Alex and Chloe followed the directions given by the satnav, aware that the journey was taking them in a direction that was becoming all too familiar to them that week. The skies above the Rhondda valleys hung heavy and looming, their greyness weighing over the towns below with an inescapable claustrophobia and a sadness that seemed to be spreading.

‘Did you see that?’ Alex asked as they passed a block of council flats along the main road. ‘Christmas decorations. We’re not even in November yet.’

It was an attempt to soften the increasingly fractious atmosphere between them, but one that Chloe appeared unwilling to respond to. Other than to discuss details of the case, they hadn’t really spoken properly since their bitter exchange in the ladies’ toilets at the station the previous day. Chloe’s comment about there being little to respect had stung. One thing Alex knew for sure was that the younger woman had until recently admired and looked up to her, something Alex had probably gained more satisfaction from than she cared to admit.

Something else she hadn’t wanted to admit was how much it would hurt her to lose that respect.

She was beginning to understand why people put Christmas decorations up so early. Under a weight of grey skies, they offered a false optimism that could be hidden behind until January reared its head.

‘Let’s not keep this up,’ she said.

‘Keep what up?’

‘This. I know what I did was stupid. I don’t need the permanent reminder. And you can’t possibly make me feel any more guilty than I already do.’

Chloe was no longer listening. She had leaned forward and was tapping a finger at the touchscreen of the satnav. ‘Hold on. Ivor Terrace. That’s just behind the hospital. We were there on Friday.’

---

There was a police cordon stopping people from entering the street when Alex and Chloe arrived. They parked on the next road and were ushered to the scene by a uniformed officer. The narrow street was teeming with fire crew and the air was still thick with smoke. The fire had started in the third house in the row of terraces, but the residents in the adjoining houses had been evacuated safely. Neighbours were huddled together outside, and crying could be heard among the crowd of people being kept back by police.

‘Doris,’ Alex said quietly. She scanned the scene for someone she could speak with; someone who could tell her whether anyone had been inside. Whether anyone was still inside.

‘One woman,’ one of the firefighters told her.

‘And?’

The man shook his head. ‘She was found in the hallway. They got her out before the fire reached her, though. I’m sorry … that’s all I know.’

‘We spoke with her last week,’ Alex said distractedly. She looked to the front of the burning building, its front window blasted onto the pavement from the force of the heat. She imagined Doris inside, watching television with her own fire turned up, oblivious to what was about to happen.

‘Bastards.’ She turned to Chloe. ‘Cowardly bastards.’

‘We don’t know how this started yet,’ Chloe tried to reason.

They both knew the reassurance that it might not have been arson was futile.

‘Fine,’ Alex said, anger flooding from her. ‘But it was no accident, was it?’ She stepped back and crossed the road, knowing there was little they could do until the blaze had been put out. Fire-scene investigators would be able to tell them how it had started, but she knew she didn’t need to hear their words.

The old lady had already been taken by the ambulance crew. The firefighter Alex had spoken with hadn’t seemed to know much about what had happened to her. Was there a chance she was still alive?

She knew in her heart that there wasn’t.

A series of questions flooded her brain. Had someone put something through the letter box knowing that Doris was inside the house? Had she answered the door to someone and the fire been started then? Why had she been targeted?

The wave of questions engulfed her. Alex pressed the heel of her hand to her eye, knowing she couldn’t let her emotions impact on the investigation. ‘Let’s speak to the neighbours,’ she said, heading back to Chloe. ‘Perhaps someone saw or heard something.’