The wee girls skipped away, and Logan wandered over to the gate. A double line of ‘POLICE’ tape was tied to the railings either side, to stop stupid members of the public climbing all over the crime scene. He untied one side, opened the gate, and walked between the burnt-out cars to the burnt-out hotel and its missing front door.
Putting his hands on either side of the doorway, Logan poked his head in through the gap.
Wow.
Complete devastation.
The building’s supporting walls were granite, so they’d survived the blaze, but everything in between was reduced to a pile of charred debris. The upper floors had collapsed, offering a clear view out through the missing roof to an azure sky.
To be honest, the whole place was completely—
‘HOY!’A hard Peterhead accent blared out behind him:‘GET OUT OF IT!’
Logan pulled his head back, and turned to find himself the target of an angry glower.
A uniformed PC stood between the roasted corpses of both cars, fists on her hips. Pointy of nose, with dishwater-blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun. A high-vis waistcoat on over her stabproof, and a deeply grumpy frown pulling at her heavy eyebrows. ‘You heard me: out!’ Jabbing a finger at the gate and its untied cordon. ‘You see that tape? That means—’
‘Where’s Steevie?’ Logan flashed his warrant card.
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Oh no you don’t. Let’s see that properly.’ She took the thing and gave it a good long stare. ‘Ah. OK. Ahem.’ Bit her top lip and handed it back again. ‘Inspector. Guv. Sorry. Boss.’
‘Guv is fine.’
‘Only I’m usually based out of Peterhead...’
Which explained a lot. ‘Bit of a bruiser, eh?’ Smiling as she blushed. ‘And do you have a name? Or is it a secret Bloo Tooner thing?’
‘Hilary, Guv. Kent.’
‘So, where’s Steevie?’
‘I’m just filling in, really. Because of all the...you know: off on the sick...?’
‘Constable: what have you done with Watch Commander Colins?’
She stood to attention. ‘Sorry, Boss. Guv. It’s...He’s knocked off for the night. Says “twelve hours a day is enough for any man”. Sorry.’
Logan hooked a thumb at the hotel doorway. ‘This safe to go in?’
‘Iwouldn’t. There’s a basement, and the ground floor’s a bit shagged, Guv. Sorry, Inspector. I mean, “its structural integrity has been compromised by the blaze”. A chunk of the dining room caved in this morning.’
Sod that.
He took a step back, in case anything decided to collapse. ‘Talk me through it.’
‘Erm...’ She checked her notebook. ‘OK: At approximately zero-three-hundred hours on Monday the ninth of June, an accelerant was introduced to the premises via an aperture on the building’s primary entrance—’
‘Stop, stop, stop: you’re not giving evidence in court. Just tell me what happened like a normal human being.’
‘Oh.’ Hilary drooped a little, as if she’d been looking forward to giving him the complete witness-box performance. ‘Actually, I can show you if you like?’ Digging out her phone.
Now that was more like it.
‘We’ve gotCCTV? How come no one mentioned—’
‘Nah. I mean, the hoteldidhave cameras, but the recording stuff was all inside, so it’s...melted. Bunch of drunk teenagers staggered by, on their way home. Saw the flames and called nine-nine-nine. One of them videoed the whole thing.’ Swiping and poking away at her phone’s screen. ‘Hold on, got it here somewhere...’
Well, that was something at least.