The Fire Killer (The DI Barton Series) by Ross Greenwood

Author:Ross Greenwood [Greenwood, Ross]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2022-05-29T16:00:00+00:00

39

DI BARTON

Barton raised a hand for Zander, who was following behind, to stand still, then pointed at the ground. Zander nodded. They both took a deep breath and stepped inside the house.

‘Garth Henson!’ shouted Zander. ‘We’re walking into the rear of your property.’

The men paused. There was the sound of subdued talking coming from the front of the house. They stepped into the lounge. Barton gestured to the right of the sofa, where a laptop had been knocked over. There was a cup on its side on the floor, with a big puddle of coffee around it.

‘Doesn’t look good,’ whispered Zander.

Barton was staring at the coffee table, which had a credit card, a furled-up ten-pound note, and a smattering of white powder on it. He shook his head once, but the time for caution had passed. He strode towards the kitchen, making a loudhailer with his hands.

‘Mr Henson, we’re entering the kitchen. Shout out if you can’t move. Let us know if you’re upstairs.’

Barton put his hand on the door handle. It was times like this that he couldn’t help thinking of American police. They must expect someone to be holding a gun every time they approached a door. Still, kitchens had knives, so he opened the door a crack, then gave it a shove while stepping back and crouching. A Boney M song began playing quietly on the radio in the empty room. Once they were sure there was no one downstairs, the two detectives went upstairs, but after a thorough search it was soon clear that the house was uninhabited.

Back downstairs, Barton crouched and touched the underneath of the coffee cup, nodding to confirm it was still warm. Barton felt a presence behind him and spun around. There was a tall figure standing in the rear doorway.

‘Hey, man. Is everything cool?’

It was Clive McBride from next door. Barton recovered fast.

‘Yes, why do you ask?’

‘I was cleaning upstairs and heard a van pull up. I thought it was my Amazon delivery, so I glanced outside, but the two blokes in it came to Garth’s. I didn’t think any more of it, but a minute later, the van pulled off fast, you know, screeching, so I looked out the window again. They left in a real rush, man. And then I saw you guys turn up.’

‘Okay, can you go out to the garden for a moment? And please don’t touch anything.’

Barton and Zander followed him outside.

‘Tell me about the people and the van. Describe them.’

‘The van was just a regular Sprinter, white. Sorry, I know that’s not very helpful.’

‘And the men?’

‘They both had peaked caps on and blue medical masks, which covered their faces, so I’ve no idea, but they were big. Not tall, but wide. Blue jeans and black bomber jacket on one, jeans and white T-shirt on the other.’

‘As you say, that’s not massively helpful,’ said Barton.

McBride raised both eyebrows.

‘Remember my shed.’

Barton twigged that it was the same description that McBride had given them of the man who’d wrecked his shed.

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