Evan and Elle - By Rhys Bowen Page 0,27
shoulder. “You get a good night’s sleep. I’d imagine they’ve got rooms here, haven’t they, Evans?”
“Oh yes, Sarge. I don’t suppose they’re fully booked at this time of year. I’ll go and find out.”
“There you are, then,” Watkins said, patting Madame Yvette on the shoulder. “Constable Evans is going to arrange for you to stay here tonight. We won’t disturb you anymore. We’ll come back in the morning.” He motioned for Evan to follow him.
The fire had died down to a dull glow as they walked back together. Their footsteps echoed in the clear night air.
“If it was as she suspects,” Evan began, “then they’ve gone one step further.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean they’ve always been careful to target empty buildings before.”
“Either that, or we’re not dealing with the same perpetrators,” Watkins suggested. “This might be some kind of private vendetta. What do you know about this Madame Yvette?”
“Almost nothing,” Evan said. “She just arrived here about a month ago. I know she was married and her husband died, and they once had a restaurant in the South of England. And I know she went to the Cordon Bleu school in Paris. That’s about it.”
“Where have you two been?” Potter demanded as they approached the smoldering remains.
“Interviewing the owner of the building,” Watkins said. “Needed help, did you?”
“There’s not much I can do until I can get inside and take samples,” Potter said. “But from what I can see, I’m inclined to suspect we’re not dealing with the same serial arsonist. It wasn’t the same method, for one thing. This fire started at the back of the building. The front door was almost untouched.”
“The kitchen was at the back,” Evan pointed out.
“Which makes me wonder if it wasn’t just a simple accident,” Potter said. “Maybe she went to bed and left the gas on. Maybe tea towels were drying over the fire and one of them fell down. It happens all the time.”
“Only this was a very modern kitchen,” Evan said. “I didn’t see any kind of open fire.”
“So—there are plenty of other ways. She could have left a pan of fat cooking. She could have been smoking a cigarette. Anyway, we’ll know for sure in daylight. In the meantime, Constable, I want you to get a list of everyone who was in the crowd tonight. Compare it to the two previous crowds. If anyone was in all three, I want them fingerprinted. Got it?”
“Yes, Sarge,” Evan said.
“Oh, and Constable. I want you to remain on duty here until I can get a bloke sent up from HQ to stand guard tonight. We don’t want to find trespassers have been mucking it up.”
“Right you are, Sarge.”
“Bloody little Hitler,” Watkins muttered as Potter went back to his car. “Who does he think he is?”
Evan grinned. “God?” he suggested.
Watkins clapped him on the shoulder. “See you in the morning then, boyo. I’ll get on the phone and make sure you’re not stuck up here too long.”
“Thanks.” Evan smiled grimly. “I suppose I better get started on those statements, then.” He pulled out his notebook and approached the nearest members of the crowd. The fire was now more or less out but a thick, cloying smoke hung in the air. People were already moving away to their homes. Evan yelled for everyone to stay put. He started with Mr. Gruffudd from the Gegin Fawr. The man still looked quite shaken. He’d been drinking in the bar at the Vaynol when someone had come in to say the restaurant was on fire. Several men from the village had been there with him all evening—Evan got their names.
As he worked his way around the crowd he almost bumped into a bicycle.
“Terry?” Evan grabbed at the handlebars. The young boy looked alarmed, then managed a grin. “Hello, Mr. Evans. I got here too late this time. Pity they already put it out. Was it a big blaze like the others?”
“Pretty big,” Evan told him, “but what are you doing out in the middle of the night? Does your mother know?”
A look of scorn crossed his face. “Of course not. I always sneak out down the drainpipe. I heard the fire engine, see, so I came to take a look. Have you found out who did it yet?”
“Not yet and don’t go anywhere,” Evan said firmly. “I’ve just got to get some names and addresses then I’m driving you home as soon as my replacement gets here.”
Chapter 10
Next morning, when Evan’s alarm woke him just before seven,