Gould nodded grimly. “Yes, Andee told me. I haven’t met her, but . . . Dear God, this is a bad business.”

It certainly was. “I should probably tell you,” Dan said, “that I know who Claudia is and more or less why she and Jasmine changed their names, so I’m guessing someone’s talking to the husband?”

Gould appeared unsurprised by the admission, or the question. “I’ve already spoken to Carl Phillips in London, so he’s on it, but given that we know Huxley-Browne couldn’t have done it himself, it’s going to be a question of finding out who he got to act for him. Good luck with that. However, one of my guys here, Leo Johnson, is trying to track down this Miles Montgomery character who was asking around about Claudia a couple of days ago.”

Dan stiffened. “I didn’t know about that,” he declared. “Did Claudia?”

Gould shook his head. “I was waiting to hear back from Carl Phillips before contacting her . . .” He propped his head onto one hand. “Jesus, if ever there was a wrong judgment call . . .”

Dan snapped, “So what leads do you have on this Montgomery bloke?”

“None so far, but given it’s almost certainly a false name . . .” He clicked on his mobile as it rang. “Barry, talk to me.”

As he listened his scowl deepened, but all he said was, “OK, keep at it and let me know if there are any other witnesses.” Ending the call, he said to Dan, “One of the officers at the scene. Apparently a neighbor spotted a youth running away some time after the fire started. He didn’t get a good look at him, but maybe someone else did. They’re going door to door at the moment and forensics are all over it, obviously.”

Picturing the scene in his mind, Dan said, “I guess you’ll need to speak to Claudia at some point?”

“That’s a given, but I don’t expect she’ll be back this way anytime soon. I’ll have to send someone to Swansea—and if I had anyone spare it would help. Still, at least Andee’s managed to establish that the name Miles Montgomery means nothing to her. I guess no surprise there, but the description we have of him—large and middle-aged—doesn’t fit with ‘a youth running away’ from the scene. So this puts two possible perps in the frame—the one who carried out the attack and a likely handler, or conspirator. Knowing Huxley-Browne, I’d say this could be a pretty crowded frame. When did you last speak to Andee?”

“Just before I arrived here. She and Graeme are on their way back now. Leanne’s staying for a while. She took some clothes over this morning. I’m driving there myself when I leave here, with Henry.”