‘Did you light anything while you were there?’ Nell interrupted. ‘A lamp or candles?’
‘There was nothing to light,’ said Michael. ‘And if there had been, there wouldn’t have been anything to light it with. Why – what are you seeing?’
‘I can’t be sure,’ she said, narrowing her eyes and looking up. ‘But it looks like candlelight.’ Her voice wavered suddenly. ‘And Michael, it’s getting stronger.’
‘Stronger how?’
Nell said, ‘As if something’s caught fire.’
The next moments were blurred. Both Michael and Nell snatched their phones to tap out 999.
‘The fire engine’s on its way,’ said Michael, who had got the call in first. ‘Only—’
‘Only it’s got to come through the road block that held me up,’ said Nell.
‘Yes. And if there really is a fire—’
‘Michael, don’t go up there to investigate,’ she said at once.
‘That’s the last thing I’m going to do. What I am going to do,’ said Michael, ‘is find something to smash a window and get out.’
He paused, as Nell’s phone rang. She waved to him to wait, spoke for a moment, then said, ‘It’s Jack Hurst. His wife gave him my mobile number, and he’s ringing to say he’s about fifteen minutes away. I’ve told him we think there might be a bit of a fire.’
‘What did he say?’ Michael was watching the stair, praying not to see any wisps of smoke.
‘He said, “Sodding duff electricals,” and something about dismembering Darren on Monday morning. But I’ve given him your number and he’s going to phone you and see if he can guide you through the basement to where you might be able to smash open a kitchen window or something.’
Michael’s phone rang almost at once, and Jack Hurst’s voice, horrified and slightly panic-stricken, fired questions. Was Dr Flint sure he was safe? That there was no smoke reaching the ground floor? No crackle of flames or smell of burning?’
‘No,’ said Michael. ‘It might be nothing at all, but—’
‘But we can’t take the chance,’ said Hurst.
‘The fire brigade’s on its way, but—’
‘That bloody roadblock. Yes, I know. I’m stuck in it at the moment – they’re letting single-file traffic through, but I’m in the big van so I might have trouble getting round. But the fire engine will find a way through, be sure of that.’
‘Yes,’ said Michael, who was not sure at all.
‘And we can get you out. What I’ll do, I’ll guide you down to the basement – there’s a garden door down there. It’ll be locked – in fact we’ve never opened it because we’ve never needed to and we haven’t got keys to it. But the top half is plain glass and if you can break that you should be able to climb through. Can you find a hammer or something? Those boys are sure to have left stuff lying around. I tell them time after time – “Tidy up as you go,” I tell them, but do they take any notice? Do they buggery, excuse my swearing, Dr Flint.’
‘Swear away,’ said Michael. ‘Hold on, I’ll see if there’s something I can use on the window. There’s a bit more light now – Nell’s parked so that her headlights are shining in.’ He walked into the main downstairs rooms. ‘Nothing yet,’ he said. ‘Paint brushes – they wouldn’t be heavy enough … Oh, wait, there’s a big old broom here. The handle should do it.’
‘Good enough. Back to the hall, and there’s a door set a bit back, near the stairs.’
‘I tried that a while ago,’ said Michael, ‘but it was as dark as the devil’s forehead, so I didn’t dare investigate. But if Nell can move the car a bit more … Wait a minute, I’ll tell her what we want.’
Nell was still at the window, and Michael explained, pointing towards the door.
‘That sounds fine,’ said Nell. ‘Once I’ve got the car’s lights lined up, I’ll try to make my way round to the back so I can help you climb out.’
‘Nell, it’ll be pitch dark!’