Read Online Destroying Angel by Sam Hastings - Free Book Online

picture showed an odd shifting light, which could only mean one thing.
    Tweed stabbed his hand onto the button even as he reached for the telephone to call the fire brigade.
    Ted Gage woke to the incessant ringing of the telephone. He cursed as he slowly stirred, hoping it was something trivial but knowing full well it wouldn’t be. A glance at the clock showed it was nearly half-past three in the morning, and one ominous thought immediately came uppermost in his mind: fire.
    Sure enough, a wine warehouse in Park Royal was burning. Gage hurried to dress, ignoring his wife’s complaints as he turned on the lights to make things easier for himself. Within five minutes he was more or less ready and clambering into his car.
    He drove west, gaining at least some satisfaction from his wailing siren and the pleasure of doing a ton on the Westway. As he approached Park Royal he saw the fire, orange flames lighting the horizon and a pillar of black smoke rising against the night sky.
    ‘Shit that’s a big one,’ he swore, cursing the fire-raiser who in all probability was even then watching and crowing with delight over the destruction he had caused.
    It was easy to find the trading estate. Flames were visible for miles, licking up through the shattered roof of the warehouse with sparks trailing high into the windless night. Fire engines thronged the yard outside the warehouse, the team’s hoses turned onto the face of the burning building.
    With the warehouse backing directly onto the canal it was difficult to get at the heart of the fire, but after a long struggle it was brought under control and finally checked, leaving the warehouse a burnt-out shell.
    As soon as the worst of the crisis was past, Gage identified the white helmet of the senior fireman and walked over to him.
    ‘DI Gage,’ he introduced himself. ‘I’m in charge of an investigation into a series of these warehouse fires. Any idea how it started?’
    ‘Don’t quote me on it yet, but it looks like a petrol bombing job,’ the officer replied. ‘And I think I can tell you why the roof went up like that.’
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘Brandy. Apparently there was a pallet of it stacked by the office. The whole lot would have gone up like a bomb.’
    ‘How do you know it was there?’ Gage asked.
    ‘There are bits of brandy bottles all over the place – blown clear by the blast.’
    Gage sighed, preparing for the sixth round of futile investigation followed by criticism from his superiors and the media.

Chapter 3
    ‘Susan! Wake up!’ Paulette called, the words barely registering to Susan as she drifted slowly out of her sleep. ‘Annabella’s warehouse has burnt down!’
    ‘What? You’re joking?’ Susan managed, her sleepiness draining away as the adrenaline began to run.
    ‘No, I’m not,’ Paulette insisted from the kitchen. ‘It’s on the radio. De Vergy Fine Wines, in Park Royal – that must be it. They’re saying it’s another attack by the Fire Ghost.’
    ‘I’m coming.’ Susan rolled out of bed and dashed into the kitchen in time to catch the end of the report.
    ‘I can’t believe that’s a coincidence,’ she said as the newsreader moved on to another item.
    ‘Surely you don’t think Annabella did it?’
    ‘It needn’t be that simple. What I’m saying is that there’s a high probability of a causative link between our visit to Annabella and the fire. It would be wrong to speculate on the nature of that link, but right to investigate it.’ Susan hurried from the kitchen.
    ‘Well, er – yes,’ Paulette agreed, although slightly lost.
    ‘I’m going over there…’ Susan called from the bathroom over the sound of water cascading into the basin. ‘Would you find me the address?’
    ‘Inspector Gage, can you confirm that this is another attack by the Fire Ghost?’
    Ted Gage paused, trying not to show his annoyance to the cluster of cameramen and reporters facing him. ‘At present,’ he said, speaking clearly and slowly, ‘I can