‘I came with TM,’ Gordon said. ‘Looks like he’s pissed off back to the beach.’

‘There were some waves forecast.’ Sam gave a humourless cluck. ‘Up to me to get you out of trouble again.’

In the car, Gordon said, ‘You heard anything from Dog?’

Sam shook his head. Nobody had seen Dog since the day he was beaten up by Japan Ned.

‘He would have been welcome, you know,’ Sam said. ‘I thought that fucker had the hide of a rhinoceros, but it seems that you hurt his feelings when you wouldn’t let him into The Lodge.’

‘You know he’s been questioned by the cops.’

‘Over the fire?’

‘He’s a person of interest.’ Dog was one of a long list of locals whose whereabouts on the night of the fire were being ascertained. ‘There were plenty of witnesses when we shut him out of The Lodge. He had a motive for revenge.’

‘Ah well.’ Sam seemed about to say something, but he found a space in the traffic to pull out of the crematorium grounds and join the stream heading back towards the coast.

‘They talked to me for a long time. They were collecting alibis,’ Gordon said. ‘I told them who was at the cricket match and who wasn’t.’

‘They haven’t called me.’

‘I told them the truth, brother. You were at the cricket with me all afternoon. You left with the lot of us, when we all saw the fire. My dad backed me up.’

‘You told your dad to say that?’

Gordon smiled. ‘I can’t tell my dad to say anything. It was his clear memory.’

‘I must’ve made a real impression.’

‘Anyway, they’re very interested in Frontal. And Carl, of course, he’s high on their list. He and Daniel left the cricket just before the fire started. They’d been lurking around together like they were up to no good. Once the cops get Carl in their sights, they won’t want to let go.’

Sam was intent on the road. ‘But they can’t find him?’ he said.

‘He’s Carl Chidgey. No fixed address.’

‘Is Frontal’s kid talking to them?’

‘One word: lawyer,’ Gordon said. ‘Strong little fucker. Tougher than his father, who’s spilling his guts. You know, Frontal had been warning me. He was saying he’d make me pay. I thought he was talking about my rates.’

‘He’s admitted that to the cops?’

‘When it comes to having a motive to burn the joint down, nobody was more motivated than Frontal. And he did disappear from the cricket game. People heard him say he would destroy everything I value.’

Sam wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. ‘So it’s down to Dog, Frontal and Carl?’

‘They look at people’s histories. Carl’s a career firebug.’

‘When we were kids.’

‘And the odd one since. He did burn down the sign.’