They were in Santa Barbara by six-forty, and the dawn was just breaking. Thin, grey light through the cloud and the ocean looking smooth and settled under an offshore breeze. There was a glow visible in the hills behind Montecito—a forest fire, with a black smudge hanging over it. Vincent scanned AM stations and caught an update: overhead powerlines had sparked the blaze at around two am, and now it was a major operation. There were more fires farther north: Fresno, Sacramento, Paradise and San Luis Obispo. The SLO fire was looking dangerous—Cal Fire had commandeered an Amtrak train for evacuations during the night.

Northbound through town, and the Montecito fire was visible—a thin orange sneer across one of the peaks. They went up Mountain Drive, and with the window down they could smell the smoke, even with the westerly breeze.

Erin said, ‘We may not be able to get in. There’s probably a guard there still.’

‘Just drive past anyway. We might catch them at changeover.’

Erin slowed as they approached Lamar’s gate. It was open, but a Santa Barbara PD cruiser was parked in the driveway, nose to the road. An officer in silhouette behind the wheel.

Erin said, ‘Terrific.’

‘Just keep going.’

They continued down the hill.

Vincent said, ‘Are you going to keep it?’

‘The house?’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t imagine ever living there. I think I’ll sell it.’

‘Is it all yours?’

She nodded. ‘The estate lawyer emailed last night, actually. I’m the sole beneficiary.’

Vincent remembered Lamar’s self-assessment of his worth. Maybe a hundred and fifty million.

He said, ‘I’d liquidate everything just to see all the zeroes.’

‘Yeah. Tempting. But it’s strange, too, that kind of windfall. We had a … ’ She paused. ‘We had a pretty perfunctory relationship for a long time. Put it that way.’

They were a few hundred yards past the house now. Vincent said, ‘All right, pull over here.’

Erin swung to the kerb and cut the engine. ‘You never know, they might let us in if we ask.’

‘I think my way’s best. Do you have a key?’

She picked one out of the bunch on the car remote fob and passed it to him. ‘That’s for the sliding door.’

He worked the key carefully through the split ring and passed the others back to her. He opened his door.

‘If I’m not back in ten minutes, you can leave me here.’

‘I didn’t realise I needed permission.’