“No idea. I only heard about the fire ten minutes before I called you.”
“Alright. We’ll find a firefighter to talk to and then head to the hospital to question the folks who live here.”
Stephen nodded, getting on the radio to let everyone know that we were covering the fire investigation for now so that we wouldn’t be getting in any other officers’ way. It didn’t take too long to corner a firefighter who was taking a break, and she told us that the fire had been set on three sides, though only two of those had actually caught fire. The windows had been broken, and the fire set inside the house, showing clear malevolent intent.
“They weren’t playing around,” I said darkly as we headed back to the car. “They wanted to kill those two.”
“Or at least terrify them, yeah. It’s sick, doing something like that.”
Stephen’s hands clenched around the steering wheel. We were taking my car, leaving the police car Stephen had driven over in at the scene which another police officer had agreed to ferry back to the station after Stephen asked him nicely.
The hospital seemed busier than usual, and despite the air con clearly on full power, it felt distinctly warm and stuffy. The chemical smell of the place didn’t improve in the heat, and it seemed to get into even the cheap, acidic coffee that you bought from the dispensers. Despite craving a caffeine fix to give my energy levels a boost, I steered clear of the coffee machines as Stephen and I waited to be shown over to the headmaster and his wife’s room. We’d learned from the hospital staff that the couple were called Adrian and Diana Doode and that they were both on a low urgency ward, meaning that they were doing well.
“I think you should handle this one,” I said quietly to Stephen as we approached the right place. The couple weren’t in beds but were resting up on chairs next to the hospital wall as they both drank cups of tea. They looked more fragile than I’d expected, both past sixty, wiry and short.
“Mm.” Stephen glanced pointedly over my face. “You don’t look like a respectable police officer right now.”
I lifted my eyebrow at him, unimpressed, and shooed him forwards to go and speak to the pair. I stayed a couple of steps back, but close enough that I could hear what was being said.
“Mr and Mrs Doode?” I heard him say.
“Yes?” Diana said, looking up. Her grey hair was curled but clearly out of place.
Stephen introduced himself and asked if they were feeling well enough to speak to us. Diana looked at her husband, who’d so far remained quiet. He gave a tired shrug.
“What do you want to know?” he asked, his tone gruff but not unfriendly. I wondered whether the raspiness to his voice was normal for him or if he’d breathed in more smoke today than his wife had. Diana seemed awake and on edge, whereas her husband looked desperately weary, his shoulders curled over into a concave shell.
“Did you see who set the fire?”
“Who-?” Diana started.
Stephen realised his mistake when the couple stared at him wide-eyed, and I winced.
“The fire was on purpose?” Adrian said, the shock of the revelation clearly startling him.
“I’m afraid so. I’m sorry to break the news to you,” Stephen said apologetically. “Do you have any idea why someone might want to do that?”
Diana and Adrian looked at each other, blank expressions on both their faces.
“No, I don’t know…” Diana said weakly.
“What work do you do?” Stephen asked her. “Or are you retired?”
“I was a Maths teacher at Rowan Wood. I retired two years ago.” She reached up to touch her hair, petting the curls lightly in what looked like a nervous movement. Adrian sat stock-still, frowning ahead of him.
“And you’re the headmaster?”
“I am,” Adrian said with a solemn nod.
“Could there be any parents, any students who-?”
“I have been headmaster at that school for two decades, son. I’ve seen a lot in my time, but nothing like this. I’ve never been- been attacked, and at my own home!”
“No, sir,” Stephen said gently. “And we’re trying to get to the bottom of it for you. Were there any threats beforehand? Anything in the post or by email?”
“No, nothing.”
“Had anyone approached you recently to threaten you or make you feel uncomfortable?”
He considered that one for a moment. “No, I don’t think so.”
Stephen cast a glance over to me to see if I had anything to add, but I waved my hand at him to indicate that he was doing fine and should carry on how he was. He turned back to the couple, pulling his phone from his pocket as he did so.
“There’s a teenager we’re investigating,” he said, as he fiddled with his phone. I gave a nod of approval to myself. I wasn’t sure whether Stephen was showing them Alistair or Jules, but either was a good question. Stephen found the photo he wanted and showed the picture to the couple. “This boy. Do you recognise him?”
Adrian patted his chest before realising that he didn’t have his reading glasses. His face fell briefly, and I felt for him acutely. I could see the thoughts crossing his mind as he realised that his glasses were at home and that they may have been completely melted in the fire.
“Here, let me see,” Diana said, taking in her husband’s frozen state at a glance. “Oh, the Sharp boy, yes, we remember him, don’t we, Adrian?”
“The Sharp boy?” he repeated, coming back to himself. “He was a bad egg. Why are you looking into him?”
“If you knew him, might he have had something against you particularly?” Stephen pressed.
“Oh, well, he was expelled, yes. A few years ago now. He put two other students in the hospital. And one of them was a girl.”
He shook his head at that, making it clear that he thought far less of Jules for beating a girl than for harming the other
