“No.” It comes out more sharply than he intends.

“I guess I was wrong about him.”

“No,” Tyler says again. “Edna Burnside wouldn’t have asked just anyone to help her bring in the furniture. He was there all right. Sally-Ann told me he was trying to find out what Edna knew about his mother’s death. Hence the blackmail letters.”

“Burnside died from a stroke.”

“He could have rung for help, got her out of the fire.”

“I’m not so sure that would have been doing her a favor.”

Oscar looks across at them and smiles like a little boy.

“Maybe he hated the woman,” says Doggett. “Or maybe he thought she was better off out of it. Anyway, I doubt we’ll prove anything.”

“And Lily?”

“Nah,” says Doggett. “The CPS won’t touch that. Maybe she did kill Cartwright, or maybe Sally-Ann killed him and made the whole thing up. Even if we wring a confession out of the woman, she’s half cuckoo. There’s no way it would stick.” Doggett must realize Tyler’s staring at him, because he turns. “What?”

Tyler grins. “I just realized, you ran into a burning building for me.”

“Oh, fuck off!”

“Just for me.” Tyler lets the smile fade now, so Doggett will know he means what he’s about to say. “Thanks, boss.”

Doggett shakes his head, but he’s smiling now, too. He gets up. “You coming then?”

“Where?”

“We still have to interview the shifty little bastard.”

“I’m suspended, remember?”

“Jordan’ll be here in a minute. She’ll probably crucify both of us anyway. Might as well give her something to shout about.”

Tyler shakes his head. As Doggett turns to walk away he asks, “Why?”

Doggett turns back, suppressing an irritated huff. “Why what?”

“Why did you really want me on this case? Why did you keep me on it even after you found out about me and Oscar?”

Doggett shuffles his feet and looks away. It’s the first time Tyler’s seen the man look uncomfortable about anything. “We don’t need to go into all that now. Take a few weeks off and let Jordan sort everything out. When you get back we’ll talk.”

Tyler’s eyes drift once again to Sally-Ann’s body. “I’m not coming back,” he says.

Doggett follows his gaze. “That wasn’t your fault, you know. You couldn’t have saved her. You’re a good cop, DS Tyler, but even you can’t save everyone.”

He wants to believe that, but he knows somehow he let her down. All she needed was one friend. One friend who could have seen how much she was suffering. If only he’d worked it out sooner . . .

“I’m not coming back,” he says again.

Doggett puts a hand on his shoulder. “I wanted you on this because I knew your dad. I knew him very well, and I knew his son would turn out to be just as good a cop as he was. You’ll be back, all right. Your dad never let anyone down, and you’re not about to either. It’s in your genes.”