The Fire Killer

Ross Greenwood

Description

'A masterclass in crime fiction' Jane E James

The BRAND NEW thriller from bestselling author Ross Greenwood!

When DI Barton is asked to investigate a seemingly innocuous fire that kills, he believes it's either children fooling around or a worrying racially-motivated crime.

As he delves deeper into the case, he soon realises that there is a history of similar blazes spread out over many years, all within a close area. An idea suggested by pathologist Mortis makes Barton suspect he has the arsonist’s motives wrong.

When a night worker comes forward with a tip, Barton narrows down the suspects. But with all of them acting suspiciously, he knows for sure that one or more of them must be lying. And when a huge house blaze shocks everyone, Barton fears the killer has lost all control.

Who is The Fire Killer? What will be next to burn?

DI Barton is back as Ross Greenwood continues with his bestselling series, perfect for fans of Mark Billingham and Ian Rankin.

Praise for Ross Greenwood:

'Move over Rebus and Morse; a new entry has joined the list of great crime investigators in the form of Detective Inspector John Barton. A rich cast of characters and an explosive plot kept me turning the pages until the final dramatic twist.' author Richard Burke

‘Master of the psychological thriller genre Ross Greenwood once again proves his talent for creating engrossing and gritty novels that draw you right in and won’t let go until you’ve reached the shocking ending.’ Caroline Vincent at Bitsaboutbooks blog

'Ross Greenwood doesn’t write clichés. What he has written here is a fast-paced, action-filled puzzle with believable characters that's spiced with a lot of humour.' author Kath Middleton

Sujets

• Policier & Thriller
• Thriller
• Policier
• Mashups
• Psychological
• Private Investigators
• Hard-Boiled
• Amateur Sleuth
• Traditional
• Thrillers
• Coming of Age
• Suspenso
• Inglaterra
• Street crime
• Psychological thriller
• General officer
• Serial killer
• Psychology
• Organized crime
• Espionage
• City Life
• Murder
• General
• Serial Killers
• Crime
• Cambridgeshire
• England
• Suspense
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Boldwood Books
• Date de parution: 30 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 7
• EAN13: 9781800486645
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE FIRE KILLER
A DI BARTON INVESTIGATION


ROSS GREENWOOD
CONTENTS



Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

Chapter 65

Chapter 66

Chapter 67

Chapter 68

Chapter 69

Chapter 70

Chapter 71

Chapter 72

Chapter 73

Chapter 74

Chapter 75

Chapter 76

Chapter 77

Chapter 78

Chapter 79

Chapter 80

Chapter 81


Author’s Note

More from Ross Greenwood

About the Author

About Boldwood Books
In memory of Paul Bradshaw
One of the good guys
1970 – 2021
Light a fire they can't put out.
AVICII
1
DI BARTON



Present Day – August 2020
DI John Barton watched all four passengers in the Range Rover they were overtaking do a double take as DS Shawn Zander accelerated past them. He supposed it wasn’t every day you saw two large men, both well over six feet, one black and one white, zip past you on the four-lane A1 motorway in an MR2 sports car with the top down, doing well over a hundred miles an hour. At least the vehicle was light blue. If it had been red and yellow, there would have been Noddy jokes every time Zander gave him a lift.
Despite the speed, the air that raced over both their bald heads was bearable. In fact, Barton found it pleasantly bracing. The extreme weather had begun to exert its toll over the last month and it seemed as though there’d never be an end to the heatwave. It was only in the last few days Barton had worn a tie again, without it feeling like a noose.
He was returning from a meeting in Huntingdon in Zander’s pride and joy, which had developed a roof fault when they arrived, whereby it stubbornly refused to lift back into place. At this speed, the wind howled around the windscreen into their faces now they were returning to Peterborough. The air smelled different. By that measure alone, a storm was coming. The men looked at each other, but it wasn’t the time for smiles. After working together for over twenty years, no words were necessary.
Barton observed the weather front massing on the horizon, but they didn’t have far to go now. The dark clouds gathering above cast moody shadows, although there were still breaks where sunlight flooded through.
Barton shifted down in his seat so he could answer his ringing phone. It was DS Kelly Strange. She and DC Nicola Pignatiello, who went by the nickname Pigs, had left south Peterborough ten minutes ago and were meeting them at the place where this nightmare had begun.
‘Barton speaking.’
‘John, we’ve reached the address. There’s a very big problem with the house.’
‘Now what?’
‘It’s on fire.’
2
DI BARTON

Barton’s phone whistled with the air turbulence, and whatever Strange said next was stolen by the wind.
‘Say that again. What do you mean by on fire?’
Again, the reply was lost.
‘Slow down,’ shouted Barton to Zander.
They were pulling off the motorway for Peterborough anyway.
‘Please repeat, Kelly.’
This time, her voice was loud and clear.
‘We can see flames licking at the back wall of the upstairs bedroom, lots of them. The blaze is building in there, but the rest of the house seems untouched.’
‘Ring the brigade.’
‘Pigs is on the phone to them now.’
‘What about the residents?’
‘That’s why I’m ringing. The Fire Killer is sitting in a car outside the house, watching.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Yes. Hang on! There’s someone at the upstairs window.’
‘Don’t enter the building!’ he bellowed down the phone. ‘Wait for the fire crew.’
‘The person at the window has their hands pressed against the glass. Hang on.’
Barton listened as Kelly asked Pigs how long until the first engine arrived. Strange came back on the line.
‘John, ETA for the closest appliance is at least six minutes.’
‘Stand down until they get there. Arrest The Fire Killer. We’ll be there in five.’
There was a gap with only static. Barton felt like crushing the phone in his huge hand. The line buzzed, then cleared.
‘John, we have to try. Otherwise, anyone in there will burn to death. It doesn’t look too bad right now, so we’re going to check it out.’
Barton thumped the dashboard in frustration. After a small pause, where Barton listened to footsteps hitting the pavement, Strange spoke again.
‘Are you with Zander?’
‘Yes.’
‘Tell him, tell him…’
Strange stopped talking. There were a few quiet seconds, then Barton heard a creaking sound.
‘The front door is unlocked,’ said Strange. ‘We’re going in.’
3
DI BARTON

Barton shouted Kelly’s name into his phone. But the line was dead.
‘Drive, Zander. As fast as you can.’
Zander didn’t need asking twice. He’d made out enough of the conversation, and he knew where Strange had gone. Barton looked across at his friend and colleague. He still hadn’t put the weight back on since his son had become ill, even though it had been years now.
Zander had enjoyed a few dates with Pigs, but there were words that remained unsaid between him and Strange. Unsurprisingly, Zander’s face was stone, eyes narrowed. His knuckles white on the steering wheel.
Barton was pressed into his seat as Zander tore through the next roundabout, stamping the brakes to career through the bend. Zander accelerated hard again, and they roared up the slip road and down the parkway, pulling off three minutes later onto Fulbridge Road. Barton moistened his lips. He removed his tie. They were almost there.
They flew past lads playing football on the field to their right, where the van fire had been, and children screaming with delight in the play area on his left. All blissfully unaware of what had occurred or what might be about to.
They were less than a minute away now. The first heavy drops of rain fell onto them, but any concerns about getting soaked were irrelevant. They rapidly approached a badly parked white Transit van, which blocked their view of the way ahead. To the sound of screeching tyres, Barton was jerked back by his seat belt. A little girl wandered into the middle of the road and stood staring at them as Zander’s car juddered to a halt, mere metres away from her. Before Barton could get out, a woman sprinted into the street, scooped the child up and ran to the pavement, and Zander was on his way again within a second.
They soon turned right onto Fig Tree Lane. A fire engine’s siren wailed in the distance. Barton swallowed as he spotted a string of black fumes rising above the houses. The clouds beyond had darkened considerably and seemed to boil as the storm approached. Destruction was in the air as the wind picked up the smell of smoke and blew it towards them. Zander slammed on the brakes outside the property and Barton clocked The Fire Killer sitting in a car next to the kerb, but he had more pressing concerns.
He and Zander jumped out of the MR2 and frantically assessed the scene. Barton stared up at the bedroom window where he saw someone, looking to their left. Grey smoke swirled and amassed behind the glass, temporarily concealing the occupants. Barton noticed a hazy arm and hand appear. The window opened, but only a few inches. Two seconds later, to the accompaniment of a crack of thunder, what looked like a small bedside table bounced off the inside of the glass.
Barton knew modern glazing would withstand a brick, or even an iron bar. The smoke cleared a little. Through the teeming rain, he watched someone in a white blouse approach the bedroom window. They put a hand to their mouth and bent double. Then Barton saw a stool or a chair hit the glass. A crack appeared this time, but nothing more. With the increasing smoke, Barton couldn’t tell if it was Strange or Pigs who was trying to break the glass.
He felt a blast of sound and air, combined with a throaty growl as the fire engine braked behind them but Barton kept his eyes on the house. Darkness seemed to descend as the black clouds raced overhead. The front door was ajar. The creeping smoke was now pouring around the sides of it. Barton stepped a few paces forward as another deep rumble of thunder echoed above them. He fought the urge to race in, but sensed Zander edging past him towards the door, which suddenly spewed black smoke out like a desperate, dying gasp. Barton managed to catch Zander’s sleeve, and with all his strength, hauled him back.
‘No, no!’ screamed Zander.
Barton didn’t reply. He tried to put his arms around Zander’s waist to stop him moving, straining every sinew to hold him still. Sheet lightning lit the house up for a second. Zander’s suit jacket ripped as he struggled out of it.
Then an ear-splitting, booming bang filled the air and Zander froze. They both looked up. The window vibrated, and then another louder explosion shattered the glass outwards, blasting shards like bullets in every direction. Barton covered his face with his hands and bent double. After a few seconds, he straightened up and frantically waved his hands to clear the smoke in front of him. When he could finally make out the window again, all that was visible were large roaring flames, which reached out of the blackened hole like the fiery claws of an escaping demon.
4
THE FIRE KILLER



Many years ago
My moth