Destruction of Evidence Read Online Free PDF Page B

piled at the side of the bed and on the corpse.’
    ‘The body had been set alight?’
    ‘All I have are the descriptions given by the officers who went in. You’ll need to send for forensic teams.’
    ‘I’ll get Frank on to it right away.’
    ‘You can use our investigative officers as well. But no one will be able to go in until the fire is out and the building has cooled enough for us to secure it. A rough estimate is twenty-four to thirty-six hours.’
    ‘Can’t you do better than that?’
    ‘I thought you’d know better than to ask that question.’
    ‘Any survivors?’
    ‘None we’ve seen. Officers have checked every room they can access. But that’s not many at present.’
    ‘How many were inside the building when it went up?’
    ‘As you know, Alun and Gillian Pitcher and their three sons live there. But so far we’ve only found one corpse. Tim Pryce and Ken Lloyd saw the youngest son, Michael leave the house with his fiancée, Alison, around midnight. They said they intended to spend the night at Bryn Lodge. So we’re presuming four adults.’
    ‘Where was the seat of the fire?’
    ‘Ken Lloyd…’
    ‘The retired meter reader?’ Reggie interrupted.
    ‘That’s him. He telephoned the emergency services on his mobile from the river bank. And, before you ask, he has a fishing licence.’
    ‘I don’t have to ask. I’ve met his wife. If I was married to her I’d spend my nights out of the house.’ Reggie showed a rare flash of humour.
    ‘He saw flames in the attic and moments later a fire in the kitchen that was fierce enough to blow out a window.’
    ‘Two seats to the fire,’ she mused. ‘Then it’s arson.’
    ‘Not officially. Not yet,’ the chief warned.
    * * *
    Frank Howell had called in every police officer, irrespective of whether they were on duty to help with the fire, but he hadn’t managed to raise all of them. Dai Smith who’d been on duty until midnight and Grant Williams who’d taken a week’s leave weren’t answering their mobiles or house phones. Erecting barriers, waking and shepherding the Pitchers’ neighbours to safety, closing Main Street and setting up traffic diversions had kept the remainder busy so he’d done what any enterprising Welsh officer would do in his place. Enlisted the help of a respectable local.
    He telephoned a consultant surgeon who lived in a Victorian rectory a mile from Bryn Lodge, told him about the fire and asked him to drive Michael into town without giving him any reason beyond a fire in his parents’ house.
    Unsurprisingly, Alison accompanied them. When they arrived, Frank took them to the ambulance. As the paramedics were waiting there in case they were needed, it was hardly private but from the way Michael blanched on seeing his home; Frank decided the boy might need their professional services.
    Huw Thomas and the Super climbed into the back of the ambulance with Michael, Alison and Henry Clarke, the ENT consultant who had driven them in.
    Michael took one look at their grave expressions and feared the worst. ‘Mam, Dad, my brothers…’
    Reggie glanced from Huw to Henry Clarke. Neither of them appeared to be prepared to speak, so she took control of the conversation.
    ‘… Are they all right?’ Michael began to tremble.
    ‘We need to know how many people were in the house, Michael.’ She spoke gently.
    He stared at her.
    ‘Were both your parents and your two brothers at home when you left the house?’ she pressed.
    Alison answered. ‘Mr and Mrs Pitcher were watching television in the drawing room…’
    ‘Which is where in the house?’ Huw interrupted.
    ‘On the first floor at the front of the house.’
    ‘What were they watching?’
    ‘What bloody difference does that make?’ Michael snapped.
    ‘It might make a difference if we know the length of the programme, Michael,’ Huw answered quietly.
    ‘The news. They always watch the midnight news before going to bed.’
    ‘And your brothers?’ Regina