I take him there and let him get on with his work. And I walk back through where the bedroom wall once stood to the main space. The devastation is total. I don’t see how this can ever be repaired. I find myself over by the bathroom, where Kush would have been. The bath is still there, about a third full of ash. How long would he have lasted? I wonder. Maybe he’d already passed out from the smoke before the fire itself reached him. In many ways that would be the best option. A wave crashes down on me. It’s not canal water, it’s guilt. And sorrow. Possibly shame as well.

‘Not the electricity.’

I find I have to wipe my eyes before turning to look at the fire inspector, who has managed to walk up behind me without me hearing him.

‘What?’

‘The fire wasn’t started by electricity.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Yeah. And I’m also sure it wasn’t an accident either. Come and have a look.’

He takes me round and points out what he claims are four separate ignition points.

‘Four?’

‘At least. And that doesn’t happen by accident. No way.’

On land a van’s trying to parallel park, accompanied by a loud series of beeps and a recorded voice. Stand clear, vehicle reversing. Stand clear, vehicle reversing. Stand clear, vehicle …

‘Someone set it alight …’

‘Yeah,’ he says over the noise of the van, ‘and whoever started this wasn’t taking any chances. They wanted it to burn.’

He’s getting ready to leave, and says he’ll have his report written up by the end of the day. I find I’m still standing in the exact same spot.

‘You got any enemies?’ he asks as he steps ashore.

Sometimes I think the world is nothing but.

I step ashore myself and sit on the canal’s edge. Someone wanted my boat to burn. This is what Joel would call next-level shit, and I can feel the dark undertow swelling beneath me again. I pull out the tin of five pre-rolled joints I’d bought as a take-out after the dab and light one. Why would anyone want to burn down my houseboat? Just the random act of some lunatic? That’s bad enough, but what if it wasn’t?

What if it was something personal?

You got any enemies?

A shudder snakes down my spine.