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yes…When I got home. I know it might seem a bitstrange, but how was I to know you’d want them for testing?”
    â€œWhat about your anorak?”
    â€œThat, too.”
    â€œYou washed your anorak?”
    Hurst swallowed. “The label said it was machine washable.”
    Banks sighed. Traces of accelerant might well survive the firefighters’ hoses, but they used only cold water. He doubted that anything would survive washing powder and hot water. “We’ll take them anyway,” he said. “What about your shoes? I suppose you put them in the washing machine as well?”
    â€œDon’t be absurd.”
    â€œLet’s be thankful for small mercies, then,” Banks said as they set off downstairs. “What time do you usually go to bed?”
    â€œWhenever I want. Another advantage of the bachelor life. Last night, I happened to be watching a rather good film.”
    â€œWhat was it?”
    â€œAh, the old police trick to see if I’m lying, is it? Well, I don’t have an alibi, it’s true. I was by myself all evening. All day, in fact. But I did watch A Bridge Too Far on Sky Cinema. War films are another passion of mine.”
    Hurst led them into the tiny kitchen, which smelled vaguely of sour milk. The anorak lay over the back of a chair, still a little damp, and the rest of his clothes were in the dryer. Hurst dug out a carrier bag and Banks bundled the lot inside, along with the shoes from a mat in the hallway.
    â€œWhat time did the film finish?” he asked, as they returned to the living room.
    â€œOne o’clock. Or five past one, or something. They never seem to end quite on the hour, do they?”
    â€œSo when you looked out of your bedroom window around one o’clock—”
    â€œIt would have been perhaps one-fifteen by the time I’d locked up and done my ablutions.”
    Ablutions . Banks hadn’t heard that word in years. “Okay,” he went on. “At one-fifteen, when you looked out of your bedroom window, what did you see?”
    â€œWhy, flames, of course.”
    â€œAnd you knew where they were coming from?”
    â€œImmediately. Those wooden boats are death traps. The wood above the water line’s as dry as tinder.”
    â€œSo you knew exactly what was happening?”
    â€œYes, of course.”
    â€œWhat did you do?”
    â€œI got on my bike and rode down the towpath.”
    â€œHow long did it take?”
    â€œI don’t know. I wasn’t timing myself.”
    â€œRoughly? Five minutes? Ten minutes?”
    â€œWell, I’m not that fast a cyclist. It’s not as if I was going in for the Tour de France or something.”
    â€œSay ten minutes, then?”
    â€œIf you like.”
    â€œWhat did you do next?”
    â€œI rang the fire brigade, of course.”
    â€œFrom where?”
    He tapped his pocket. “My mobile. I always carry it with me. Just in case…well, the Waterways people like to know what’s going on.”
    â€œDo you work for British Waterways?”
    â€œNot technically. I mean, I’m not officially employed by them. I just try to be of use. If those narrow boats hadn’t been in such sorry shape, and if they hadn’t been moored in such an out-of-the-way place, I’m sure BW would have done something about them by now.”
    â€œWhat time did you make the call?”
    â€œI don’t remember.”
    â€œWould it surprise you to know that your call was logged at one thirty-one A.M .?”
    â€œIf you say so.”
    â€œI do. That’s fifteen minutes after you first saw the flames and cycled to the boats.”
    Hurst blinked. “Yes.”
    â€œAnd what did you do after you rang them?”
    â€œI waited for them to come.”
    â€œYou didn’t try to do anything in the meantime?”
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œSee if there was anyone still on the boats.”
    â€œDo you think