even suggest that I would have done anything to hurt Dinah.”
Jack nodded. And despite the raised finger, the bite to Ollie’s words, he also felt something else.
After all these years, Ollie still had feelings for his girlfriend from long ago. And now Jack also doubted that Ollie had ended that relationship willingly.
Could he have been so in love with Dinah that … somehow something bad could have happened?
Didn’t seem likely — but it had to remain a possibility.
Jack had only one more question for the assistant plumber.
“One more thing that seems — well — strange to me,”
Ollie … a bit calmed down now … nodded.
“Dinah had big plans, as you say. Didn’t see herself maybe in this small village, someone’s wife.”
Another nod.
“So — why would she go out with Tim Bell? I mean, he didn’t seem like university material. It … it doesn’t make sense, does it?”
A sad smile from Ollie.
“You see, I’m with you there, Mr Brennan. But as much as Dinah wanted to get out of Cherringham, she also had someone trying to control her, someone who maybe wanted her to settle here more than even I did.”
Jack nodded.
Then: “Let me guess … her father?”
“Her mother, too. Both of them trying to control their ‘star pupil.’ So you ask me why she would go out with a Tim Bell? What’s that you Americans say, Mr Brennan? ‘Do the math’?”
“To get back at them?”
“Yeah. Absolutely. Dinah had that in her, too. Feeling them trying to control her and her wanting to let them know that was never … ever … going to happen. Not to her.”
And what Ollie said made Jack think differently about Vincent Taylor. Could all his anger, his hatred towards Tim Bell, also reflect the fact that he was — in some tragic way — responsible?
He wouldn’t be the first parent to make his daughter do something foolish. Something dangerous.
Jack stood up.
“Thanks for talking, Ollie.”
“He’s the bastard that did it, Mr Brennan.”
“Maybe,” Jack said. “Could very well be. But—”
And then Jack heard the squeal of a siren. Then another. Coming from a different direction. Police? Fire? Ambulance? All three?
A rare event in Cherringham, and Jack’s gut told him that he’d better see where all those sirens were converging.
“I’m going to run, Ollie …”
And Jack meant that literally, as he raced out of the lot, into the shop, and past Pete Bull — standing at the door — just as a fire engine raced by, a blur of red and yellow, siren screaming.
*
Jack got to his Sprite and hopped in just in time to see the fire engine turn … where he most feared it would turn.
Down Gibraltar Terrace.
A quick check of the rear-view mirror, and he pulled out, telling himself that he knew something would happen, and now it had.
And when he took the sharp turn on the road that led to Tim Bell’s house — he saw the fire engine stopped.
Firemen racing around, the hose already uncoiled.
Alan Rivers’ police car was parked on the other side of the road, lights flashing as Alan stood out on the street ready to keep any crowds away.
But that was the strange thing.
Fire on the street — but there was no crowd out watching.
No one.
Not, Jack guessed, when anyone standing by could be accused of having set the roaring fire that now blazed on the front of Bell’s house.
Jack stopped well away, got out, and walked quickly over to the house.
It looked as if someone had covered the mailbox and post with kerosene, gasoline … some accelerant that made the fire give off dark smudgy smoke that alternated with the steady, long licks of bright orange flame shooting up to the sky.
Not a fire to destroy the place.
But a warning.
And the people on this street? Probably looking at the blaze from inside their homes, pulling aside the curtains.
Peeking.
Just as Jack reached the scene, he saw Bell standing outside his house watching the team of firemen shoot water on the fire. Even the chief
Jack nodded. And despite the raised finger, the bite to Ollie’s words, he also felt something else.
After all these years, Ollie still had feelings for his girlfriend from long ago. And now Jack also doubted that Ollie had ended that relationship willingly.
Could he have been so in love with Dinah that … somehow something bad could have happened?
Didn’t seem likely — but it had to remain a possibility.
Jack had only one more question for the assistant plumber.
“One more thing that seems — well — strange to me,”
Ollie … a bit calmed down now … nodded.
“Dinah had big plans, as you say. Didn’t see herself maybe in this small village, someone’s wife.”
Another nod.
“So — why would she go out with Tim Bell? I mean, he didn’t seem like university material. It … it doesn’t make sense, does it?”
A sad smile from Ollie.
“You see, I’m with you there, Mr Brennan. But as much as Dinah wanted to get out of Cherringham, she also had someone trying to control her, someone who maybe wanted her to settle here more than even I did.”
Jack nodded.
Then: “Let me guess … her father?”
“Her mother, too. Both of them trying to control their ‘star pupil.’ So you ask me why she would go out with a Tim Bell? What’s that you Americans say, Mr Brennan? ‘Do the math’?”
“To get back at them?”
“Yeah. Absolutely. Dinah had that in her, too. Feeling them trying to control her and her wanting to let them know that was never … ever … going to happen. Not to her.”
And what Ollie said made Jack think differently about Vincent Taylor. Could all his anger, his hatred towards Tim Bell, also reflect the fact that he was — in some tragic way — responsible?
He wouldn’t be the first parent to make his daughter do something foolish. Something dangerous.
Jack stood up.
“Thanks for talking, Ollie.”
“He’s the bastard that did it, Mr Brennan.”
“Maybe,” Jack said. “Could very well be. But—”
And then Jack heard the squeal of a siren. Then another. Coming from a different direction. Police? Fire? Ambulance? All three?
A rare event in Cherringham, and Jack’s gut told him that he’d better see where all those sirens were converging.
“I’m going to run, Ollie …”
And Jack meant that literally, as he raced out of the lot, into the shop, and past Pete Bull — standing at the door — just as a fire engine raced by, a blur of red and yellow, siren screaming.
*
Jack got to his Sprite and hopped in just in time to see the fire engine turn … where he most feared it would turn.
Down Gibraltar Terrace.
A quick check of the rear-view mirror, and he pulled out, telling himself that he knew something would happen, and now it had.
And when he took the sharp turn on the road that led to Tim Bell’s house — he saw the fire engine stopped.
Firemen racing around, the hose already uncoiled.
Alan Rivers’ police car was parked on the other side of the road, lights flashing as Alan stood out on the street ready to keep any crowds away.
But that was the strange thing.
Fire on the street — but there was no crowd out watching.
No one.
Not, Jack guessed, when anyone standing by could be accused of having set the roaring fire that now blazed on the front of Bell’s house.
Jack stopped well away, got out, and walked quickly over to the house.
It looked as if someone had covered the mailbox and post with kerosene, gasoline … some accelerant that made the fire give off dark smudgy smoke that alternated with the steady, long licks of bright orange flame shooting up to the sky.
Not a fire to destroy the place.
But a warning.
And the people on this street? Probably looking at the blaze from inside their homes, pulling aside the curtains.
Peeking.
Just as Jack reached the scene, he saw Bell standing outside his house watching the team of firemen shoot water on the fire. Even the chief
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