The paramedic shrugged. ‘There doesn’t appear to be any smoke inhalation but he may have concussion and he needs to be on fluids for those burns.’
Brook cut short the consultation by getting to his feet and hopping unsteadily from the ambulance. He fought off the nausea and stepped gingerly around the loose limestone blocks and over what was left of the wall, then climbed down the slope towards the smouldering car. Noble appeared by his side a moment later and supported him down the slope.
Keith Pullin and his team of emergency workers delicately laid the blistered and charred remains of the body on to a canvas sheet. The knees were pulled up towards the chest and the desiccated hands were held near the face. The mouth was frozen in an oval of agony.
‘Male. About five ten, I’d say, though it’s difficult to tell height when they get themselves into that position,’ said Pullin. ‘Do we have a name, Inspector?’
Brook barely shook his head, gazing intently at the yawning boot of the car that Pullin had crowbarred open at Brook’s request. It was empty. He began to totter back up the slope, Noble in pursuit.
‘Hell of a blaze for a VW,’ said Pullin, taking out his cigarettes.
Brook turned. ‘What?’
Pullin inhaled a belt of tobacco smoke and turned to Brook. ‘Hell of a blaze for a VW. They don’t have large tanks.’
Brook’s eyes narrowed.
‘Very possible,’ replied Pullin. ‘We’ll know more in the morning.’
Brook walked back to the body and got down on his haunches to run an eye over the corpse. He stood and looked into the blackened shell of the car. The remains of the laptop Ray had gathered up as he made his escape, sat in the passenger-seat well. Brook turned to climb up the slope again.
‘. . be on the lookout for a black Porsche Carrera, number-plate AFR 110, registered to an Adam Rifkind. Approach with caution and detain all occupants.’ Noble replaced the handset and looked across at Brook in the passenger seat. ‘It’s done.’
‘And we need to upgrade the alert at ports and airports to be on the lookout for Kyle Kennedy.’
‘Care to explain?’
‘It was too easy, John. That’s not Rusty Thomson or Ray down there. And he’s got four passports, remember. I’m guessing he won’t try to leave the country as himself or either of the girls.’ Brook held his good hand up to his head. His vision was blurring again.
‘Sir, you should be in the ambulance. You’re suffering.’
‘My daughter’s missing and it’s my fault. Why shouldn’t I suffer? Start the car and follow this road,’ added Brook, able to nod sufficiently to indicate a direction. Noble eyed him, unmoving. ‘Please.’
Noble started the car. ‘Where are we going?’
‘To find my daughter.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Back at the cottage. When I got there, the VW’s engine was warm. Ray had been somewhere before I got home. Somewhere close because Terri rang me from home so Ray only had half an hour to move her.’
‘I thought she rang you on her mobile.’
‘She did but her script for the call was in the kitchen. After she rang me, he took her somewhere then drove back to the cottage.’
‘And you think. .’
‘I think it was too easy. He could have got clean away but he didn’t. He came for me, John. He wanted me to know about Deity. And he wanted me to come after him.’
‘So he engineered a fake crash?’ said Noble doubtfully.
‘The fire was too strong. Ray used an accelerant to burn the body beyond recognition. We’d think it was him and stop looking. At least until we identified the real victim.’
‘So he buys himself a few days, maybe a week.’ Noble nodded slowly.
‘Time enough to make a fresh start somewhere else. New face, new identity. .’
‘Okay, it’s a bit of a stretch but I’ll buy. So how did he get away from the crash?’
‘Rusty had a bicycle, remember. I’m betting he stashed it there earlier. He’s been a step ahead all the way. Until now.’
‘He won’t get far on a bike,’ said Noble.
‘He won’t need it for long. He’s got other transport nearby.’
‘You mean Rifkind’s Porsche.’
‘Exactly. It was parked outside Rifkind’s holiday cottage. Remember — Adele and the others had their own house keys. I’m betting Adele also had a key to Rifkind’s cottage so she could let herself in to wait for him.’
‘And now Ray’s got it and can help himself to the Porsche keys.’
‘He took the Porsche keys before, because he gave me Adele’s house keys tonight. Insisted on it.’ Brook pulled out the keys given to him by Ray. ‘I’m guessing one of these gets us in.’
‘But why give you the keys?’
Brook looked across at Noble in the dark. ‘It’s a reward. For playing a good game.’
‘And the reward is Terri.’ Noble found it hard to get his bearings in the dark country lanes but he tried to speed up where he could. ‘Okay, so who was that in the car?’
‘Ray’s cleaning house, John. He gave us Yvette but I think he still has a protective instinct towards her. Wilson wanted to bed her — he’s dead. Len slept with her and he’s missing. .’
‘The body was too tall for Len,’ said Noble.
‘Exactly. That leaves one other person.’
At that moment, the road sign for Alstonefield leaped out of the dark at them.
‘Rifkind.’ Noble nodded.
Noble shone a torch over Adam Rifkind’s sturdy front door. The house was in darkness, the Porsche Carrera gone. Noble found the right key on the bunch and unlocked the door. He pushed through before Brook and shone his torch into the compact cottage. The small sparsely furnished front room was empty. Brook padded through to the tiny kitchen, also empty.
He pointed a finger to the upper storey and the two detectives noiselessly made for the stairs. Before they could set foot on the first step, however, Brook heard a muffled noise at his feet.
‘Can you hear that?’
The noise seemed to vibrate through the floorboards so Noble shone the torch on the rug at their feet then fell to his knees and pulled it aside. He groped at a shiny brass handle recessed into the wood and yanked open the trapdoor. The stench of sewers hit their noses and Terri’s tear-streaked face peered up from the shadows.
Noble jumped down to help her up the steps. She mumbled something through the gag in her mouth and Brook watched helplessly as Noble untied the gag and then the rope tying her wrists behind her back. Eventually she was able to fling her arms around Brook’s neck, squeezing him so violently, he yelped in pain.
‘Dad, thank God.’
‘Are you all right?’
‘I will be when I get into the fresh air. It stinks to high heaven down there.’ She looked aghast at his roughly bandaged hand and head. ‘What happened to you?’
Brook hugged her again. ‘Forget about me. Ray didn’t hurt you, did he?’
‘No, Dad. Please, I need some fresh air.’ They were both shaky on their feet and supported each other out into the cloudless night. Noble’s phone began to croak and he moved away to answer it.
Brook walked Terri to the road and she sat on the drystone wall. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said.
Terri looked into his face. ‘For what?’
‘Everything,’ said Brook, after a pause.
She opened her mouth and was about to speak when Noble hurried back to them.
‘Gadd’s found the ambulance.’
