Fallen Angel

He flung his head back with a crack of laughter. ‘You never give up, do you? I’d act the same way with man, woman or child,’ he said, climbing into the bio-hazard suit handed to him and adding overshoes, gloves and mask. ‘Why put yourself in unnecessary danger when you don’t have to? I, on the other hand do need to see what happened. It will make trying to piece the puzzle together a whole lot easier when I have the body back in the lab. Why don’t you go and speak to Craig to find out the background? I promise I won’t be any longer than I have to be.’ He turned his back and went to talk to one of the firemen, laughing again when he was handed a hard hat to wear, which he rammed down on top of his head. Within seconds he was being led inside.

Gaby watched until he was out of sight before slowly making her way across to the first of the fire engines and where Craig was holding on to the lead of the latest addition to the team, Penny, a gorgeous, chocolate-brown Labrador.

‘How’s she settling in?’ Gaby crouched down, putting her fist out for the dog to sniff.

‘Worth her weight in gold, Gaby.’ He crossed his arms across his chest, the lead dangling from between his fingers. ‘If I’m truthful I didn’t think using a dog to detect things like fire accelerants would work but she led me straight to what remained of the wall in the kitchen and where the cooker should have been.’

‘What? An electrical fire?’

‘Nope. A gas explosion. Probably forgotten that she’d turned the oven on.’

‘Is it safe … for the men?’

‘Safe enough. Don’t you be worrying about the doc. He’s a man with nine lives – the luck of the Irish.’

Ignoring his smirk, she said, ‘So, what can you tell me about what happened?’

‘Called in at seven o’clock or thereabouts by the next-door neighbour. Thought it was a bomb at first.’ He lifted his hand to scratch the side of his nose, leaving a trail of soot across his cheek. ‘The funny thing is that the deceased, a Mary Butterworth, shouldn’t have been left alone. She had some sort of brain cancer. The neighbour says that it’s a huge tragedy. Needs constant supervision. Can’t even wash and dress herself anymore. The daughter’s been pulling her hair out since her dad died, trying to find some home to take her. She’s been coping with the help of a live-in carer until the finances for a home are sorted, but for some reason she gave the woman the night off. That’s the daughter there.’ He tilted his head in the direction of a thin, blonde woman huddled in a black padded jacket. ‘Avril Eustace. She says she only popped out for half an hour to pick up some milk. But half an hour is all it took.’

Gaby’s eyes narrowed, trying to remember where she’d seen the woman before. ‘You say she recently lost her dad?’

‘That’s right. Remember that bloke that fell under the bus outside Marks and Spencer last month?’

‘Of course.’

All unexplained deaths had to be investigated much to the annoyance of the team. In the normal run of events they usually had more work than they could cope with without the added annoyance of having to trail around nursing homes and the like to probe into deaths that were clearly either expected or accidental, as in the case of Tony Butterworth. She’d still been on sick leave when it had happened, which was probably the reason she’d had difficulty in remembering the daughter, Avril. She’d only caught a fleeting glimpse in reception when she’d popped in to see DCI Sherlock a couple of weeks ago to confirm her return date; not enough for her to have left more than a passing impression of the woman.

Turning away, she looked around the sea of faces, searching. ‘Is her husband here?’

‘Away on business. Due back tomorrow. There’s a neighbour who’s taken her under her wing.’

‘Thank you.’ She offered him a brief smile, concentrating now on the building ahead and any sign of Rusty. She’d have to meet with the daughter at some point but that could wait. The evening, which had started out on such a high note, was quickly turning into a disaster. If only he’d …

‘All done.’ Rusty placed a hand on her shoulder, almost causing her to jump out of her skin. ‘Can you leave or …? I’d like to follow the ambulance but firstly I need to sort out Conor.’

‘You can drop us both off at mine, that is if he won’t object? It’s on your way.’

‘Far from objecting, he’ll be over the moon. It’s that or the childminder and she’s got four of her own already.’ He squeezed her shoulder before removing his hand and tucking it back in his pocket. ‘It’s really very good of you.’

‘Don’t read anything into it,’ she said, stepping away and walking back to the car. ‘It’s the sensible solution.’

‘Of course it is.’

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