False fire

by Veronica Heley

  Manisa took a moment to absorb this. Then she nodded and said, ‘Oh. I see.’ She took a seat. ‘Yes, that does put a different complexion on the matter. We automatically send a report to the police when fireworks and children are involved. The police would normally leave the first stages of the investigation to us, but in the case of manslaughter … are you sure?’

  ‘Yes. Steve will give you the details in a minute of which hospitals and how they died. I don’t think Mrs Frost’s death was intended, any more than it was intended that Josh, Steve’s father, should have a heart attack. We know that you haven’t as yet been able to get up to the top of the house to see where the fire started in the children’s room, but we have been able to work out a timeline and would like to share it with you.’

  Once again Bea went through the evening’s events, this time including the information provided by Steve.

  Steve said, ‘I admit we panicked, what with my father having a heart attack and Daphne spurting blood everywhere. We took the nearest cars and tore off. Leon had arrived last, so it was easiest to use his car first. Gideon got my father into that and I took Daphne in mine. Alaric followed on behind me with Ninette.’

  ‘And your sister’s boyfriend?’

  ‘Giorgio? He arrived at the hospital soon after we did, but didn’t stay long. He’s allergic to the sight of blood. He says. He’d taken Daphne’s car. Probably still got it.’ He hit his forehead. ‘Another thing I’ll have to sort. Alaric and Ninette didn’t stay long, either, but you could hardly expect that they would.’

  Manisa lifted a finger to attract attention. ‘What about your father’s car? And I assume your brother Gideon has one, too? Why didn’t you use those?’

  ‘Dad’s car must still be in the garage. He bought the house partly because it has a double garage at the side. He’s very careful – was very careful – about his car being garaged all the time. As a matter of fact, he’s not used it all that much lately. His eyesight, you know? He ran a tab with a man we know who hires himself out as a chauffeur. As for Gideon, when he arrived with Faye, he didn’t want to get boxed into the drive in case he needed to make a swift exit, so he left his car out in the road, some way down. He couldn’t find a space nearer. We didn’t bother to use his that night. I assume he’s moved it by now.’

  ‘Gideon: that’s a strange name,’ said Manisa.

  An attempt at a smile from Steve. ‘It’s biblical. Some sort of guerrilla fighter. Our mother thought it romantic. He was teased at school, nicknamed “Giddy Gideon”, but he’s survived. He’s a great survivor. He’s very charming, you know. Has all the women hanging around him.’

  ‘Which hospital did you go to?’

  ‘Different ones. I knew Charing Cross had a good A & E so I took Daphne there, while Leon took Dad and Gideon to West Middlesex. We only discovered they were in different hospitals when we linked up by phone after we got there. Daphne was hysterical … Oh, God! Daphne!’ He started to his feet and began to pace. ‘She won’t have heard about Mrs Frost yet, nor about our father. I keep forgetting! I ought to be at the hospital now, this very minute.’

  Bea was soothing. ‘Daphne can wait. Let’s try to work out what went wrong on Friday night. Leon took Josh and Gideon in his car, and you took Daphne in yours, right?’

  With an effort Steve concentrated. ‘Yes. When we got to the hospitals, we kept going outside to call one another, find out where everyone was. Leon was great, helped to keep us all calm.’

  ‘How does Leon fit into your family?’

  ‘Well, he’s known my father slightly for years, they’ve sat on the boards of some different companies together, and then his great-niece, Bernice, made friends with Alicia, so they saw more of one another. He certainly came up trumps that night. Daphne kept asking for Dad but of course he couldn’t come so we told her he was feeling unwell and would be along later. Then she heard Leon was with Dad and asked if he could come and deal with the doctors for her instead of me. She’s my elder sister, you see, and elder sisters don’t think much of younger brothers, do they?’

  Bea said, ‘That’s when Leon rang to see if I could go over to look after Daphne, but by that time we’d got the two children on our hands and couldn’t help.’

  Steve nodded. ‘We had no idea about the fire till Uncle Bill called me from our neighbour’s house to tell me and to say that the girls were safe.’ He passed his hand over his eyes. ‘What a shock. I’d forgotten about the girls completely. I rang Gideon and told him what had happened, and then I hared back to the house … and found the fire engines there, and Mrs Frost being put into an ambulance. I didn’t know which way to turn. Uncle Bill arranged for Mrs Abbot to take the girls in, for which I was very grateful, and then I went back to the hospital to hear the bad news about Dad.’

  Manisa said, ‘Which hospital did they take Mrs Frost to?’

  Steve clapped a hand to his head. ‘I do know, don’t I? I’m losing my mind! How can I not know? Someone has to contact her family, though I haven’t a clue who.’ He shot to his feet. ‘Look, I really do need to get into Dad’s office back at home. You need the name of the electrician and I need Mrs Frost’s details. The ground floor’s all right and most of the first floor. It’s only the top floor we can’t get to. There’s a builder coming to put a tarpaulin over the roof. I really ought to be there.’

  Mel put a hand on his arm. ‘Hush, now. Sit down. There’s no hurry for poor Mrs Frost, now is there?’

  He subsided, reluctantly. ‘What a dreadful business this is!’

  Manisa collected their attention. ‘I have Lord Morton’s and Mrs Abbot’s statements about getting the girls out. But …’ Manisa looked at her notes. ‘There was someone else left behind, wasn’t there? A Faye Starman? She says she stayed behind to look for her pearls and was then assaulted by Mrs Abbot.’

  ‘What nonsense!’ said Bea. ‘Do you know, she even sent a police officer to see me about it? I saved that brat’s life by dragging her out of a burning house, and she wants to sue me for assault and lost wages and the Crown Jewels!’

  Manisa half smiled. ‘A local policeman, I assume?’

  Bea relaxed into a smile, too. ‘I suppose she flapped her eyelashes at him, and got him to look into it for her … possibly when he got off duty? He was very keen that I should pay her off. Perhaps she’s promised him a nice tip.’

  Manisa almost laughed. ‘No win, no fee? He must have been off duty.’

  ‘I take it you haven’t yet reported the fire to the police?’

  ‘Not yet. I have to get up to the top of the house to investigate what happened there before I can complete my report.’ She turned back to Steve. ‘You say the waitresses left at the same time. I’d like to talk to them, too.’

  Steve nodded. ‘They left when we did. Didn’t want to stick around in a house of doom.’ He made a gesture of frustration. ‘I didn’t book them. Daphne did. Or maybe Mrs Frost? When I can get into Dad’s office, I’ll find out which agency was used and let you know.’

  Manisa said, ‘Back to the cars. We’ll have to check that your father’s car is still all right. It should be. The garage wasn’t touched by the fire. Lord Morton, what about you? Didn’t you have a car there?’

  ‘I’d come up by train. I don’t bring a car into London nowadays. Nowhere to park. I arrived by taxi, with a tote bag. I’d been invited to stay overnight. So I didn’t have a car with me.’

  ‘And Faye?’

  Steve said, ‘She arrived with Gideon in his car. I assume she called a taxi when she wanted to go home.’

  ‘And Daphne?’

  ‘She’s been living back at home for a while. She let Giorgio use her car. He certainly turned up at the hospital independently, so yes, he must be using her car at the moment.’

  Manisa looked over her notes. ‘Back to the events of the night. Mrs Abbot and Lord Morton say that the curtain on the top landing was set alight shortly after the one downstairs?’

  Bea said, ‘The girls had been sent up to
bed. About five minutes later, perhaps, the curtain behind me went up in flames. Josh had a heart attack. Daphne became hysterical and cut herself on a broken glass. Leon and Faye attended to her. Steve found a fire extinguisher which he used on the curtain. That was when I heard what I thought was a second explosion inside the house somewhere. Not close. Muffled. Lord Morton heard it, too.’

  William abandoned his position by the window to join the circle around Manisa. ‘We thought the children might have been frightened by the noise, and went upstairs to see.’

  ‘While we, downstairs,’ said Steve, ‘had to deal with two medical emergencies. We all left except for Faye, who is Gideon’s current girlfriend. She refused to come with us because she’d broken her pearls and wanted to retrieve them.’

  Bea said, ‘By the time we got to the top of the house, we found Mrs Frost on the floor of the landing, a second burning curtain and smoke rolling down the corridor towards us. As we started Mrs Frost on her way down, all the lights in the house went out. The children say the box of tricks in their bedroom burst into flames without warning, and we assume that’s what set furnishings on fire which produced the choking smoke.’

  Manisa thought about it. ‘If I’ve understood you correctly, you think timers were used to start three sets of fires?’

  Bea nodded. ‘And the lights going off.’

  Manisa frowned. ‘It was a very tight schedule. You are suggesting that they all went off within ten or fifteen minutes of one another?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But you don’t think the object was to hospitalize any of the guests, or even to empty the house?’

  ‘The fires setting the curtains alight were not serious arson attacks. Neither was difficult to deal with. Mrs Frost’s broken leg was an accident, likewise not intended.’

  Manisa narrowed her eyes at them. ‘Then you assume that the object of the exercise was … what? To frighten the children, who might well have had Mrs Frost still in the room with them, and therefore wouldn’t have been seriously harmed?’

  ‘Not exactly, no. On Friday night the children stayed up later than usual. It was way past their usual bedtime when they were sent up to bed. I think that the box of tricks was set to explode at a time when they would normally have been tucked up in bed and asleep. In those circumstances, they’d have died in their beds from the effects of the smoke.’

  An indrawn breath from those who hadn’t worked it out already. A nod from William.

  ‘A prank that went wrong?’ said Manisa, in her gentle, unstressed voice.

  ‘I don’t think so. Arson is one thing. A match carelessly dropped. A pile of inflammable material set on fire. The glory of a blazing bonfire. These events are meant to be witnessed by the arsonist, who gets his kick from seeing them happen. A man who uses timers to set fires is something else. He doesn’t want to be there when the fire starts. He can be a hundred miles away, or in the next street. He is a deeply disturbed man. I think the object of this exercise was to provide a distraction to the adults by way of not one but two curtains being set on fire and the lights going out, to be followed by the deaths of the two children.’

  ‘Why?’ said Manisa.

  ‘Money,’ said William. ‘They are two valuable little properties.’

  ‘Or,’ said Bea, ‘they were surplus to requirements in their families.’

  Steve said, ‘Ouch!’

  Manisa looked at each one of them in turn. ‘If that is so, which child do you think was the intended victim?’

  ‘Alicia,’ said William.

  ‘Alicia,’ said Bea.

  ‘Oh my God. My niece?’ said Steve.

  ‘Why?’ asked Manisa.

  ‘Because,’ said Bea, ‘Bernice’s removal doesn’t benefit anyone. Her heirs are in no need of money, and her family – although dysfunctional in some ways – really does care about her.’

  ‘And Alicia?’ said Manisa.

  ‘She’s a sweet little thing,’ said Steve. ‘I must confess, I hardly know her. She’s away at boarding school most of the time and in the holidays she’s stayed with her parents in the country or with friends. Daphne bought a flat in Town when she split with Alaric, but it’s not habitable at the moment, so she moved back into the family home with Alicia recently, as a temporary measure. Mrs Frost made over the old nursery for Alicia, and put two beds in there for when she had her friend to stay in the holidays.’

  ‘Nice big rooms?’

  He nodded, smiling, remembering. ‘Yes, it’s pleasant up there; you can look down on the treetops outside. Mrs Frost had her rooms up there, too. Her own bedroom, en suite, and a sitting room. Alicia had the nursery at the end, which was the biggest; the one Gideon and I slept in as kids.’

  ‘She was tucked away from the rest of the family?’

  ‘It’s true I didn’t see much of her. I’m out early in the morning, don’t get back till late. I hardly see Daphne, even. She’s out every night. Alicia is so quiet when she’s around that I hardly know she’s there.’

  ‘You live at home, too?’

  ‘I have my own flat, but when Dad became unwell some time ago, I rented it out. Those heart attacks frightened him and he liked to feel someone was at hand in the night, if … so I got in the habit of sleeping in the next room to him and leaving my door open. Sometimes in the night I’d get him a drink and we’d sit and chat for a while. I’m going to miss him something chronic.’

  ‘Daphne didn’t share the nursing?’

  That amused him. ‘No, well, Daphne isn’t the sort who … I mean, she comes back so late after an evening out and takes a pill, so … No, she wouldn’t hear him even if …’

  ‘What about her new boyfriend?’

  A shrug. ‘Dad drew the line about his moving in. They plan to move into Daphne’s flat together when it’s ready.’

  ‘So you hardly knew your niece?’

  ‘I suppose not. Look, Daphne did her best but …’ A deep breath. ‘No, you’re right. I’ve been remiss. The child was no trouble, so I’m sorry to say I didn’t concern myself to get to know her.’

  William added, ‘Daphne was not a good mother. My son was not a good father. When Alaric and Daphne married, he adopted Alicia, and the next thing I knew, they’d sent her off to boarding school. Out of their way. I tried to keep in contact with Alicia but … I ought to have tried harder. She didn’t thrive at boarding school till Bernice arrived and made friends with her. Since then Alaric and Daphne have separated and both have taken up with new partners. Neither Giorgio nor Ninette are interested in making a home for Alicia. So, yes, I suppose you could say she is surplus to requirements.’

  A horrid silence.

  Steve gaped. ‘Are you accusing Alaric of setting the house on fire to kill Alicia? That’s ridiculous! What would he get out of it?’

  William was stubborn. ‘That old house of Alaric’s eats money, and his firm is not doing well in the City. Plus Ninette is an expensive little piece. He took Alicia on to please Daphne, and in marrying her you must remember that he was marrying money, which he needed to maintain his lifestyle. Alaric and Daphne both signed pre-nups, so his ancestral home and estate is not affected by the breakup, but he’s lost Daphne’s income now, so he must be feeling the pinch.’

  ‘But Alicia’s death wouldn’t improve Alaric’s finances.’

  ‘Yes, it would. Her boarding school fees are horrendous, and the cost of her further education will still have to be paid by him because, by law, he’s her father and therefore responsible for her upkeep.’

  ‘Come off it,’ said Steve. ‘When Daphne divorces Alaric, there’ll be a different arrangement and he will cease to be responsible for the child.’

  ‘There you’re wrong,’ said William. ‘An adopted father has, to all intents and purposes, exactly the same responsibilities as a birth parent. He will still be liable. I know, because Josh and I both looked into the matter.’

  In the ensuing silence, Manisa coughed. ‘Anyone else want Alicia gone? What about Daphne
herself?’

  That roused Steve. ‘No way. Ridiculous! I can’t believe that you could even think …! I admit she isn’t exactly a hands-on smothering mother type, but she does love her daughter in her own way. How can I explain her to you? She lives in the present, doesn’t think about tomorrow. She’s so pretty, everyone wants to please her; she’s always had men clustering around her, and you can understand why. She lights up the room when she arrives.’

  William said, ‘I don’t know how much longer that will last. Too much Botox, too many cosmetic procedures. And, she conveniently forgets if she’s promised to take Alicia out and something more interesting turns up.’

  Steve was defensive. ‘Daphne’s very popular. I admit she isn’t good with money. Every now and then she comes to me to sort out her finances. It is a bit of a headache, keeping track of what she spends, but she inherited our mother’s portfolio of shares so it’s just a question of making sure she doesn’t do something wildly inappropriate—’

  William interrupted, ‘Such as buying that studio flat for Giorgio and renting a suite in the south of France for the season so that she could invite all her friends to party with her?’

  Steve said, ‘She could afford it, so why not? I admit the renovations at the flat in Chelsea are going to cost a bomb and dividends have been dropping, but she wasn’t running short of caviar and champagne.’

  ‘Ah, but,’ said William, ‘could she afford the gigolo plus caviar plus champagne? I think not. That’s why she was on at Sir Leon during dinner to invest in the gigolo.’

  Steve said, ‘I did warn her that Giorgio might prove an expensive proposition, but she says she has lots of wealthy friends who will be only too pleased to invest in him. I really don’t think that would have been a problem in the long run. Dad said that as long as she was happy … I doubt if Giorgio would have lasted, but I don’t think there’s any harm in him. What you see is what you get. And, has he the brains to think up a plot to kill Alicia? No. He’s a pretty boy. A toy boy.’