Vicky Newham - Out of the Ashes

‘Who is their freeholder? They’ll have the building insured.’ I tapped at the image of the shop on the board, as though encouraging it to speak to me.

‘Man called Solomon Stein. He owns a few freeholds in Brick Lane.’ Shen pointed to her notepad. ‘Seems legit but I’m doing a few more checks.’

‘It’s possible the arsonist was targeting the woman.’ Dan was typing the additional points into his list. ‘It’s difficult to assess until we know who she was.’ He was rubbing his chin thoughtfully. ‘I want to know what bad blood exists between Indra and Simas, and between them and other people.’

‘If Indra knew Simas was having an affair, she might want revenge?’ Shen suggested. ‘Or perhaps we are looking for the partner of the woman in the fire?’

‘Yes, Indra has to be a suspect.’ I tucked my hair behind my ears, feeling the weight and scope of the task ahead. ‘If the woman’s partner is responsible, surely they’d have reported her missing so as not to arouse suspicion?’

Dan was in front of the board again. ‘I agree with both those possibilities. My gut feeling is that we can rule out extremism, but I think we need to consider that it may have been a racist attack.’

I gestured to the board. ‘OK, until we know what or who the targets of the arson were, we will need to consider all of these hypotheses. What else do we need to know?’

‘Was the flash mob a distraction so that the arsonists could start the fire?’ A familiar voice echoed through the room. ‘In other words, are we looking at organised crime?’

‘Jackie?’ I said, incredulous. ‘What are you doing here?’

Maya, 7.45 p.m.

‘Surely the grapevine hasn’t stopped working?’ Jackie chuckled as she cruised in confidently and surveyed the incident room.

The team were transfixed.

‘Hello, everyone. I’m DCI Jackie Lawson. I’ll be covering your DCI post until a permanent appointment is made. If you’re nice to me, you might get stuck with me. I’m looking for a cushy number.’ She peered at me and grinned, and I couldn’t help noticing that a curiosity-induced pink filter had slid over Dan’s usual white face. ‘I’m not here to be SIO, Maya. Don’t worry.’

‘The last I heard you’d moved from the Met to the North-West,’ I said.

‘Correct. I’ve been leading a new team there as part of the Serious Organised Crime Strategy. Masses of it in the North-West, lots in the South-East. The hotspot is in London. I’m going to be based here at Limehouse, but my brief is to monitor all ongoing Met investigations for elements of organised crime.’

The room was silent. All eyes were on the woman who was the epitome of smart-casual in her black jeans and white cotton shirt. It was clear she hadn’t gone soft. Jackie Lawson was known for her mischievous sense of humour and was one of the sharpest and toughest cops in the service. ‘It’s great to see you. I had no idea you were coming here.’ I’d only checked my email ten minutes earlier and there’d been no mention of Jackie joining the team. ‘We’ll catch up after briefing, yes?’ I faced the room again. ‘Dan, add DCI Lawson’s question to the board, please, and let’s continue. Who’s next?’

‘The analysts are working on a number of significant eyewitness statements,’ Shen said. ‘Their initial report is due any moment.’

‘And we’ve made a start on the CCTV,’ Alexej said. ‘The fire took hold so quickly, and produced so much smoke, it’s difficult to see much but if there’s anything useful, we’ll find it. I’m still calling security operators for footage from the hours prior to the flash mob and the fire.’

‘Good,’ I said. ‘That should help us with identifying timescales and routes, and hopefully suspects. Someone may have seen the arsonist entering the shop.’ I paused. ‘We need to check dog walkers, postmen, joggers, road sweepers, people going to work, people coming home from night shifts and nights out. A lot of those people may not live locally so we’ll need to ring-fence mobiles and send ping-outs on social media.’ I tried not to look too obviously at Jackie who’d need to agree budgets. ‘What’s the latest with LfA?’

Alexej waved a print-out. ‘I’ve got the technicians’ report. The website lists the objective of the flash mob as taking back control of the streets. It says: “Young people can’t afford to rent a place in E1, and shopkeepers are losing their businesses because greedy landlords are hiking rents. Let’s take back control of the streets from the capitalists and opportunist entrepreneurs.”’

‘Perhaps the fire was about gentrification too?’ Dan eyed us all.

‘If I can chip in here . . . ?’ Jackie said, and I could tell from her tone that things were about to get a lot more complicated. ‘I’m not saying gentrification isn’t a genuine issue, but it’s possible that it was a front for both the flash mob and the arson.’ She spoke quietly but her voice conveyed authority. She joined Dan and I at the front of the room. ‘It’s the Trojan horse model of sneaking something under the radar. If you want to create a distraction, you pick a theme which is guaranteed to stir people up. That way, you maximise the chances of getting a big crowd.’

‘From what I see as a newcomer, it’s definitely the cost of living that bothers Londoners most,’ said Dan.

‘And the more faces and bodies you can gather,’ Jackie continued, ‘especially when they dress the same, the more difficult it is to see what’s going on.’

‘The masks?’ It was obvious now.

‘Precisely,’ she said, gauging the reaction to her words. ‘Masks aren’t just about group identity. They render people faceless. Group dynamics quickly shift from the inter-personal to a mob.’

‘Do we know whether LfA simply publicises these flash mobs or whether they’re the organisers?’ Shen asked.

‘We don’t know.’ I felt frustration bite. ‘Some of the kids mentioned a man called Frazer. Hopefully the technicians can find out what his role is.’ I took stock. ‘Moving on to evidence. Alexej, can you summarise?’

‘The exhibits are all catalogued. Loads of personal items.’ He clicked his screen into life and read off it. ‘Bags. Clothing. Phones. Keys. The speakers.’ He turned to face me. ‘Dougie’s sent through a list of the top priority ones. Any chance of the lab fast-tracking these?’

Jackie must’ve caught his sideways glance. ‘I can see that the scope of this investigation is vast,’ she said, adopting a cautious tone of voice, ‘but I’ve literally just got off the DLR. Maya, I’ll need you to bring me up to speed on budgets, PDQ.’

‘Sure. Let me run through the main lines of enquiry and who’s doing what later.’

Jackie nodded her agreement.

‘Until evidence tells us otherwise, I’m going to suggest that Indra is our prime suspect. Anyone disagree?’

The room was quiet.

‘Right. Shen, can you assess the H-2-H reports? Check alibis and if anyone was seen entering the shop. We need background information on Simas and Indra. Bank and phone records. And insurance details for the shop.’

Shen leaped into an empty seat.

‘Alexej, the CCTV. There wasn’t any smoke when the arsonist entered the shop. It’s a small window of time but let’s find it. And keep checking for anything that’ll help ID our UnSub.’

‘Sure.’ He wheeled round on his chair.

‘Dan, can you chase the fire investigation engineer on when we can get the bodies out?’

‘Gotcha.’

‘I’ll ask Indra for a list of people who had beef with them or their business.’ We had more questions than answers, but at least we had a plan of action. ‘Let’s get some sleep and I’ll see you all bright and early tomorrow.’ I turned to Jackie. ‘Shall we nip up to the Morgan Arms? We can grab a bite to eat and I’ll bring you up to speed.’