Page 146 of Her Last Walk Home

‘We don’t have a name…’ Thornton said, backtracking.

‘Boyd, come with me.’

103

‘Well, we can’t blame Gordon Collins for this fire. He’s still in hospital.’ Boyd stood surveying the smouldering mess. A small bungalow reduced to concrete and ash. ‘I’m sick of smoke.’

Lottie approached the fire officer, who’d also been at Collins’s house. ‘What can you tell me?’

‘Accelerant was used. You can smell it from here. Petrol.’

‘Anyone inside?’

‘Not that we found so far. According to an eyewitness, there was shouting earlier, and when she looked out, she saw a taxi driving away, right before the place went up.’

‘So no bodies?’

‘I can’t be sure until the fire is fully extinguished. Too dangerous for my crew to go on site yet. Another hour maybe.’

She joined Boyd, who’d been talking to the owner. ‘Well?’

Boyd checked his notes as the other man quivered, biting his nails. ‘Rented to a woman and a boy. Cash. No names. Rented for the week.’

‘Did you get any ID?’ asked Lottie. The man shook his head. ‘Feck’s sake.’

‘I reckon it was Diana and her grandson,’ Boyd said.

‘If so, how did they get here?’

The man pointed to a grey VW Golf that had miraculously escaped any damage and made his way to talk to the fire officer.

Boyd visually inspected the car, tried the handle. Locked. A decal on the windscreen showed it was a hire car. ‘I’ll check with them.’

‘It has to be her but what’s she up to?’

‘You think Diana torched this place as well as Collins’s house?’

‘I don’t know. Why didn’t she take the Golf? Why get a taxi?’

‘If we’ve to go checking taxi drivers again, we’re back to square one.’

‘Hold on.’ Lottie approached a woman with a dressing gown over her shoulders. She was fully clothed underneath but was shivering. ‘Miss Farnham?’

‘Yes. I called 999. I hoped there was no one inside.’

‘Did you see the taxi?’

‘Yes.’

‘Tell me what you remember.’

‘I heard shouting. A woman. Maybe screaming. By the time I looked out, I saw a taxi heading up the road and the fire had started next door.’

‘Can you tell me anything about the car? Colour? Make?’

‘It was just a taxi. Had the sign on top, unlit. Dark coloured car, maybe black. I can’t think straight.’

‘Any numbers or letters on the sign?’

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