Page 116 of Fire Must Burn

Iris shook her head.

‘We can’t go to him with this,’ she said. ‘Not yet. We need something more tangible, or he’ll just shut down the operation and she’ll get away with it.’

‘There’s another problem,’ said Gwen.

‘Which is?’

‘Parham said Lowle had an alibi for the time of the attack,’ said Gwen. ‘She was at her flat, and her landlady verified it. There may be other boarders there who could as well.’

‘Or the landlady was lying,’ said Sally.

‘No, I agree that she was nowhere near Grenville House when it happened,’ said Iris.

‘You do?’ exclaimed Gwen. ‘You mean you think she wasn’t behind the petrol bomb?’

‘No, she was,’ said Iris.

‘Do you think her brother was involved?’

‘No,’ said Iris. ‘But I have a theory that has been made considerably stronger by this.’

‘What are we going to do to prove it?’

‘Search Lowle’s flat, for starters,’ said Iris. ‘Unfortunately we can’t risk that tonight. She’ll be going to her ministry job tomorrow. You and I will meet up at The Right Sort in the morning to get her address, then go from there.’

‘What if she speaks to her father in the interim?’ asked Gwen. ‘She might know that we’re looking into her family by now.’

‘Protocol for maintaining a cover means no contact with one’s real family,’ said Iris. ‘That was the best part of the job when I was doing it as far as I was concerned. You only just saw the Caters today, so if we move quickly, we should be able to break in before she’s on to us. Right, if there is no further business, I hereby declare this meeting over and adjourned until further information is gathered.’

‘Isn’t what you’re planning burglary?’ objected Sally.

‘No,’ said Gwen. ‘We’re only committing burglary if we do this at night. I looked that up once for another situation.’

‘But it’s still illegal,’ pointed out Sally.

‘Oh, yes,’ said Iris. ‘Don’t worry, Sally, it will just be the two of us. I have a plan.’

‘Oh, goody – a plan,’ said Sally. ‘What can possibly go wrong? Well, then I guess you have no further need of me. Goodnight, Sparks.’

‘Goodnight, Sally,’ said Iris as she showed them to the door. ‘Thank you for everything. Goodnight, Gwen.’

‘Goodnight, Iris,’ said Gwen.

The two walked back to Sally’s car.

‘I’ll drop you off,’ said Sally as he held the door for her.

‘No,’ said Gwen, getting in, then looking up at him. ‘You’llcome in with me. Iris may have no further need for you, but I do.’

Mrs Cowell had just finished hoovering her sitting room when she heard the doorbell ring. She glanced at the grandfather clock. It was ten o’clock in the morning, and she wasn’t expecting any visitors or deliveries. She peeked through the curtains to see two young women standing at her front door. One was a tall, elegant blonde, while the other was a short, nervous brunette whose eyes kept darting about in all directions.

Wondering, she went to open the front door.

‘Yes?’ she said.

‘Good morning,’ said the tall woman. ‘Are you Mrs Cowell?’

‘I am.’