Karen Crow looked mildly surprised. ‘I’m not sure I am the right person to ask,’ she said.
Bella realised that her switch from stunned grief to business-like practical must have seemed excessively quick.
‘I just thought, well, whilst I was here...’ she began, in a lame attempt at explanation.
‘But, in there?’ Dr Crow queried, turning to look again at the crumbling ruins which were all that remained of Blackdown Manor. ‘Papers? I’m no expert on that sort of thing, but I don’t see how anything like that could have survived the fire which consumed this place.’
‘Blackdown has, or rather it had, a huge cellar,’ Bella began to explain. ‘My father, many years ago, further excavated it and installed an underground indoor swimming pool complex. He turned the other part of the cellar into a specialised storage room. Blackdown held many irreplaceable treasures, and whilst I am sure almost all will have been tragically lost, there is just a chance there could be some pieces, perhaps paintings, in that storeroom which may be retrievable. Also, the papers I mentioned. You know about the family bank, I’m sure, Miss Crow. Well, can you imagine the records that have been accumulated over the years? Much has no bearing at all on the modern Fairbrother’s, but it almost all has tremendous historical value, and then there are the papers which we do really need. I am trying to help the board continue to run the bank in the manner that my father would have done were he still alive.’
‘And you really think this storage room could have survived?’
‘I’m hoping so,’ replied Bella Fairbrother. ‘It was lead lined, and all the storage containers were made of protective materials. The idea was that the room and its precious contents would be protected against any eventuality, including, and perhaps particularly fire. My father also said that it would survive a nuclear attack.’
Bella laughed briefly, an almost involuntary half-strangled little sound. She had no idea why. There wasn’t anything very funny about the prospect of a nuclear attack, nor the grim reality of the terrible scene which lay before her.
‘Well, you’ll need to speak to CSI and the fire investigators about that,’ said Karen Crow. ‘But whatever they tell you and whatever the condition of the papers in that storeroom, you can only be given permission for access by the police investigation team. The place is a crime scene and I personally have no idea how long it is likely to remain so...’ She stopped abruptly. ‘There’s John Michaels, he’s the head honcho fire investigator.’
Karen waved to attract the man’s attention, then made a beckoning motion with her fingers. Obediently Michaels approached. The pathologist made the necessary introductions, and Bella explained about the storeroom and her desire to gain access to its contents.
‘Ah yes, I think we’ve found the storeroom, or what’s left of it,’ he said. ‘But in spite of its construction there is substantial damage. After all, the entire underground area, the pool complex and the storeroom had thousands of tons of burning rubble collapse onto it and then the fire boys blasted it with thousands of gallons of water. The pool area is completely destroyed, the roof caved in, you wouldn’t even know there’d ever been a pool there if you hadn’t been told. As for the storeroom, I assume you know it was lead lined and bolstered by heavy duty steel beams...?’
Bells nodded quickly in agreement.
‘Well, because of its construction it has not been completely destroyed,’ Michaels continued. ‘But the roof has partially caved in, pretty inevitable under these circumstances, and there must be considerable water damage inside, so if it’s paperwork you’re looking for, well, I wouldn’t be too optimistic—’
‘My father said his storeroom would withstand a nuclear attack,’ interrupted Bella, repeating what she had just told Karen Crow. ‘All my father’s papers, both personal, and the bank records which I am particularly interested in, were stored within that room. He had moved almost everything here, where he was convinced it would be safe in almost any eventuality.’
‘Well, we shall have to see,’ said John Michaels.
‘But it looks like he got it wrong,’ Bella continued in little more than a mutter.
John Michaels raised his eyebrows.
‘Look,’ he said. ‘Now I know of the importance of that area I’ll see if we can’t achieve access as soon as possible. But I am a little puzzled, Miss Fairbrother. I mean, I would have expected in the modern world that certainly the business records you have referred to would be stored on computer, and backed up in the usual way. Is that not the case?’
Bella shook her head.
‘My father was an old-fashioned man, Mr Michaels,’ she replied, by way of explanation. It sounded pretty lame, even to her own ears. ‘He always did things his way, and he didn’t entirely trust computers.’
Nor anyone he worked with, including his daughter and his entire board of directors, she thought to herself. She said no more.
John Michaels still looked puzzled. As well, he might, Bella reckoned.
‘I see,’ he said eventually. ‘Of course, you certainly wouldn’t be allowed on the premises at the moment. There’s a major safety risk, obviously. Even if we find that any of the contents of the basement storage room have remained substantially intact, there is no possibility of you being allowed to enter it until its construction has been fully assessed. With fire parts of a damaged premises may appear to have remained undamaged, but the reality is they could collapse at any moment. Also, you do know, don’t you, we still have a crime scene here, and may well do for two or three more days, I’d say.’
‘So I understand,’ said Bella, glancing at Karen Crow. ‘And even after you guys may have declared the area safe, it’s the police who have to give permission for me or anyone else to go inside. Is that right?’
‘It is,’ said John Michaels.
‘Or to have anything that remains inside removed, I assume?’ queried Bella.
‘Indeed,’ said Michaels.
‘So, who specifically do I need to contact?’ asked Bella.
‘DI David Vogel,’ replied the chief fire investigatory officer. ‘He’s in charge.’
‘Ah,’ said Bella Fairbrother.
It seemed that she was going to need Vogel on her side before she could do anything. She was not overly optimistic, but she reckoned she may as well contact the DI again as soon as possible.
At that moment her phone rang.
‘Miss Fairbrother, I think I’m going to need another word with you,’ said Vogel.
‘Yes, of course, Mr Vogel,’ replied Bella. ‘I was just thinking the same about you.’
Were you indeed, thought Vogel, reflecting again that this young woman was going to be a force to be reckoned with.
‘Might I ask where you are at the moment, Miss Fairbrother?’ asked Vogel.
‘I’m just leaving Blackdown Manor. I came out to have a look for myself. It...’ The young woman paused.
Vogel waited.
‘It was more of a shock than I expected. I mean there is virtually nothing left... and they were bringing out bodies, well, remains...’
Vogel couldn’t be sure, but he thought there was a catch in Bella Fairbrother’s throat. That was a turn up for the books.
‘It must be very upsetting for you, Miss Fairbrother, I’m sure,’ he said levelly.
‘It is yes, quite upsetting.’
Vogel thought Bella sounded rather taken aback by her own reaction. He pressed on.
‘Miss Fairbrother, I wondered if I could ask you to come to the incident room we’ve set up at Wellington police station?’ he asked. ‘There is somewhere here we can talk privately. And we do need to take a statement from you.’
There was another brief pause.
‘All right, Mr Vogel,’ said Bella. ‘I’ll leave straight away.’