Lexi gazed at the fragments of electronic components. ‘I wonder if any of these came from Olga’s or Dmitri’s computer. I’ll get Terabyte to examine everything in the morning. If this was a hurried job — not as thorough as it might have been — there’ll still be some usable bits. By the time Terabyte’s finished, we’ll know more about Gareth Riley Thirteen.’ She looked at the monitor and then followed the line of sight of its tiny camera. She pointed to the wall opposite. ‘Could be where he took your video calls. I’ll check out the background — behind his head — in the recordings. There might be a colour match or a mark that confirms it. Best done in daylight tomorrow. For now …’
‘Yes. More than anything, we need to find him.’
Lexi thought for a moment. ‘You know, a poorly outer could be waiting for my heart. He could be with a patient.’
‘That’d be Ely’s house. But if he knows we’re on to him …’
Lexi shrugged. ‘The basement clinic’s likely to be our main crime scene, so I want to go there anyway.’
‘Okay.’
Before they left, they broke into the side door of the double garage. Once the long strip light had flickered into life, they saw that one half of the space was empty. The rest was occupied by a vintage car under restoration. Troy smiled and said, ‘That’s the reason Sharon Angie bought car parts.’
‘Yeah. Sharon equals Sergio equals Gareth Thirteen.’ Lexi paused before adding, ‘Big expensive house and vintage car. Now we know why he needed money from the transplant trade.’
They arranged for uniformed officers to guard the house and then returned to their own car.
SCENE 28
Even before they got close to Ely Eight’s isolated house, its location was obvious. It was ablaze. Giant flames were clawing at the night sky, replacing the darkness with constantly shifting yellowy-orange streaks. The fire was so fierce that, even before Lexi got out of the car, she suspected arson. It looked as if it had been started with a lot of fuel to cause maximum damage. It was consuming the house hungrily.
Troy and Lexi ran towards the inferno but they were soon brought to a halt by intense heat. Above the roar, Lexi shouted, ‘Look. It’s worst in the basement. That’s probably where it began. I can’t smell any fuel, can you?’
‘No.’
‘If someone splashed it around, it might have all burnt by now. I don’t know how long it’s been going. Quite a while, because the whole house is going up. Amazing.’
‘My guess is it’s an attempt to destroy all evidence of an underground clinic — or at least Gareth’s part in it.’
A downstairs window exploded and flame leapt out angrily. A large part of the roof fell in, sending tiles crashing down.
‘My main crime scene burnt to a crisp,’ Lexi moaned.
Hearing a distant siren, Troy said, ‘Firefighters on their way.’
She shrugged. ‘What’s going to be left?’
Four appliances pulled up outside Ely’s house. The chief dashed towards the detectives and yelled, ‘Is anyone inside?’
‘The owner’s away but we don’t know about anyone else,’ Troy answered. ‘I hope not.’
‘There could be gas cylinders in the basement because it was used as a surgery,’ Lexi told him.
‘Okay. Thanks. Now keep back,’ he ordered. ‘This is our job.’
SCENE 29
Troy lay back in the tilted car seat. His body was tired but his brain would not allow sleep. It galloped along, thinking endlessly about the case and this latest turn of events. Lexi had let go of her mind. It was drifting wherever it wanted to go, like a feather floating on a breeze in a place where nothing happened. She was at rest. When the chief fire officer roused them, Troy was still focused but weary. Lexi was raring to go.
The firefighters had erected a cordon around what remained of Ely’s property. Much of it had been reduced to charcoal. The blackened joists that had once supported the roof were exposed like the bones of a skeleton.
‘What caused it?’ Troy asked the chief.
‘Too early to say, but it wasn’t an accident. It was just too severe. My guess is forensics will find an accelerant.’
‘I need to get into the basement,’ Lexi said.
‘No. It’s too dangerous.’
‘But …’
‘I’m overruling you,’ the chief firefighter said. ‘I don’t want any more casualties.’
‘Any more?’ Troy queried.
He nodded. ‘There’s a body in the basement. Well, I say body but there’s not a lot left.’
Troy and Lexi glanced at each other.
‘Your officers have been inside, then. So, I’m going in, as well,’ Lexi insisted.
‘They’ve got the right clothing and a lot of training.’
Lexi held out her arms. ‘Bet you’ve got a spare set of gear that’ll fit me.’
‘But I haven’t got a couple of years to train you.’
‘Come in with me,’ she replied. Putting a hand on her life-logger, she added, ‘I need to record this body and I’m hoping there’s still a bit of equipment I can measure.’
‘Nothing’s safe in there. Not even the walls.’
‘That makes it doubly important I get in now. It might have collapsed before we can get forensic fire specialists in.’
‘Well …’
‘This is a multiple murder investigation. We might have the culprit in there — a casualty of his own crime — or another victim.’
‘All right. Against my better judgement.’
While the chief helped Lexi into protective clothing, she said to Troy, ‘I reckon it’s Sergio Treize. He knew we were onto him and he chose not to get caught and prosecuted. He stayed in there deliberately, taking a way out that’s familiar to someone in charge of a suicide chat room.’
‘Mmm.’ Troy tapped at the keypad of his life-logger. ‘Maybe.’
‘I’m giving us three minutes at most,’ the chief said to her. ‘We go in, you video what you want, and we’re back out. Understand? You do exactly what I say. No arguments. No lingering.’
‘Okay.’
Troy watched his partner, weighed down by firefighting gear and breathing apparatus, trudging awkwardly beside the chief. Both of them scouted out a route by torchlight. Troy couldn’t fault her dedication and bravery. He hoped that her recklessness would not get her into trouble. He prayed that the walls would remain upright for another three minutes.
Lexi and the chief firefighter emerged from the wreck after three and a half minutes.
While Lexi cast aside the safety gear, like an insect struggling to shed its cocoon, she said, ‘I’ve got what I want. The body’s got big feet, too burnt to get an accurate measure or to decide if it’s an outer. I got some tissue to test, though. But the big news is a gurney. That’s the other thing I went in for. Its metal frame’s a bit warped but I still got an accurate fix on the wheelbase. Fifty-two centimetres. Exactly the same as the tracks in the field by the bodies.’
Troy nodded. ‘Good work. And you’re still alive as well.’
She smiled. ‘That’s an added bonus.’ Handing the breathing apparatus to one of the crew, she said, ‘Actually, I like dressing up. And excitement. I’ve always fancied being a firefighter.’ She inhaled the air, polluted by the powerful whiff of combustion products. ‘We’ll see, but I think this case is all over. I reckon Sergio took the easy way out.’
Hesitating, Troy muttered, ‘That’d be convenient. But …’