Chapter 4
Nell surveyed the scene from the patrol car as her colleague drove closer to the stricken house.
Her worst fears had gone into overdrive the moment she learned the exact location of the blaze because she knew that the domestic violence refuge charity she volunteered with owned the building.
Divided into eight bedsits, each one offered a place of sanctuary to a woman and her children, if she had them.
Instantly, Nell had been suspicious. Was it arson?
An accident? Dreadful bad luck? Now the women faced even more trauma.
The building’s purpose was a secret from the local community for obvious security reasons, and it was imperative that it stayed that way, at the very least until everyone was accounted for and moved to a safe location in a new area.
A strong smell of corrosive smoke hit her the moment she stepped out of the car, and she winced.
She knew from experience that it would cling to her hair and clothes all day, but that was the least of her concerns.
She smoothed down her trousers and checked her regulation uniform cap was in place, then she strode towards the police tape erected between a lamp post and the trunk of an ageing chestnut tree, which served as a barrier between the gawking crowd and the smouldering building.
Firefighters worked to dampen the charred remains to ensure there was no chance of the fire reigniting.
It looked like her police colleagues had everything under control.
That made her job easier. She sought out the watch manager, who was leading the fire brigade’s operation.
“It looks likely that the blaze started in one of the bedsits on the top floor and spread quickly to the roof,” he said. “Possibly an accelerant was used. We suspect there was more than one seat of fire too.”
“Definitely suspicious, then.”
He nodded. “We’ll carry out the usual forensic tests and so forth.”
“I’ll make sure the scene is secured.” Nell lowered her voice as she continued. “No-one else knows who was living here and why, and I’d like it to stay that way.”
The watch manager wiped sweat from his face. “Understood.”
Before she could ask anything else, PC Duncan bustled over wearing a look of consternation and holding out a smartphone. “Ma’am, you need to see this.”
She watched footage of the mother and child’s rescue currently being aired on a TV news channel. Thankfully, it wasn’t possible to identify them. But while the fire was devastating for the local community, surely it didn’t meet the criteria for a national news story? “Do you know who filmed it?”
He pointed at a woman talking to the window cleaner who’d rescued the baby. “She did.”
Nell narrowed her eyes as everything fell into place.
No wonder Angie’s guest had seemed familiar.
She’d seen the woman’s face and heard her voice in the staff canteen whenever the TV news was on.
The charming tourist who’d barged her way into Nell’s thoughts from the moment they’d met was Matilda Elliott from Worldwide News.
Said journalist was currently interviewing the window cleaner while he clutched a faded Devon Air Ambulance mug in one hand and gesticulated with the other, clearly still fuelled by adrenaline.
Mattie’s body language was open, her facial expression interested and empathetic as she interviewed him.
Nell huffed under her breath. The careful and precise divide she’d managed to keep between her work and personal life was now compromised.
Work came first. Always. She couldn’t afford to share any more evening glasses of wine with this woman.
Even temporary friendliness had to end. No more blurring of lines.
Regardless of how very likeable Mattie was, Matilda Elliott was a journalist. Therefore, she couldn’t be trusted.
Nell listened as colleagues briefed her on everything she needed to know.
As they talked, she made a mental list of what she’d share with the media at the press conference she’d be obliged to lead shortly.
Keep it short, reveal only the essential details, appeal for witnesses, reassure the local community.
Allow questions from the media but fall back on the “fast-moving investigation and not wanting to prejudice anything” line if necessary.
That should cover all bases. God, she hated doing media stuff, especially TV.
She cringed if she saw herself on screen afterwards, but it was a part of her job.
And if there was one thing in the world she needed to be good at, it was her job.
Confident she’d been briefed sufficiently, Nell realised that the woman who could no longer be trusted was approaching from the public side of the cordon, PC Duncan bustling just ahead of her.
“Sorry, Ma’am. She’s quite insistent,” he muttered to Nell.
“I’ll handle her.” Purposely, she refused to duck under the police tape or stand close to Mattie. Nor did she return Mattie’s friendly smile. “We haven’t been formally introduced. Chief Inspector Nell Abraham.”
“I didn’t recognise you without the secateurs,” said Mattie.
Nell refused to rise to the familiarity. “My colleague tells me you have been badgering him with questions.”
“It’s my job to ask them,” said Mattie, a small frown replacing the open expression. “There’s a rumour that arson is suspected and—”
“You’ll have an opportunity to ask questions along with other members of the press in ten minutes. Please allow the emergency services to get on with their jobs.”
Mattie stepped aside to allow a firefighter carrying a rolled-up hose to pass behind her. “Yes, ma’am.”
Last night, that remark, delivered with a hint of playful mocking, would’ve made Nell laugh. Not now. She strode away, head held defiantly high, toward the area being prepared for a makeshift press conference.
At exactly noon, Nell cast her eye over the attendees gathered alongside the police cordon.
She forced herself to work from left to right, rather than seek out Mattie straight away.
There was Oliver Cornell, from a local radio station, who gave off such a lazy vibe she was surprised he was able to stand upright without needing to lean on something.
Then the familiar face of local newspaper reporter Rosie Sutton.
Rosie stared in awe at the woman next to her and Nell knew it would be Mattie.
Mattie dominated the small crowd, both by her presence and by her status as a well-known TV journalist. Nell suspected Mattie was not going to give her an easy ride and she’d need to be on high alert.
Keep to the script and don’t let Mattie knock you off course.
Nell knew the score and she’d learned the hard way about the dangers of trusting journalists.
She steeled herself as Mattie trained a smartphone on her face and started filming.
“Chief Inspector, can you confirm that the blaze is being treated as arson?” asked Mattie.
Nell looked at her rather than the camera. “The cause of the fire is being investigated. At this stage we believe that there are sufficient grounds to suggest there are suspicious circumstances.”
“What’s suspicious about it?”
Mattie’s follow-up question was quick-fire, but Nell refused to be hurried.
“The cause remains unclear, and we’re keeping an open mind at this early stage in the investigation.
What I can say is that we believe the fire started in the vicinity of the upper part of the building and spread to the roof.
” That wasn’t a direct answer, but was Mattie going to call her out on it?
She watched as Mattie’s gaze strayed to the smouldering building, and she shuddered.
It was a slight movement, but Nell caught it nonetheless. What was that about?
Mattie coughed. “Can you tell us more about the woman and young child who were rescued?”
“The baby’s mother was unconscious when firefighters rescued her,” said Nell, “and she’s in critical condition. I’m happy to say that her young child is recovering well.”
“Which hospital are they being treated at?” asked Mattie, before anyone else had a chance.
The other reporters appeared content to ride on her coattails.
“I’m not at liberty to share that information with you,” Nell said. Nor was she going to share that there were two armed guards at the hospital. “All affected residents have been offered alternative emergency accommodation.”
Mattie raised her eyebrows. “A couple of neighbours I spoke to said they believed the property housed asylum seekers. Can you confirm that?”
Why did people have to toss around unsubstantiated rumours? Nell kept her mask firmly in place. “I’m not at liberty to share personal information about residents.”
“That wasn’t my question.” Mattie tilted her head, her expression one of pure stubbornness.
No way was Nell going to cave into her. “I recognise that the local community have concerns, and while there will be an increased police presence, there’s no need to be overly alarmed.
” She made a point of looking straight into the camera.
“We’re appealing to the local community to resist speculating on social media while the investigation is ongoing.
We’d also like to ask any witnesses who’ve not yet come forward to contact us.
Thank you.” Nell ducked under the police cordon and strode away, making it clear that there’d be no opportunity for an off-the-record chat.
All reporters wanted a chance of getting more background, an extra fact or suspicion, something they could work on to get a better story than their rivals.
Mattie would be no different, regardless of how.
..becoming she was. Nell turned to talk to Duncan, expecting him to be alongside her, but he wasn’t.
She looked back and tsked when she saw him talking to Mattie. “PC Duncan!”
He scurried over. “Ma’am?”
“Don’t let yourself be swayed by the press.
We’ve got work to do.” Nell marched as far away from the cordon as possible, each step fuelled with concern.
“It’s clear that some in the local community know the house was being used for more than standard living purposes.
It’s only a matter of time before someone finds out that it was a domestic violence refuge.
The last thing we want is to alert the abusers these women have fled from.
” She glared as a man – press photographer?
Local resident? – ducked under the police tape and trained his camera on the scene. “Who is that?”
“I’m not sure, ma’am. I’ll investigate straight away,” said Duncan.
“And push the cordon further back. This is a crime scene, not a movie set.” Her concern for the women involved was behind her snapped command.
The possibility of their whereabouts potentially being revealed to the abusers they’d fled from was something she couldn’t bear to contemplate.
The investigating team needed to check as a matter of urgency if witnesses had uploaded footage of the fire to social media and, if so, whether any of the women or children were identifiable.
Mattie’s live footage had already been screened on national TV.
Were the residents’ faces on-screen? Nell reached for her police radio.
There was no time to lose. She would do everything in her power to keep the women safe.
She owed it to them, and to herself, to keep the promise she’d made all those years ago.