Chelsea looked embarrassed and nervous, pulling at the cuffs of her flowery blouse, blushing as she spoke. ‘Granddad, don’t be like that. The detective wants to find out who set fire to your flat so the least you can do is answer a few questions and then he’ll go. It won’t take a minute.’
Again Barnes was reminded of a bewildered little girl pulling at her pyjama cuffs, then wiping her nose. He was also surprised by how well spoken she was. Her accent betrayed no hint of her Derbyshire roots and there was an intelligence in her turn of phrase. Her clothes were different too, classy, well cut and stylish.
Focusing his attention on the ungrateful, nasty piece of work in the bed, Barnes recognised his own impatience laced with anger. Dennis Mills was a waster, always had been, always would be and the urge to turn around and let him rot was overwhelming. Instead he took a breath and for the sake of Chelsea, tried to talk Dennis round.
‘Look, I’ll make this quick, Mr Mills. All I want to know is did you see or hear anything before the fire and have you any reason to believe someone wants to harm you?’
There was silence for a few minutes and then to his shock, and from the look on Chelsea’s face, hers too, Dennis replied. ‘Them little twats who live at the corner house ’ave had it in for me ever since I stabbed their football. Reckon it could be them.’
At this Barnes saw Chelsea roll her eyes before taking her seat on the chair. She looked weary as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then focused on her grandfather. ‘Why on earth did you do that, Granddad? No wonder they don’t like you.’
Dennis huffed loudly followed by a prolonged bout of coughing brought to a halt when Chelsea passed him a glass of water which he sipped through a straw.
‘Because I’m sick of ’em using my front door for target practice, that’s why. So I waited and when they booted it, I opened the door and it came in the hall and I popped it with me penknife. That showed the little c–’
‘Granddad, that’s quite enough swearing. The nurses will hear.’ Chelsea then mouthedI’m so sorryto Barnes who was taking notes.
‘Right, I’ll need their names so I can go and have a chat with them. Anyone else offended you lately that I need to speak to?’ Barnes couldn’t hide his sarcasm and caught the smile from Chelsea who seemed to have relaxed now her granddad was being co-operative.
‘Yeah actually, what about that murdering nonce Dunne who you let out of jail? Maybe he’s paying me back for setting his shed on fire all them years back.’
‘Granddad, please, don’t think about him, it will only upset you.’ Chelsea reached for his hand which he snatched away.
‘Upset? I’m always upset about that scummy piece of sh–’ Dennis caught the scowl from his granddaughter, curbing his language before continuing. ‘It’s him they should burn, hanging’s too good. He should suffer like my little girl did…’ At this Dennis became agitated, coughing and wheezing and tears coursed down his face, either from exertion or distress, Barnes wasn’t sure.
Chelsea sprang into action and replaced the oxygen mask over his face, then rang the bell for a nurse who came running, ushering everyone outside as she pulled the curtains around Dennis’s bed with a flourish.
* * *
Once the nurse had settled Dennis she insisted he needed his sleep. There was little hope of getting any more information out of him so Barnes decided to call it a day. He had the feeling that Dennis knew little of any use; but he’d still need to check out the neighbourhood kids.
In the time it had taken to settle Dennis Barnes he had chatted with Chelsea and learned that she was taking her nursing degree and worked in Manchester at the Royal Infirmary, living close by in student accommodation. She shared with her friend Lara, another student who was currently housebound after breaking an arm, collarbone and a leg in a car accident. It seemed Chelsea’s training was coming in very handy.
She certainly proved to be different from most of the women he met on a day-to-day basis: she liked going to the theatre, hiking and felt especially drawn to the Derbyshire Peaks. ‘That must be down to my roots,’ she said.
Even though he was dying to know, Barnes hadn’t felt able to mention her mother. It didn’t seem right at the time so let her talk about herself.
After she said goodbye to her dozing granddad they’d walked outside together and then seeing the huge queue for the bus, Barnes had offered her a lift to the station. She’d already told him her car was in for service so she’d had to endure two buses and a train to get there.
Consequently, they were stuck in a traffic jam and sweltering in the heat listening to the radio while a question burned inside his head. Putting it down to natural curiosity he decided to ask, hoping as he did that it wouldn’t upset her. ‘Do you mind me asking you something? It’s nothing to do with your granddad so don’t worry.’ As soon as he said the words he cringed. What if she thought he was going to hit on her? At thirty-three he was just about old enough to be her teenage dad.
‘Yes of course. Ask away, as long as it’s not a medical question. You’d be surprised how many people think I can diagnose all their illnesses. I’m a student nurse not a consultant.’
Barnes laughed at this and relaxed slightly. ‘Okay, I won’t tell you about my rash, then.’
Chelsea held her hand to her chest, smiling as she spoke. ‘Thank God in heaven for that.’
As the traffic began to move Barnes concentrated on the car in front as he spoke. ‘I hope this won’t upset you but I was around when your mum was killed and I met you back then. I just wondered what happened to you, afterwards.’
At this Chelsea swivelled in her seat and looked in amazement at Barnes ‘Really! When did we meet?’
Caught at the traffic lights, Barnes pulled to a halt again and chanced a glance as he spoke. ‘The day the social workers came. Your next-door neighbour had been looking after you and I was stationed outside the house to keep people away. You dropped your slipper and I gave it back to you.’
Chelsea slumped back in her chair. ‘How very bizarre, to think that you were there. Believe it or not I still remember that day but in a dreamlike kind of way, flashes of it, but not you. I’m so sorry, I wish I did because you were obviously kind to me.’
‘Hey it’s fine. I wouldn’t expect you to remember but I’m curious to know about afterwards… I know your granddad didn’t take you in.’ Barnes felt like a bit of a heel asking and prayed she’d say she had a happy life otherwise he’d be on a downer all night.
Chelsea moved position and stared directly in front at the tail lights of the car up ahead. ‘I went into the foster system but before you despair and imagine all sorts, I got lucky and was adopted by a lovely family.’
