There was one thing that was missing, however, and that was any imprint of Ford himself. No photos, no possessions, no sign of him. It was as if his whole identity had been subsumed by a greater master.

‘Any personal mementoes? Any family snaps? Passing-out parades?’ Helen asked.

‘Only this,’ Meredith replied, scooping an evidence bag from the floor and passing it to her. ‘Found it down the back of a chest of drawers.’

It was a clipping for the local paper showing a fire crew visiting a school. Two officers were featured in the large photo, surrounded by adoring, curious kids. One of them was a female officer whom Helen didn’t recognize. The other one, as the caption beneath confirmed, was Richard Ford.

Helen froze as she looked at the picture. She hadn’t really taken Ford in properly when arresting him. She was more concerned with Charlie’s well-being and had passed the shell-shocked Ford on to her colleagues quickly. But there could be no doubt about it now – she had met Ford before.

Helen was still processing this development when her phone buzzed loudly. Her mind was elsewhere, but somehow she knew exactly who it would be.

Jonathan Gardam.

66

Helen threw her coat and scarf down on the chair and turned to face her boss, who reclined on the sofa in her office.

‘DS Sanderson’s waiting for me in the interview suite, so I’m going to have to be relatively brief, I’m afraid.’

Gardam either missed or ignored the note of irritation in Helen’s voice. When he replied it was in an open and friendly manner.

‘Of course. Questioning Ford has to be our top priority. How sure are you that he’s our man?’

‘Pretty sure,’ Helen replied, without elaborating further.

‘Why?’

‘Because he’s in love with fire. Because he’d know what to do. Because he was there. I think these fires have been fuelling his fantasies.’

Gardam nodded.

‘Do you think he’ll talk to you?’

‘Doubt it, but you never know how people will react under interview. Thanks to Meredith we’ve got a lot of evidence to lay before him and his lawyer.’

‘You heard about that. The Fire Service have paid for the best, so expect a rough ride.’

‘I can handle myself. I’ve done a few rounds with Ms Shapiro before now.’

‘I dare say you have,’ Gardam answered, once more breaking out into a broad smile. ‘Well, let me know how you get on. If she is being deliberately obstructive, I can have another word with Latham. Though the gloves might come off a bit now that we’ve got one of theirs in custody. Do the press know about it?’

‘Garanita was there ten minutes after we were.’

Gardam nodded as if he weren’t in the least bit surprised, then made to leave:

‘Let me know what you get out of him.’

‘Before you go, sir …’

Gardam stopped and, turning, walked back towards Helen. They were separated now only by the battered desk which Helen had come to know well over the last few years.

‘May I speak freely?’

‘Of course, Helen, say whatever you want,’ Gardam replied, a cloud of concern creasing his features now.

‘Well, you seem to be rather … present at the moment. And I was wondering why that was.’

‘Present?’

‘You’re on my shoulder, sir. If you have any concerns about my work, then I’d rather you were up front about it –’

‘Of course not. You know I have a high opinion of you. This is a tricky case, but we’re making progress, so …’

He petered out and the pair of them stood there, framed by Helen’s drab office. Gardam was looking at Helen quizzically as if trying to fathom her, the ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

‘Is it something else then?’ Helen found herself saying.

‘I don’t follow …’

‘Well, I mean that you seem to be very interested in my personal life – my relationship status and so on – and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to infer from that …’

There was a brief silence, then Gardam half laughed as the import of Helen’s words dawned on him.

‘You think I’m attracted to you?’ he said. ‘Dear God, Helen, is that what’s been worrying you? I’m a happily married man and, believe me, I wouldn’t betray Sarah for all the tea in China.’

‘Right,’ said Helen, trying to stem the colour that was fast rising to her face.

‘I’m sure you’re a lovely person, Helen, but it would be grossly unprofessional of me to think of you in that light and I can assure you that I don’t. The only reason I have been so … present … is because I’m trying to be supportive. This is a big case for you, for the team, and it’s my first major investigation as station chief, so …’

‘Enough said,’ Helen replied. ‘I’m sorry I raised it.’

‘That’s quite all right. You must never feel concerned about being open and honest with me. Trust is a two-way street, Helen.’

‘Of course. I’ll endeavour to remember that,’ Helen said quickly. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d better …’

Helen didn’t wait to be dismissed, marching from her office and across the incident room as fast as she could. She just wanted to be away. She had embarrassed herself in front of her new boss, looking like a foolish schoolgirl in the process. But she had to put that behind her and gather herself. The investigation now stood at a vital crossroads and she had important work to do.

Richard Ford was waiting for her.

67

Charlie clutched Steve’s hand tightly as they approached the nursery. He had urged her to stay at home and rest up, but Charlie had insisted on picking up Jessica today. Pick-up time at Grasshoppers Nursery was 6 p.m. sharp and this was usually Steve’s duty, as the garage he worked at always shut before then. In the face of his resistance, Charlie had argued that she seldom got the chance to see Jessie properly at the end of the day and wanted to take advantage of her ‘early finish’ today. But they both knew this was a lie. In reality, she just wanted to hold her husband and her little girl close and prove to them – and to herself – that she hadn’t gone anywhere.

Charlie had put on a polo neck jumper and woolly hat and smothered her chin in as much foundation as she dared, but she still looked terrible. The colour had not returned to her face and she looked like death. Was Steve worrying that her appearance would alarm Jessica? Possibly. And who’s to say he was wrong?

Nevertheless, she had to be here. Being a loving and attentive mum. A good Mum. Lord knows she seldom felt like that, but today she had to at least pretend that things were normal, that she and Steve had a normal life and were making a go of things.

Steve remained silent as they walked up the pretty, picket-fenced path to the nursery. Truth be told, he didn’t need to say anything – it was clear they were both thinking the same thing.

Had Charlie made a mistake returning to the Force? And, if so, what were they going to do about it?

68

‘We’ve met before, haven’t we?’

Helen didn’t believe in soft-soaping suspects and, having consulted with Sanderson, decided to go straight for the jugular. There would be plenty of time later to talk about his unhappy childhood or low self-esteem.

‘At Travell’s Timber Yard. We had quite a long chat, didn’t we?’

Richard Ford looked at her blankly, while his lawyer, Hannah Shapiro, just seemed puzzled, wrong-footed by this opening salvo from Helen.