The Fire Man Read Online Free PDF Page A

effectively manages the place day to day.’
    â€˜Do you own the building?’ enquired Grim.
    â€˜Yes, we do actually. We used to rent, but we had an opportunity to buy out the lease last year,’ replied Kanelos with a slightly unconvincing appearance of regret.
    â€˜And how much stock do you think you were carrying?’ enquired McRae.
    â€˜Well, fortunately we do stock reconciliations on a weekly basis, so we have a pretty precise idea. As of last Friday, the stock stood at just under £8million.’
    He looked enquiringly towards the two adjusters. There was a pregnant pause while McRae and Grim exchanged glances before the former spoke.
    â€˜Fine, I think that’ll do us for now,’ he said. ‘Time to take a good look around. We’ll have another chat with you in about an hour if you don’t mind hanging on here, but we may need to come back with any queries as we proceed.’
    â€˜Yes, well, as you might imagine, I have quite a few things to be getting on with,’ said Kanelos ruefully. ‘We may well decide to be represented by someone who can help us with our claim, so I have to sort out some meetings with a few assessors. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind raising any questions with George here in my absence?’
    â€˜Certainly’, replied McRae, ‘but we will definitely need to speak to you personally at some stage later.’
    â€˜Of course,’ smiled Kanelos.

5
    Walsall, May 2007
    Leaving the Hellenic directors clustered in the doorway, the adjusters moved away to the shelter of an adjoining lean-to that housed an aging cycle rack.
    â€˜Right, so what are your initial impressions?’ enquired McRae. Grim’s response was a shrug, followed by a terse, ‘Too early to say, mate. Let’s crack on.’
    â€˜Fair enough. You start on the structure, while I have a gander at the stock. We can compare notes in, say, half an hour, eh? Don’t forget to take plenty of photos.’
    The couple separated; Grim started to measure up and quantify the structural damage while McRae made a beeline for the warehousing.
    The damage was undoubtedly far more severe at the rear, and it became abundantly clear that the fire must have originated close to the rear exterior door of the central section of Warehouse B. The pitched, profiled-steel sheet roof of this section of the building had totally collapsed, and the structural steelwork, formerly supporting the roof, had buckled and was now sagging across the centre of the warehouse like some kind of giant colander. The perimeter walls had been pushed outwards by the expansion of the steel wall plates and in some areas the walls had been fractured, allowing shafts of daylight to penetrate the gloom. The whole place was swimming in ankle-deep, sooty extinguishment water, and, not for the first time, McRae was glad that he had remembered his boots.
    Looking towards the rear, it was clear that each of the bays incorporated individual personnel access doors and that Unit A, to his left and C to the right, also benefitted from wide roller-shuttered loading bays. Despite the murkiness of the weather, the massive gaping breach in the roof enabled McRae to see sufficiently well, so as to make out the principal features.
    As they had been told, the bulk of the stock had been stored in the central area, Bay B, while to his left, a couple of what seemed to be burnt-out fork lift trucks, hanging rails and storage racking was evident. Damage on his right in Bay C, was far less severe and stacks of pallets and what he assumed to be some type of wrapping machines were clearly visible.
    Enormous stacks of heavy duty, double-walled cardboard flatpack boxes were teetering precariously in an alcove adjacent to Bay C. They were sodden and scorched but remarkably intact. McRae took a closer look and saw that they were clearly used boxes, many of which still carried yellow labels bearing a large black ornamental, almost