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`Well, it is now.'

He nods. `On it, sir.'

I turn to the rest of the room. `If Michael Esmond is still in Oxford `“ with or without this `њHarry`ќ character `“ then where is he? And if he isn't here, how did he travel? He hasn't used his credit cards so he must be paying his way in cash.'

`That two grand could be coming in useful after all,' says Ev, nodding heavily at Quinn.

`We'll start checking trains and buses,' says Gislingham. `Or rather, DC Quinn will.'

Quinn rolls his eyes, which I pretend not to notice.

`And Ev, talk to Mrs Gifford again, will you? See if Gow was on to anything when he said there might have been domestic abuse. If she confided in anyone, it could well have been her mother.'

I look around the room. `OK, that's it. But for the time being we keep the news about Esmond within these four walls, all right? I don't want it getting out until we're ready to announce it.' I look across at Everett. `And that includes the Giffords. At least for now.'

She nods. `OK, boss.'

The phone rings and Asante picks it up, then looks across at me. `Message for you, sir. You're wanted, you and the DS. At Southey Road.'

* * *

Telephone interview with Laura Gifford,

18 January 2018, 11.15 a.m.

On the call, DC V. Everett

VE:I'm very sorry to bother you again, Mrs Gifford. Things must be awful for you right now. LG:I don't know what I'd do without Greg. I can't get my head around it all. You never think you'll have to do it, do you? Sort out the death of your own child. Never mind your grandchildren. Was it Greg you wanted to talk to? VE:Actually, I was hoping to catch you on your own. I know these things can be difficult to talk about, but most girls confide in their mums. LG:I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean. VE:It was a happy marriage, was it? Some of the things you both said, I got the impression there may have been some difficulties. LG:No more than anyone else. Michael was a very loving husband, and a very good father. I know Greg was a bit harsh when we spoke before but you know what fathers can be like, especially about their little girls. VE:Samantha never said anything to you that might suggest Michael had been `“ I'm sorry there's no easy way to ask this `“ LG:Abusing her? Hitting her? Is that what you mean? Absolutely not `“ whatever gave you that idea? VE:I didn't mean to upset you, Mrs Gifford, truly. But violence isn't the only way problems in a relationship can show themselves. Would you say Michael was controlling? Did Samantha ever say he was trying to dictate how she behaved? LG:Of course she didn't. You people are all the same `“ going round poking your noses in looking for problems when there aren't any. VE:Mr Esmond is still missing, Mrs Gifford. We're just trying to eliminate him from our enquiries `“ I'm sure you can understand `“ LG:No, I don't understand. Why aren't you concentrating on finding out who did this? That's what I want to know. My daughter is dead `“ my grandsons are dead `“ and you people haven't the first clue who's responsible `“ VE:Mrs Gifford `“

[the line goes dead]

* * *

When Gis parks up in Southey Road there's hardly anyone around, just an elderly man shuffling along in a heavy tweed overcoat and a woman pushing a buggy with a little blond boy inside. He's wearing a baseball cap with `anti-hero' printed on the front. He must be about the same age as Zachary Esmond. It's drizzling now, and I turn up my collar as I trudge up the gravel after Gislingham. The house looks even worse than it did last time I was here, the windows running dark stains like weeping clown eyes. You can feel the wet soot in your throat.

Rigby comes towards us through the rubble, his boots crunching at each step.

`Sorry to drag you out here, but I think you'll be glad I did.'

He hands us both hard hats. `No one allowed on-site without one of these.' He waits until we fit them, then turns. `This way.'

The only access is through the back, and we pick our way across to the sitting room over a floor still strewn with ash and debris and broken plaster, with here and there a tarpaulin rigged up over the last few sections they haven't yet cleared. Rigby stops and crouches down, pointing at what's left of the blackened boards. `See that? It's spill pattern. Once you know what you're looking for you can see it all over in here. The place was doused in the stuff.'

`Petrol?' asks Gislingham, making notes.

Rigby nods. `Almost certainly. We've sent samples to the lab to see if we can match it to the lawnmower. We also found the can. I doubt there'll be prints, given the state it's in, but it's worth trying.' He straightens up again. `What the spill pattern tells us is that the arsonist stood in the middle of the room and started to back towards that door over there, throwing petrol to left and right.' He starts mimicking it, flinging his arms from side to side as he retreats. `But this,' he says, coming to a halt, `is where he stopped.'

Gis frowns. `How do you know?'

Rigby gestures at the tarpaulin at his feet, then bends to lift it. Underneath there's a heavy wooden beam, and what's left of an ornate Victorian mirror, the gilding still glinting through the soot. My reflection stares up at me brokenly from the splintered glass.

And it's not the only face I can see.

* * *

Oxford Mail online

Thursday 18 January 2018 Last updated at 13:11

BREAKING Oxford fire: Investigators discover a fourth victim

In a shocking turn of events, the fire investigation team at Southey Road are believed to have discovered a fourth victim in the burnt-out remains of the Edwardian house. Neighbours report seeing an undertaker's van, and a body bag being removed on a stretcher. The fire team have been on-site since the fire broke out in the early hours of the morning on 4 January, and have been painstakingly sifting through the collapsed ruins of one side of the house, looking for clues as to the fire's possible cause. Mrs Samantha Esmond, 33, and her younger son, Zachary, 3, perished in the blaze, and her older son, Matty, 10, later died of his injuries in the John Radcliffe hospital.

Speculation is mounting that the fourth victim is Michael Esmond, 40, an academic in the University's anthropology department, who has not been seen since before the fire, despite a nationwide police appeal asking for him to come forward. Those with knowledge of fire investigation procedures have suggested that the newly discovered body must have been in the sitting room on the ground floor, given the length of time it has taken to locate the remains. The fire is also thought to have started in that part of the house.

Thames Valley Police have so far declined to make a statement, nor was anyone at the University offices in Wellington Square available for comment.

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