Dan was back in Highford, standing in the ruins of his office. He turned as he looked up at the beams running across where the ceiling used to be. Charred and blackened, he could see blue sky beyond, where the flames had been too strong for the roof struts. Steel screens secured the windows and external doors, but upwards there was light.
They’d gathered for one last look around, to see what they could salvage. Eileen was there, Margaret and Jayne too, both shuffling through the dust and debris, their clothes filthy, silent, their expressions forlorn.
The heat surprised him. It was still warm in places, as if the embers still glowed, or the bricks had retained the fire.
‘I don’t think we should be here,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t look safe.’
‘But there are still parts of Pat in here,’ Eileen said. ‘We never got round to clearing out his office.’
‘It won’t be worth keeping.’
‘I’ll decide that.’
He didn’t need the barbs, but he forgave her for it.
‘Have they found whoever did it?’ It was Margaret, unsure whether to address her question to Dan or Eileen.
Dan spoke up first. ‘If they have, they haven’t told me. They’ve ruled out the person I thought it was. But,’ and he shrugged, ‘that doesn’t mean I was wrong.’
Eileen had moved towards the back of the building, pushing aside a door that was cracked, the paint scorched, the panel warped at the bottom. It scraped on the ashes piled up behind it.
She didn’t go in. Instead, she looked down and took a few deep breaths.
As Dan joined her, he saw why.
Pat’s old room was destroyed, and worse than the rest of the building, because old paper files had been piled in the corners, underneath where the window had been smashed and accelerants poured in. Pat had always been bad about storing the files properly, even when they were dead files and there were rules about them, but Dan had never got around to doing anything about it. He’d known at some point he’d have to spend time going through Pat’s office, but that spare weekend never seemed to arrive, those other parts of running a business always taking priority.
The fire had saved him the job, but there was something too final about seeing it all charred and ruined. It was that definitive line that marked the fact that Pat was gone.
He went to Eileen and put his arm round her shoulders. For a moment, she stiffened, but then she relaxed and rested her head against his.
‘I miss him so much,’ she said, her voice softer now, more sadness than anger.
‘So do I,’ he said, and held her tighter, because he needed it too.
The sound of sniffling came from behind them and, as he turned, it was Margaret, Jayne’s arms around her as she sobbed into her chest.
They all stayed like that for a few minutes until they were interrupted by the buzz of Dan’s phone.
He stiffened.
Eileen pulled away and wiped her eyes. ‘Answer it.’
Dan shook his head. ‘No, I can leave it.’
Eileen gave a small laugh. ‘I was married to a criminal lawyer. I know what it’s like when the phone goes.’
The buzzing carried on.
Dan knew he couldn’t ignore it.
He held up his hand in apology and turned to answer. ‘Dan Grant?’
‘It’s Rodney.’
For a moment, Dan was uncertain, the call unexpected, but the prison echo in the background gave him away.
‘Mr Walker, what can I do for you?’
He caught Jayne’s eyes; she pulled away from Margaret.
‘I need to talk to you,’ Rodney said. ‘About what we spoke about. When can you come?’
Dan cursed. He’d tried to forget about Rodney since he left the prison. Without him, they had just wild speculation, and there was no way a judge would let him make it. He wasn’t sure how ready he was for the trial now, but it was too late to step away from the case.
‘Rodney, I can’t see you over the weekend and the trial begins on Monday, but,’ and he looked to Jayne, who was nodding and jabbing at her own chest with her finger, ‘my investigator can.’
Rodney didn’t respond for a few seconds, and Dan thought he was going to hang up, but then he said, ‘Yes, that’s fine. I’ll see him Monday then.’
‘It’s a her.’
‘Fine, whatever,’ and then he ended the call.
Jayne held out her hands. ‘Well?’
‘He wants a visit. He must have something to say. It looks like you’ve got yourself a prison visit with a notorious prisoner.’
Jayne tried to hide her smile as she said, ‘And if it helps us get one step closer to finding whoever did this,’ she said, ‘it’ll be worth it.’