Free Smoke Alarm by Priscilla Masters

to date with the investigation into the Melverley fire.’
    â€˜That’s very thoughtful of you, Alex. Thank you. I was wondering if you’d found anything out.’
    â€˜Well, not a lot so far,’ he confessed. ‘That’s why I didn’t ring earlier. I’ve been at the hospital.’
    â€˜How is Jude?’
    â€˜
Physically
the doctors say he’ll be OK,’ he began.
    Martha picked up on the implication. ‘But mentally?’
    â€˜He’s devastated. Got real survivor complex, feeling guilty he didn’t wake and raise the alarm – that he saved himself, but left them in the burning house and failed to rescue them.’
    â€˜Poor boy.’
    Alex continued: ‘I don’t think we’d quite realized how traumatic his descent on the ladder was. He was terrified the rope would burn and he’d fall. It must have been dreadful.’
    â€˜Yes,’ she agreed.
    â€˜And that’s on top of the burns to his hands. The doctors have told me he may need skin grafts but they haven’t told him yet. His father knows.’
    â€˜Has Mr Barton been able to throw any light on the arson?’
    â€˜He’s given us one or two leads but they seemed pretty feeble – business associates, a boy that Adelaide was involved with who came from a fairly unsavoury family, stuff like that. Nothing that really grabbed me.’
    â€˜Did you run the idea past Nigel that his father might have started the fire? Did you tell him you’d found a lighter in William’s dressing-gown pocket?’
    â€˜No, I didn’t tell him about the lighter. I thought he had more than enough to take in. I did mention the previous fire to him. He insists it was just an accident. And he definitely doesn’t see his father as some sort of avenging arsonist.’
    â€˜And how did he respond when you told him that his wife and daughter had been locked into their rooms?’
    â€˜He absolutely insisted it must have been an accident.’ Randall paused. ‘He couldn’t believe anyone would do such a thing deliberately, let alone his father. He said his father could be quite confused. He ventured the explanation that when his father woke to the fire he might have been trying to help the women out of their rooms and accidentally locked them in instead.’
    â€˜I could maybe swallow that one if only one door had been locked. But not both.’
    â€˜Well, he describes him as nicely muddled.’
    â€˜Two locked doors,’ Martha said. ‘That’s not muddled coincidence. It’s deliberate.’
    â€˜Mmm.’ Randall’s response was non-committal.
    â€˜And how did Mr Barton respond to his son descending by a rope ladder?’
    â€˜He couldn’t keep the admiration out of his voice. He’s very proud of Jude – and the fact that he tried to save the rest of the family. He thinks the boy’s a hero.’
    â€˜Which I suppose he is,’ Martha said slowly. Then she added, ‘What was your impression of the dynamics of the family?’
    Alex didn’t answer straight away. It took him a minute or two to come up with a response so the line was quiet. ‘It’s hard to say, Martha, with such a tragedy. I mean, I’ve never met Barton senior, Christie or Adelaide. But there’s no doubt of the affection between father and son.’ He paused, frowning before finishing. ‘Perhaps by spending time with Jude and his father I might learn a bit more about the rest of the family.’
    â€˜What’s your instinct, Alex?’ She couldn’t resist pressing him.
    On the other end of the line, Alex laughed. ‘I had the feeling you were going to spring something like that on me. I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I really don’t know. It’s early days yet. So far I’m a bit flummoxed. Initially I believed it was a random arson attack. For no particular reason Melverley