‘I’m afraid Alfie was the last person seen near Ash House, Mrs Bradley,’ PC Banik said, and she frowned as Lily poked her head round the sitting room door.

Mum did a nervous little laugh. ‘Alfie? But he found the fire. He called the emergency services …’

‘What were you doing at Ash House so early this morning, Alfie?’ PC Hislop started writing things down in a thick notepad. Lily slid into the room properly and stared at them from under her hair. It was her stare of obliteration.

‘I went to see Mr Clemm, but he wasn’t there. I saw smoke and phoned the emergencies … Then I came home.’

Lily nodded energetically. My stomach churned. I needed the toilet.

‘He was first on the scene.’ Mum’s voice was high and scratchy. ‘Without him, the place could have burned to the ground before anyone was alerted.’

PC Hislop stepped closer to me, stooped a bit, spoke gently. ‘What did you do there, Alfie?’

‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘It must have been Mr Clemm’s new machine. It must have got too hot – or perhaps when he fixed it, something went wrong.’

Julia sat on the windowsill, watching everything with half-closed eyes.

‘I’m afraid we suspect that the fire was started intentionally. So you can see that the situation is very serious indeed, Alfie.’ PC Banik turned to Mum. ‘Mrs Bradley, Alfie has already been cautioned for starting a fire on the recreation field just the other day. Mr Lombard, the head of the parish council, was on hand to deal with that fire and has reported his concerns about Alfie – concerns he’s had for a good few weeks now. Alfie’s been seen hanging around Ash House and its grounds on many occasions, and up to present, he’s the last person to have visited the house before the fire started yesterday.’

I sank on to a chair, too floppy to stand. There were two of us, I could have said. I thought of the look on Sam’s face when the flames started crackling. The panic in his eyes. I couldn’t say it.

Mum looked like she was going to cry. Then she sprang into action. ‘I’ve got to speak to our solicitor. Now. Nobody do anything until I’ve got her on the phone.’

‘What about Dad?’ I asked.

‘One step at a time, Alfie.’

I could see myself reflected in the coppery metal frame of the fireplace. I looked scared. I looked like somebody else. I imagined myself bombing out of there, up the chimney like Whizzy, travelling high into the sky and folding around a cloud. I’d never come down again.

They stayed for about half an hour, asking me the same questions over and over, asking Mum things about where I went every day, and why, and who with.