Page 70 of Fire Must Burn

‘Anyone but him,’ said Lowle. ‘Thank you, Miss Sparks. For everything. I’ll await your call.’

She walked away. Sparks watched her, then turned and headed for The Right Sort.

Gwen was on the telephone when she got to their office. She waved Iris in.

‘That’s with two Ls?’ she was asking, writing something down. ‘And her husband is Jeremy? Got it. Thank you so much, Bella. Kisses to Henry and the girls.’

She hung up.

‘I’ve located Lucinda Pickard, and it only took me three calls,’ she said. ‘She’s Mrs Jeremy Kendall now and lives in Holland Park. Nancy Spurlock’s family is still there as well, so we could kill two birds. Rather nice neighbourhood. You do know some fabulously wealthy people for an aspiring socialist.’

‘Including you, darling,’ said Iris.

‘How did things go with Miss Lowle?’

‘She was badly shaken by what happened to Tony,’ said Iris. ‘Her first time being blooded on the job. I almost got the feeling she was looking to me as a mentor.’

‘She could do worse,’ said Gwen. ‘I hear someone coming up the steps. Let’s continue this later.’

A moment later, Parham knocked on their door.

Mrs Bainbridge took one look at him and said, ‘You need tea. Immediately.’

‘I wouldn’t say no,’ he said as Sparks buzzed for Mrs Billington.

‘Tea for three, please, Mrs Billington,’ she said when their secretary appeared. ‘Please sit, Detective Superintendent. You look like you’ve had a night and a half.’

‘I had forgot what it was like to sit by a man’s bedside all night, waiting to see if he’ll wake,’ he said, collapsing into the chair. ‘It reminds me why I sought promotion: so I could sit in a more comfortable office and delegate that task to younger men.’

‘How is he?’ asked Sparks.

‘He made it through the night,’ said Parham. ‘No telling how he’ll do after that.’

‘Did he say anything?’

‘He did, finally,’ said Parham. ‘He didn’t see the bottle coming. He had opened the window and was walking away when the explosion hit.’

‘No idea as to who might have done it?’

‘None, unfortunately,’ said Parham.

‘We’ve had one,’ said Mrs Bainbridge.

‘Have you?’ he asked in surprise. ‘Why would The Right Sort have any information on an attack on Danforth?’

‘It’s vague and tentative,’ said Mrs Bainbridge. ‘And it’s more for Miss Sparks to tell than me.’

‘What is it?’ he asked.

‘This goes back many years,’ said Sparks. ‘There was an incident at Cambridge.’

She gave an abbreviated version of the death of Nancy Spurlock and the events around it. Mrs Billington appeared with the tea tray a few minutes in and poured for the three, then left. Parham sipped his absent-mindedly while listening to Sparks. Partway through her narrative he pulled out his notebook and jotted a few things down, which she found encouraging. When she was done, he looked at his notes.

‘Can you recall when her body was found?’ he asked.

‘Mid-May,’ she said. ‘I don’t remember the exact date.’

‘And the young men – did they leave England immediately?’