little to reduce the temperature, but at least it helped dry the sweat on his face caused by walking the half mile (in the shade) to work. It wasn’t even ten o’clock and the weather forecast predicted that the high temperatures would continue for another week. He tuned his colleagues out and turned the computer on. At the top of a long list of emails was:

To:DS Rees

From: DI Ravensbourne

URGENT

Charlie

National Anti-terrorism Taskforce reports social media traffic saying Llanfair Holiday Park is about to be turnedover to illegal migrants (not my words) in the coming weeks. This is apparently going to lead to the eviction of longstanding holiday home owners from their static caravans and holiday lodges. The Taskforce has fact-checked and there is no substance to the rumours, but the amount of traffic is increasing and being shared all around the UK. It’s not the only place to be targeted like this — several Welsh coastal holiday parks are also suggested as being earmarked for the housing of refugees and asylum seekers, as well as lots of places in England. No idea whether common sense will prevail, but given the weather, perhaps not. So just a heads-up.

See: “Illegal migrants to be given luxury accommodation in Welsh beauty spots” (weblink).

I’ve asked for a check on any extreme right wing/anti-immigrant types in the Clwyd Police area. I’ll circulate the results.

You might want to consider whether any businesses or other institutions need to be apprised of the potential threat. Obviously take into account that you don’t want to create unnecessary alarm.

FR

That was typical Freya Ravensbourne,Charlie thought. On the one hand, telling him to do something, and at the same time telling him not to do it.

To:DI Ravensbourne

From: DS Rees

Re: URGENT

DoI need to talk to the people at Llanfair Holiday Park?

Charlie

The answer came back quickly.

To:DS Rees

From: DI Ravensbourne

Re: re: URGENT

I think so,don’t you?

Also typical.Of course, the owners might have already been alerted by social media, in which case they were probably going to need reassurance. In the background, Charlie could hear Patsy and Eddy still arguing about which windows to open. He looked up the holiday park and decided to go himself.

There was always the hope that no one would be stupid enough to think that a static caravan park in rural Wales would be requisitioned by the Government at the beginning of the summer holidays to house refugees. But hot weather and too much booze went hand in hand and together produced stupidity. Otherwise rational people would believe all kinds of nonsense if they read it on their favourite website. Add a few drinks and the mob would begin to take shape. Better to take the potential threat seriously, and hope it came to nothing.

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