‘I mean, I know it was exciting and all, but that job was so not you,’ Bex says. ‘You’re free of it now.’

Kate’s not sure she’ll ever be free of it.

20

Silas

Silas can see the stationary fire engines up ahead, their blue lights sweeping across the water meadow and reflecting off the dark canal. He’s parked as close as he can get and wonders how the units managed to get so much nearer.

‘You didn’t have to come out,’ he says to Strover, as they walk along the towpath. He’s impressed that she’s there.

‘Not so easy to ignore a text from your boss,’ she says.

‘You’ll learn.’

There’s no need for a torch. It’s a clear night. At least it was, until a column of black smoke from Jake’s boat rose up and stained the firmament. There are no casualties, but Silas wonders how the author will cope. Bets are off that he didn’t have any insurance.

‘You think it’s arson?’ Strover asks.

‘Let’s see. If he hadn’t brought in that CCTV footage today, I wouldn’t be here now. It’s the timing that worries me.’

They walk on in silence, approaching the burnt-out shell, smouldering and partly submerged like a stricken submarine. An area of the bank and towpath has been cordoned off with police tape. There’s still a crowd, but people are starting to disperse. One of the fire units is also about to leave. It feels strange to be back on the canal. Last time Silas was there, a year ago, he’d taken charge of an Armed Response incident. He would rather be tucked up in bed right now, but when he heard over the radio about a fire on a narrowboat belonging to a local author, he told a surprised Control Room that he’d take a look.

‘Thanks for coming,’ Jake says, walking over to Silas and Strover.

‘Have you given a statement?’ Silas asks, nodding in the direction of the two uniforms on site.

‘Not yet.’

‘Strover will take one.’

She pulls out her notepad and pen on cue.

‘It was deliberate,’ Jake says, turning from Silas to Strover. ‘I saw someone running away moments before.’

‘You can tell Strover everything you saw in a minute. First I want to know what you did after we met for lunch today.’

‘Me?’ Jake says, blanching like a guilty schoolboy.

Silas knows at once that he’s right. He’s had a hunch ever since this afternoon, when he paid the Bluebell pub a visit. The barman in the CCTV footage wasn’t there. According to the unhelpful landlady, he left six months ago, around the time when Kate’s drink was spiked. She also revealed, after a little persuasion, that someone had been in earlier asking questions.

‘Did you talk to anyone at the pub?’ Silas says.