Page 19 of Murder in Shades of Fire and Ash

“You need to eat,” Tom said. “Proper food, not doughnuts.”

Charlie heard his stomach grumble its agreement. “Lead me to it,” he said. Inside, Tom had set the kitchen table with a quiche, cold meat, cheese and salad. “Thanks,” Charlie said, sat down and started eating. After the first few minutes, he noticed Tom hadn’t eaten anything. “You’re not eating?”

“I ate earlier with the girls,” he said. “They’re at a friend’s house. I’ll go and pick them up in a bit.”

Silence fell.

“Can I take some of this with me?” Charlie asked. “Because I need to get going.”

Tom reached over the table and took Charlie’s hand in his own. “This is your home, Charlie, your food. Your Tupperware boxes to put it in. You don’t have to ask. Take whatever you want. But come back tonight. Don’t sleep in the office again. I miss you.”

“I can’t talk about this now,” Charlie said, reclaiming his hand. “I’m going to get a change of clothes to take with me.”

When he got back downstairs, Tom had packed several boxes of food into a cool bag.

“Drink some water, not just endless coffee,” he said as he handed the bag to Charlie. “I’m sorry,” Tom said, though it wasn’t clear what he was sorry about. Charlie kissed his husband briefly on the cheek and took his packages to the car and thence to the police station.

Charlie shouldn’t have been surprised to find Mags in the open office, head thrust forward, reading something on her screen.

“Mags, it’s after your bedtime. And certainly after the baby’s bedtime.”

She turned to him grim-faced.

“I told you. My husband is perfectly capable of taking care of his offspring. I’m needed here. I hope we’ll get more help tomorrow, but for now I thought I’d make a start on these statements.”

“OK,” Charlie said. “Have we heard anything from Ivan Smith, aka the genuine fire investigator?”

“Report on the system.”

He went into his little office and booted up the computer. The electronic files appeared to be breeding rapidly, but he soon found the fire investigator’s report. Its conclusions were exactly the same as the conclusions reached by Jeff Britton — that the fire had been caused by a lid-less petrol can thrown through the shop window, and something to set it alight. Theonly difference was that the petrol can, or rather its remains, had been identified. There was a picture of something purporting to be the container in question, but which could have been any bit of melted metal and plastic. The next picture was of the un-melted version; the same petrol can he had in the back of his car and the back of every police car he’d ever been in.

“Sarge,” Mags called, and Charlie went out to the main office.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Some of these statements contradict what you and Eddy saw. At first I thought the witnesses were probably drunk, and anyway, you and Eddy are trained observers, but there’s enough agreement for you to have a look.”

Charlie took the chair next to hers, as she scrolled through the statements, mostly taken by Ravensbourne’s three uniformed officers earlier in the day.

There wasa police car parked on the corner, and a lady policeman next to it. While I was having a smoke outside the pub, she walked up the road to where that old kebab shop was burnt down.

I didn’t see the fire start but your officer must have done. She was right next to it.

The policewoman either started the fire or tried to stop it. Is she OK? She was very close.

The girl in the police uniform was right by the shop when it went up.

There were others,all saying the same thing in different words.

“Stay here,” Charlie told Mags, and he ran down the stairs to the car park where the patrol car was kept. He popped the boot open. It held the usual paraphernalia: traffic cones, policetape, waterproof and hi-vis jackets. The one thing missing was a standard police issue petrol can.

15

Sunday evening

Charlie went back upstairs with a lot less enthusiasm than he went down. Patsy had no alibi for the time of the murder. Witnesses, albeit drunk witnesses, put her at the scene of the arson attack. The petrol can was missing from the patrol car — which Patsy was responsible for maintaining and re-stocking with supplies.

All of it was circumstantial, however.

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