Ben was staring at the cars on the drive, a brand-new 4x4 Jag and a sleek Mercedes sports car. He looked at Morgan and nodded. ‘Yes.’
They crossed the treelined street together. It had been cordoned off by officers to prevent the press or anyone getting in that didn’t belong there.
‘I know that car, it’s an old college friend’s, Sally. I was only chatting with her the other day in Booths car park.’
Morgan glanced at Ben. His face had paled considerably in a few short minutes.
‘Are you okay?’
He nodded. ‘I’m fine, thank you. I just can’t believe it might be her. We were both talking about holiday destinations.’
‘We don’t know if it’s her yet, Ben, she might not have been home.’
They reached the front door, which was ajar, and Morgan knocked.
‘Come in.’
She pushed the door open, and Ben followed her inside. There was a man standing at the doorway to the room that looked out onto the street, his face a mask of misery.
‘Hi, Detectives Morgan Brookes and Ben Matthews.’
‘Luke Rigg, this is just terrible.’
He turned, walking back inside the room where he sat down on a leather recliner, pointing at the sofa. Morgan sat opposite him, Ben did the same, all three of them, despite the long front garden and drive, could see the drama that was happening further down the road.
‘Front row seats, it’s dreadful. I mean we all love a good argument and a bit of excitement when it’s happening right outside on the street, don’t we? But not something of this magnitude. This is horrific. Ava is friends with Tim, they go to school together. What on earth do I tell her when she gets home?’
‘How old is Ava?’
He looked at Morgan. ‘Fourteen, that delightful age where she thinks she’s an adult. I imagine you know it well.’
She smiled. ‘It’s a tough age, I would say that you tell her the truth, Luke, there’s nothing else you can do.’
‘But Tim’s her friend and he’s dead. She’ll never get over it.’
Morgan sighed. ‘No, she won’t, and it will be very painful for her, but she will cope and in time she’ll learn to accept it.’
He stared at her, a little too intensely. ‘You sound as if you know.’
‘I do, I lost a very good friend when I was a teenager and I miss him dearly, but I survived for his sake.’
Luke nodded.
‘Can you tell us what you saw, how you knew that Tim was dead?’
‘We were getting into the car when I noticed an orange glow coming from David’s house. I looked up and had the fright of my life. I wasn’t expecting to see flames licking at the front windows. I told Heather to ring 999 and I ran over there, both of the cars are on the drive, so I assumed they were all home.’
He paused and his silence filled the room. Morgan realised he was gathering himself, choosing his words before speaking them out loud, and she wondered if he was regretting his decision to leave them there.
‘Then what happened?’
‘I couldn’t get through the front because the flames and smoke were too intense, so I ran around the back to the kitchen and saw them all sitting around the kitchen table. They looked as if they were about to eat their tea, never mind that the front of the house was burning down around them. I couldn’t understand what I was seeing. I hammered on the windows, but they were like statues, they didn’t move, and then I realised why they weren’t moving. It happened in slow motion; I pulled the handle down on the bifold door and opened it, and found they weren’t moving because all three of them had plastic bags over their heads. They were slumped forwards and…’ He stopped, a loud noise that was part sob and part gasp of horror escaped his mouth which he quickly covered with his hand.
‘It’s okay, Luke, you’re doing really well. I know this must be hard for you, but we need as much detail as you can give so we can figure out what happened.’
He nodded, closed his eyes and inhaled. ‘None of them had their right hands.’
Ben looked at Morgan, then back at Luke. ‘Were they on the table still, did you see them anywhere?’
