A Time To Pay by David Woods

Author:David Woods [Woods, David]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Publisher: create space
Published: 2014-07-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Jan had just got off to sleep when the telephone rang. He nearly fell down the stairs when on answering it, a policeman informed him of the disaster and asked him to get to the scene as soon as possible. He said that Van Hagen had already been informed and would meet him on site. He pulled on some clothes and rushed to his car, driving as fast as he could to the site. The glow of the blaze was visible half a mile away and immediately thoughts raced through his mind. How would they manage to run the company? Would the insurance cover them and how did the fire start?

The answer to the last question suddenly struck him and he shouted at the top of his voice “That bastard, Venk.”

Ben was talking to a fireman when he saw Jan arrive and ran across. “It’s too late. The whole of the office block is gutted.”

“So I see.” They watched as firemen poured water over the outer walls and through the windows, but it was obvious there was nothing left to save. Another fire crew was damping down the service bay and the lorry standing outside.

A fireman walked across to them, shrugged his shoulders and frowned. “All we can do is confine the fire to the office building, and save the rest.”

“Any idea how it started?” Jan asked.

“We don’t know yet, but there’ll be an investigation.”

A police officer joined them and asked questions about the possibility of an electric fire being left on, and was the wiring up to standard? Ben answered all the questions to his satisfaction and then asked. “Is the possibility of a break- in being considered?”

“It will be looked into, but of course very little evidence is left after a fire of this intensity.” He left, carrying a powerful torch to examine the outer fence.

Ben and Jan stood alone and completely numbed. The years of hard work they had put in to create the company, and here they were watching part of their achievement crumble before them, making them feel angry and despondent. Ben spoke first. “I must go and ring Caroline. She will be very worried.”

“Of course. I will talk to that policeman.”

Caroline was extremely upset on hearing the extent of the damage and was anxious to view the scene herself, but her husband convinced her to stay with the baby and wait until morning.

Jan found the policeman looking at a gap at the end of the fence. “The area was shaded from the moonlight and a person could work on the fence without being seen.” He said as soon as he saw Jan approaching. “Have you noticed this hole in the fence before?”

“No I haven’t. And I checked this fence only yesterday.”

“Oh. Why would you do that? Were you anticipating trouble?”

“No, but I check the fence regularly in case the local boys are tempted to tamper with our lorries.”

The policeman resumed his careful examination with Jan looking on. “The fence has been unfastened at the end and not cut.

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