Page 26 of Murder in Shades of Fire and Ash

Which was a much more Freya Ravensbourne thing to say.

“Trouble?” Charlie asked.

“Idiots drinking all day and getting into fights. Windows left open so the thieves have easy pickings. Teenagers jumping into freezing water and drowning. Riots. Looting. You must have noticed that nobody ever riots in the rain?”

Charlie grinned. “Too right, boss.” Riots were a summer phenomenon.

“What’s that got to do with our attempt to find Jeff Britton?” he asked.

“JeffBritton,” Ravensbourne said. “Our impostor fireman chose a significant pseudonym, don’t you think?”

It hadn’t occurred to Charlie, and it should have done.

“So, he was behind the graffiti?”

“That’s what we are going to find out,” Ravensbourne said. “But while we’re here, I think we ought to talk about Patsy.”

Charlie braked for a steep downhill bend and then braked again as the twenty-mile-an-hour sign came into view half hidden in the hedge. There were a few houses clustered in the valley bottom, with a single-lane hump-backed bridge. Even at this time of year, the valley was shaded. It must be in permanent gloom for the rest of the year. Charlie gave an involuntary shiver. He felt, rather than saw Ravensbourne look over to him.

“I was just thinking that living in the bottom of a valley like this must always be chilly and damp,” he said.

“It was,” Ravensbourne said. “I was brought up in a place like this. And it flooded most years, too.”

Charlie, brought up under huge open skies next to the sea, shuddered again. “Much too closed in for me,” he said.

“Me, too. Now then, Patsy. Could she have killed her boyfriend?”

Obviously, there would be no more personal revelations.

“Shecouldhave. She’s strong enough, and clever enough. But I think she would have told us what she’d done.”

“For what it’s worth, I agree,” Ravensbourne said. “Though without a very good alternative suspect, she’s in the frame, front and centre. I have to tell you that the word at HQ is that Unwin had it coming and Patsy did it.”

“Then it must be true,” Charlie said bitterly.

“Must be,” Ravensbourne said. “Which being so, we need to look for alternatives. Not to put too fine a point on it, you are considered partisan and pro-Patsy. People being human, they may discount any suspects you come up with. I, by contrast, will be listened to.”

Which is why you are here. Thank you.

“Understood, boss,” Charlie said.

They drove most of the rest of the way in silence, Charlie concentrating on driving, and Ravensbourne gazing out of the window at the passing scenery. As they came into the outskirts of the town, Ravensbourne provided directions to the fire station. Charlie parked in a visitor’s spot, and the two of them got out of the car, Ravensbourne rather more creakily than Charlie expected. She stretched, lit a cigarette and drew the smoke in like it was restoring her health. Before she had taken more than a couple of puffs, a door opened, and a man came out. Ravensbourne quickly stubbed the cigarette out.

“Filthy habit,” she said, walking towards the man. She extended her warrant card. “DI Ravensbourne and DS Rees, Clwyd Police.”

The man’s expression lightened. “Come on in, it’s cooler.”

The officer introduced himself as Kieran Pretty, the watch commander. He didn’t match his name, looking instead like an unsuccessful boxer. “You’re here about Burton, yes? I can’t tell you much except that he’s disappeared, and we haven’t heard from him for over a week. He’s retained, not full time, but he ought to stay in touch. Drink?”

They both accepted tea.

“First up,” Ravensbourne said, “have you got a photo of the elusive Burton?”

Pretty bashed his computer keyboard a few times and then turned the monitor towards them. A photograph of a younger Jeff Britton faced them.

“That’s him,” Charlie said. “I can’t tell you where he is now, but I can tell you where he was on Sunday morning. Impersonating a fire investigator in Llanfair, and for what it’s worth, doing it convincingly.”

Pretty nodded slowly and slurped his tea. “That’s him finished,” he said. “And to be honest, I won’t be sorry, though he is a good firefighter. Causes trouble. Lots of complaints.” Pretty’s mouth shut, as if he didn’t want to say any more.

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