“Shouldn’t we get down there?” Joseph asked, the call of duty pulling him down the stairs.
“Our killer is here,” Ray growled. “On the site right now.”
“What should we do?”
“I want the gates locked. No one goes out till we’ve got a proper head count. I want everyone’s names; I want everyone’s story of where they were. Call the station, get some more bodies down there. A long day is about to get a lot longer.”
*
Joseph went to find two PCs to come and man the gates, whilst Ray stalked back and forth outside the clocking-in shed. He kept his eyes glued on the exit, watching for anyone trying to make their escape. They couldn’t cover every inch of the perimeter of the dockyard, but Ray had said he didn’t think that mattered. Today should have been a normal day. Everyone would have come in expecting to get paid. They would have clocked in. When they heard about the search, they would have had to act. A spur-of-the-moment thing. Leaving would be akin to a confession. The optimist in Joseph hoped whoever had done it hadn’t thought that far ahead. After all, then they would have a name for their suspect.
By the time the Fire Brigade arrived, they had the workers corralled together. Everyone had been accounted for. All thirty-six of the workers who had been on shift at the time. All of them now waiting to be released to go home. Among them were some familiar faces. Garry Wise, Robert Smith, Harry Jones. Joseph made a point of talking to them all.
Garry had been operating one of the cranes at the riverside at the time. Several people from his little work crew could vouch for him. Robert was more helpful. Even if he had an alibi. He had been assigned to the team that would be searching the warehouse with the police and had been making his way to the warehouse when the fire had been discovered.
“You could see it had taken a proper hold by the time we got there,” he said. “Fire coming up from all around it. Must have been going for a little while.”
Joseph made a note of that as he spoke. “When you say all around, what do you mean? Outside the building, inside?”
“Inside, but from all the corners, if you get what I mean. There was fire on either side as we walked towards it.”
“How does that happen?”
“What do you mean?”
“How does a warehouse catch fire and burn long enough that the whole thing is on fire before anyone notices?” Joseph didn’t expect Robert to have an answer, but he scrunched his face up and rubbed the top of his head with his work cap as he mulled it over.
“That’s a good question, and I’ll be honest, I can’t tell you. There are always people about doing things. I guess it couldn’t have been going that long.”
Joseph scribbled a word next to Robert’s quote. Accelerant. That would explain how the fire could spread to be so large without anyone noticing. Something to pass on to whoever would be investigating the remains of the building. Joseph didn’t know what use it would be. He didn’t really understand how fire investigators looked at the aftermath of a fire and pulled together what had happened. But there was a science to it, an expanding one, which meant that they could tell a lot now and a hell of a lot more in the future.
When he finally got a chance to talk to Harry, he found the young man far less forthcoming. Once more he shuffled nervously, his balance shifting as he talked.
“I was at the garage,” he said quietly. “Working on one of the trucks. It’s been playing up.”
His right hand rubbed up his left arm nervously and Joseph noticed a streak of something dark on his skin. Engine oil, perhaps.
“What did you see?”
“Nothing really,” Harry shrugged, although it almost sounded to Joseph that he might have been saying, ‘Nothing. Really.’
“No one acting suspiciously? No one near the warehouse?”
“Garage is down the other end of the facility,” he gave a little shrug this time. “I couldn’t have seen anything even if I wanted to.”
“Anyone vouch for you being down at the garage?”
“Mr Nadderley knew I was down there.”
“How did he know? He was with us.”
“He told me to fix the lorry.”
“But did anyone actually see you working on it?”
He offered another shrug. “Couple of lads were there when I got there. I can point them out to you. But after that I was underneath the wagon. The axle had gone out of alignment, pulling to the left. I was fixing it. I don’t know what else to tell you.”
Harry gave the names of two workers who he said would verify that he had, at least at some point, been working on the lorry that day. When Joseph found them, they did. Neither could say for sure that Harry had been in the garage at the time of the fire. They weren’t keeping track of each other’s movements and why would they be? It wasn’t their job to be paranoid and report on their colleagues. Still, he made a note next to Harry’s vague statement. Not validated.
Ray watched the firefighters damping down the warehouse when Joseph had finished collecting his statements.
“Someone got one up on us here.” Ray didn’t turn to look at Joseph who stood next to him.
“Why didn’t they do it before?”
“I’m not sure. Opportunity? Only thing I can really think of. Probably nervous they’d be caught in the act, kept putting it off till we left them with no choice.”
“Well, whoever it was, they pulled it off without being caught.”
Ray sighed, sucking his cheeks in, saying nothing. Joseph hovered awkwardly in silence, until Ray grunted and turned around, heading back towards the throng of workers. Derek saw them approaching and stalked towards them.
“Bloody fiasco, this whole thing,” he ranted. “When is it ever going to end?”
“You can let your men know they’re free to go.” Ray ignored Derek’s complaint.
“Free to leave? You’re not going to arrest any of them?”
“We’ve got nothing to arrest anyone on yet,” Ray explained.
