Chapter 12

School seemed to drag interminably the next day and I’m sure most of the lessons passed over my head, but eventually it was over and I made my way to the shopping centre where I bought a cup of tea to kill some time. At twenty to five I started the half mile walk to the Fire Station, arriving just before five.

There was a Reception of sorts, but no-one appeared to be on duty. “Hello?” I called out.

“Hi, can I help you?” said a fireman from behind me.

“I’m here to see Tim, if he’s available.”

“I’ll get him for you if he’s free.”

By happy coincidence, Shona and Tim arrived at the same time, albeit from different directions.

“Is there somewhere private we can talk?” I asked.

“There’s a couple of meeting rooms upstairs. They shouldn’t be booked at this time,” said Tim. He led us upstairs and into a plain but functional room with a table and chairs.

“Does anyone want tea or coffee?” Tim asked. “We don’t do refreshments as a rule but I can scrounge something from our Break Room.”

“I’m fine,” I said. “Besides, since you’re on standby, we’d probably better dive straight in.”

Shona nodded her agreement.

“Shona said you might have something,” said Tim.

I took out the map and placed it on the table between us. “I think that might be the house where the perps took Cathy?”

“What evidence do you have?” asked Tim.

“That’s where it gets dicey,” I admitted. “Nothing that would stand up in court.” I took out the sheet of paper with the names and address. “According to property records, it’s owned by James Hallom, but he’s on record as dying fifteen years ago. There are currently two people living there, Joseph and Joshua Hallom, his sons. I think it likely they’re the bastards who raped your sister.

“I think I’ve reached the limit on what I can do on my own. The next step is to get photographs of the brothers for Cathy to identify. Any ideas?”

“I have to admit I’m very sceptical about all this,” said Tim. “I don’t see any way you could have arrived at this from the information Cathy gave you.”

“Trust me, what he does seems to work,” said Shona. “Mitch tracked down my grandma’s sister even though she changed her last name when she got married.”

“I suppose if Shona could identify them, that would constitute sufficient evidence,” mused Tim. “I have an idea that might work. We have a Fire Prevention Officer doing the rounds on that side of town. He visits private homes doing free fire safety assessments and installing smoke alarms for the elderly et cetera. That far out of town is way beyond his catchment but he owes me a favour. He could call round, ask if the occupants wanted a fire safety assessment, and secretly photograph them while he’s doing it.”