Morgan punched the air, so happy to have good news for a change. Today was going to be a great day. She went upstairs to get dressed then wrote a note for Ben.
Gone to sort Maggie’s dog out, will meet you at the station. She’s doing great off the ventilator!
XX
Opening the cupboard where they kept the cereal she grabbed a breakfast bar, relieved there was no packet of chocolate fudge pop tarts in there after that terrible nightmare. She had no idea if Heather Rigg was home or not, but she would soon find out.
FORTY-SEVEN
Hest Bank Road was silent, there was no one around and considering the last few days of non-stop police activity, she bet the residents were relieved. Morgan could see the Riggs’ smashed window had been boarded up, and there was a light on in the hallway. She had no idea if it was on an automatic timer or if Heather was home, but she would give her a knock. First, going inside Maggie’s she was greeted by Roley who was waiting by the front door, his tail wagging, and she felt bad. Crouching down she rubbed behind his ears and stroked him.
‘I’m sorry, were you lonely? Your mum is okay though, she’ll be back soon to look after you.’
She went in the kitchen and noticed his bowl had been licked clean, and smiled, glad that despite being on his own he hadn’t gone off his food. She fed him, changed his water and waited for him to eat his breakfast before clipping his lead on. Despite the grey hairs on his face betraying his age he jumped all over her like a puppy, making her laugh.
‘Come on, you’ve been promoted to a detective dog, we’re going to check the streets out around here and see if there are any in walking distance where our suspect could live.’
She knew it was pointless, Nigel had said a two-mile radius and she didn’t think the dog could walk that far, but at least they could look at the surrounding streets. Then if any names and addresses came up that matched a name on Nigel’s list, she’d already know if they were from this part of Rydal Falls. Roley walked further than she’d given him credit for and when they returned, he was ready for a drink.
After putting him inside, she crossed the road to see if anyone was in at the Riggs’. Before she could knock on the door it opened and Heather stood there, swollen, bleary-eyed, her hair mussed and a pair of mismatched pyjamas on.
‘How’s Maggie, any news?’
‘She’s okay, they’re moving her out of Intensive Care later today.’
‘Oh, thank God. I don’t suppose you know how Luke is, do you?’
‘I don’t, sorry. I’ve come to ask a favour.’
‘Yes, I’ll have the dog. I’ve been worrying about him all night on his own, but I didn’t have a key to get inside to go grab him.’
‘Thank you, Maggie will appreciate that.’
‘It’s the least I can do, it’s my fault she’s in there. God, what an absolute mess this all is.’
Morgan nodded. She had no idea what had happened with Heather last night, if she’d been charged or bailed pending further investigation. She hadn’t spoken to Ben to find out what he or the CPS had decided, and she didn’t want to sour Heather’s mood by reminding her of that particular dark cloud hanging over her head. But whatever was happening with Heather, she didn’t think she’d harm Roley.
‘I’ll go grab him for you, and let Maggie know where he is.’
‘Yes, please, give her my love if you speak to her and tell her I’ll take very good care of Roley. I’ve got a doctor’s appointment this afternoon to sort out my medication.’
Morgan smiled at her. ‘That’s good and thanks, I will.’ Finally turning back to the Lawsons’ house she cursed under her breath, the scene must have been released because there were no PCSOs guarding it, she wouldn’t be able to get inside without a key. It was time to get to work, she would have to grab a key and check later on. She hoped that Nigel had sent the list of on-call firefighters over for her to cross-check against their records.
Morgan was the first one in the office. She relished the peace, not that it ever got overly busy with just the four full-time detectives. Cain was like a breath of fresh air and seemed to be able to handle Amy just fine, which she knew had been a big relief for Ben. As she fired her computer up, she couldn’t help glancing at Des’s desk. It was always going to be strange knowing what had happened to him. It was like he’d wished it on himself with all the worrying that something bad was going to happen. She had twenty-eight new emails since she’d last been logged on last night, but only one of them was any use to her for the investigation. She saw Nigel’s name and double clicked on it, waiting for it to load. Attached to the message was a list of names of the on-call fire officers who attended the night of the Lawsons’ fire, their addresses and their places of work, which was very handy. In his email, Nigel explained that not only did they have to live within a five-minute travel time of the station they also had to carry a pager when on shift. She checked the names and addresses, but none of them rang any bells or brought up information when she typed their names into the computer. She sat back, relieved in a way that it wasn’t one of the good guys, that was all they needed. Her inbox pinged and she saw another email from Nigel.
Sorry, there were two fire engines that night one from Rydal and one from Windermere. I’ve attached the crew list for the Windermere one.
She opened it and did the same as previously. One name stood out immediately. Jackie Thorpe. She was the woman Morgan had spoken to outside Sally’s salon. She frowned slightly, wondering if she had time to nip there before the others arrived, to speak to her. Deciding that she did, Morgan grabbed her coat and was on her way to the salon in a matter of minutes, eager to find out if Jackie had realised it was her boss’s house she’d saved from burning down, and why she hadn’t mentioned it last week.
The salon door was propped open and there were a few customers having their hair cut and styled. The woman standing behind the small reception desk smiled at her.
‘Have you got an appointment?’
‘No, I’m Detective Constable Morgan Brookes, I’m investigating Sally’s death and have a couple of questions.’
She nodded seriously. ‘Come up to the staff room, it’s a bit noisy in here.’
Morgan followed her upstairs and into a room that smelled of fresh coffee.
