‘No one on Darwin Street would consider themselves to be living in the Shrubs,’ said Cooper. ‘These things are important to people.’

Before they left, Cooper saw that two bin liners full of clothes had also been brought back from the Mullens’ house by the SOCOs for examination, though no one seemed to have any idea what they were expecting to find. Sometimes they took protect and preserve a bit too far.

‘Oh, you’re back,’ said Brian Mullen when they entered his room at the hospital. His voice sounded a bit better now, but for a slight tendency to squeak on the last syllable of a sentence.

‘Sorry to bother you again, sir,’ said Fry. ‘This is my colleague, DC Cooper.’

‘Do you have some information?’

‘Sorry?’

‘You said you’d keep me informed.’

‘Oh, yes. Well, I’m afraid it’s still early days yet. But I do have a few more questions.’

‘Questions again?’

‘I’m trying to get things straight in my mind. To clarify what happened the night your family died. Is that all right, sir?’

He lay back wearily. ‘I suppose so. As long as I can get out of here.’

Fry opened her notebook. ‘According to what you told me previously, you arrived home at about one thirty after your taxi dropped you off at the corner of Darwin Street. You saw the fire, but didn’t realize it was your own house until you were closer.’

‘That’s right.’

‘Who did you say you were out with, by the way?’

He was distracted by the question, which was what she wanted.

‘One of my mates, Jed Skinner. I work with him at the distribution centre.’

‘Oh, you’re a despatch manager, aren’t you?’

‘That’s right. Jed’s in the transport department.’

‘Just one mate, was it?’

‘Eh?’

‘Just you and Jed out for the night?’

‘Yes, like I said.’

Fry looked at her notebook. ‘You told me you were “out with mates”. That’s “mates”, plural.’

‘Well, I might have said that.’

‘Why?’

‘Look, we were in the pub first off – the Forester’s Arms. I know a lot of people in there, I’m a regular. So I was with lots of mates then.’

‘But only Jed at the Broken Wheel?’

‘Like I said.’

‘You went there alone, the two of you? And you left together, just the two of you again?’

‘Yes.’

‘And that was just after one. So the next person you spoke to must have been the taxi driver. And then there was your neighbour, Mr Wade. Shortly after that, you ran into the house, then the firefighters pulled you back out.’

‘I’ve told you all this. For God’s sake –’

Mullen controlled his burst of anger, then raised his still bandaged hands, as if presenting the evidence.

‘And you can’t remember what you burned yourself on, Mr Mullen?’

‘I told you, it was the banister rail. It must have been that, because it was the only thing I touched.’

‘Ah, yes. And it’s made of wood, so it would have been burning, or at least smouldering. But the banister rail is only on one side of the stairs – the other side is a blank wall. Would you have touched the banisters with both hands?’

‘I must have done.’

Mullen held up his hands again, as if he thought she couldn’t see them. The facts were indisputable, he seemed to say.

Fry wished she could have taken swabs from his hands to test for traces of accelerant on his skin, but she had no evidence to push it so far. And it was too late now anyway.

‘Look, maybe I panicked and touched it with the other hand on the way down,’ said Mullen.

‘It’s possible.’

‘Of course it is.’

‘And you didn’t go into any of the rooms downstairs?’ asked Fry. ‘The sitting room, for example?’

‘No. Why would I do that? Like I told you yesterday, I knew my family would be in bed at that hour.’

‘We believe the fire started in the sitting room. It must have been obvious when you entered the house that the smoke was coming from there. Are you quite sure you didn’t go into the sitting room, or even touch the sitting-room door?’

‘Yes, I’m sure.’

Mullen was starting to look sulky and irritable. Fry gave Cooper a look that told him to take over for a while.

‘Do you smoke, sir?’ asked Cooper.

‘No.’

‘What about your wife? I’m sorry to ask –’

‘No, Lindsay didn’t smoke either. I can see what you’re driving at, but we both agreed not to smoke a long time ago, for the sake of the kids. Passive smoking is very damaging to young children. Their air passages are so small they breathe in far more smoke than an adult would.’

‘I see. What about other members of your family?’

‘There’s only John who’s ever smoked. But he knows not to when he’s in our house …’

‘… for the sake of the kids, yes,’ said Fry.

Cooper consulted the notes Fry had given him. ‘John? That would be John Lowther, your brother-in-law?’

‘Yes.’

Fry noticed a nurse hovering in the background. ‘We’ll let you rest now, Mr Mullen. I realize you’ve had a terrible ordeal, and we appreciate your time and co-operation.’

‘It’s OK. Obviously, I want to help. I mean, it was my wife and kids who got killed in that fire. If some bastard –’

Fry stood up. ‘I understand. Well, until we speak again, Mr Mullen, I’d like you to see if you can remember who else you spoke to that night at the Forester’s Arms and at the Broken Wheel, and the names of everyone who was there that you knew.’

‘What?’

‘Well, think about it, sir. If that fire was started deliberately, it might have been done by someone who knew that you’d be out of the house at the time. Someone who’d seen you partying at the Broken Wheel with your friend Jed, perhaps.’

Mullen nodded silently.

‘Still can’t think of anyone?’

‘No.’

‘Well, we’ll keep making enquiries.’

‘You’ve talked to Henry and Moira as well, haven’t you?’

‘Yes, I visited them the day before yesterday.’

‘Why did you have to bother them? They’re devastated about Lindsay and the children. We all are.’

‘There might be some detail that Mr and Mrs Lowther have noticed. A person they’ve seen near your house, for example.’

Mullen’s expression darkened further. ‘You’re not letting go of this idea that the fire was started deliberately?’

‘No, we’re not letting go of it, Mr Mullen,’ said Fry. ‘Is there some reason that you think we should?’

‘I just don’t see how it’s possible.’

‘We’ll know that better when we get the results of the forensic examination.’

His shoulders sagged at the mention of forensics. Sometimes, the word seemed to carry a symbolic power, as if it was a scientific magic that human beings were helpless to challenge. And perhaps that was right. Forensic evidence could kick-start a process that was impossible to stop until the criminal justice juggernaut had crushed everyone in its way.

‘Leave me alone,’ he said. ‘Leave us alone. Someone has got to look after Luanne.’

‘I thought you were a bit rough on Mr Mullen,’ said Cooper as they left the hospital and walked to the car park.

‘Yes, I was. And wouldn’t you have expected him to complain a bit more?’

‘But if he had complained more, then you’d be saying he protested too much, and that was a sure sign of guilt.’

Fry laughed. ‘Look, you know the husband is by far the likeliest candidate in a case like this.’

‘Statistically speaking, yes.’

‘So we have to look at him thoroughly. There shouldn’t be any question of letting him get away with conflicting statements, just because he’s supposed to be the grieving husband.’

‘Conflicting statements?’

‘Yes, like when “out with mates” suddenly becomes just one mate when he’s pressed. It sounds to me as if good old Jed is the only mate Mr Mullen actually had lined up for an alibi. He had to change his story when he was asked for names. Not enough attention to detail, you see.’

‘Diane, you’ve got him well and truly in the frame already, haven’t you?’