Page 102 of Fire Must Burn

‘Not yet,’ said Iris. ‘I need to ask a few people some questions first.’

The taxi taking them from Paddington Station to the hospital arrived just after four in the afternoon. They went inside, still carrying their luggage.

‘I’ll mind the bags while you go and see him,’ said Gwen. ‘I’ll be in the waiting room.’

‘Thanks,’ said Iris.

Tony, to her annoyance, was asleep when she came to his room. She pulled a chair up next to his bed and contemplated where she could poke him without causing undue pain or further damage. She couldn’t think of any.

She leaned forwards and whispered, ‘Tony. Wake up.’

It had no effect. She repeated the phrase, increasing her volume until he finally made an indecipherable snorting noise and opened his eyes. He looked at her in confusion for a few seconds, then they regained some semblance of clarity.

‘Hello, Sparks,’ he said. ‘Catch any beetles?’

‘A few,’ she said. ‘They’re carnivorous. I released them under your bedclothes before waking you.’

‘I hope they like their meat well done,’ he said. ‘I didn’t think I’d be seeing you until tomorrow.’

‘I had a question for you,’ she said.

‘Something to do with the vengeance quest?’

‘Yes. Were you with Bruce Cater when he was killed?’

His eyes went wide, then distant.

‘I was,’ he said. ‘It was horrible.’

‘What happened?’

‘We were low on ammo, and needed a distraction so we could slip away,’ he said. ‘Bruce made up a petrol bomb. Theidea was he was going to heave it into one of the trucks at their encampment and beat it back to us, but as he was running towards them he tripped and the bloody thing went off where he fell. He was covered in flames in an instant. I heard him scream for a few seconds as he rolled around in the grass, but then he stopped. We got our distraction, all right. We left him there and ran.’

‘Any chance he could have survived that?’

‘None,’ said Tony. ‘You didn’t see it, Sparks. He was halfway consumed by the time we picked up and ran. Were you thinking he had returned from the very depths of hell to bring me back with him?’

‘No, of course not.’

‘Mind you, if he had, I would have gone with him,’ said Tony. ‘Even to the very depths of hell.’

‘Stay with us a little longer,’ said Sparks. ‘I still owe you a few drinks.’

‘I’ll take you up on that someday,’ said Tony. ‘Then you can tell me what the hell this is all about.’

‘As soon as I know, I will,’ she promised.

‘Bruce Cater burned to death,’ she reported to Gwen in the waiting room. ‘He tripped trying to throw a Molotov cocktail.’

‘That confirms that theory,’ said Gwen. ‘Do you know where the Caters live?’

‘In Cambridgeshire. Outside of Kimbolton.’

‘Good,’ said Gwen. ‘I’ll see if Sally can drive me tomorrow. He’s off on Mondays.’

‘Sally? Why Sally?’

‘I have an idea as to how to gain entry,’ said Gwen. ‘I need to call in a favour first. Shall we head home?’