He didn’t dare look at his hand; he was just grateful it hadn’t been his right hand. He didn’t hear Amy request an ambulance for him; if he had he would have made her cancel it. He stared at the cardboard folder and prayed it was the one missing from the newspaper office. No one could touch it until CSI got there. He wouldn’t risk compromising any possible forensics. He wanted Barker behind bars for the rest of his life and then some.
His phone was vibrating in his pocket, but he couldn’t answer it as his good hand was covered in water. Then Amy’s phone began to ring and she walked away to speak where he couldn’t hear her.
‘What happened, who needs an ambulance?’
Morgan’s voice was breathless and high-pitched.
‘It’s okay, it’s Ben. He burned his hand. It’s not serious. Barker is in cuffs; he was burning what looks like evidence.’
‘I was so scared one of you had been hurt, then I realised it couldn’t be you because you sounded okay on the radio.’
‘Yeah, well he’s acting all big and hard. He doesn’t know I’ve asked for an ambulance so don’t tell him it was me.’
‘I won’t. Thanks, Amy, I’m glad you got him and are okay.’
‘See you back at the nick. Ben is going to need to go to A&E, but I’m not arguing with him. Unless you want to meet him there. You can’t come here, though, because you might cross-contaminate the scene and then everything will have been a waste of time.’
Amy turned around to see that Ben was grimacing.
She walked back towards him. ‘Anything I can do?’
He shook his head. ‘Remind me not to be an idiot in future.’
She laughed. ‘Not sure about that, for some people it comes natural.’
Sirens echoed in the distance and she turned away.
‘Amy you didn’t; please tell me that’s not for me?’
‘I didn’t, it’s probably for someone else.’
He could tell by the way she was avoiding eye contact that she had requested an ambulance despite his request not to. He wasn’t going to tell her this, but he was relieved. He didn’t want his hand to drop off and it didn’t seem quite so dramatic if he hadn’t asked for it.
It wasn’t an ambulance but a car. The paramedic got out, grabbing the heavy kit bag from the back seat. He came walking towards him.
‘So, what have we got here?’
Amy spoke for him. ‘He stuck his hand in a blazing fire pit to retrieve some evidence.’
The paramedic nodded. ‘Good effort, I like it. That’s what you call dedication. Let me get this wrapped up; an ambulance is on its way to take you to hospital.’
‘No, thanks. I mean, yes please, get it wrapped up. I’ll make my own way there. I’m not wasting your time.’
‘You sure? I can take you in my car if you want.’
‘Positive, thanks.’
He gave him his hand, his mind wandering as he stared into the distance. Greg Barker had all this: land, a beautiful house, money and what good was it to him? None at all, because where he was going he would be lucky to ever see freedom again and that suited Ben just fine.
Fifty-Five
Morgan wanted to go and see how Ben was, but she knew he’d be annoyed with her. Amy was with him and she would ring her if she needed her. It was late; it had been one long day. She watched as the tow-truck driver lifted the car onto the back of the low-loader to be taken to the big warehouse, where it would be stored until it was forensically examined. They hadn’t turned up anything else of any evidential value and she wondered why he had come here last night. Maybe he’d come to retrieve the newspaper clippings so he could take them home and dispose of them. Whatever it was, they had him now; hopefully there was enough evidence to secure a conviction. There was nothing left for her to do. She didn’t even have a lift back to the station. She’d offered to wait for the vehicle recovery to get here; the other officers hadn’t had to be told twice and left her there, freezing, without a car to sit in. It had started to rain an hour ago, fine drizzle at first but it was typical that now as she set off walking it was getting heavier and she was going to be soaked through in a matter of minutes.
A car pulled up behind her. She turned around and