‘Did you find a guy inside?’ she asked, her heart thudding in her chest.
‘Yeah, how did you know?’
Bridie exchanged a glance with Oliver.
The fireman said, ‘He was already here, called the fire brigade, and did just what we told him not to, which was go inside a burning building.’
‘Did you just say he called the fire brigade?’ Bridie asked.
‘Yes, and he told us there was somebody else still in the building.’
‘His accomplice,’ Mabel said.
Bridie said, ‘This doesn’t make sense. Why would he call you?’
‘To put out the fire, obviously,’ said the fireman, ‘but first we had to go in and rescue him, and the other person who was inside, who he was trying to rescue. That’s why we tell people on no account go into a burning building. You’re just going to make our life harder and potentially become another casualty.’
Bridie was not enjoying what felt like a lecture from the fireman. All this wasn’t her fault.
‘Mind you, if it wasn’t for him, the whole place would have been burned to the ground, and that would have been the end of the theatre.’
‘This guy,’ said Oliver, ‘Can you describe him?’
‘I can do better than that. He’s sitting over there.’ He pointed to an ambulance with its doors wide open.
Oliver exchanged a glance with Bridie. They peered past the fireman to the inside of the ambulance.
‘It’s Jack!’ Oliver and Bridie announced together.
Bridie had the impulse to rush over and check he was all right. Oliver must have guessed. He reached out and placed a gentle hand on her arm, shaking his head.
‘Damn foolish thing to do, go into a burning building,’ the fireman continued. ‘But he saved the day.’
‘Who – him?’ said Bridie.
‘As I said, it’s lucky he called the fire brigade and we managed to contain it to that one room. Smells a bit smoky in there, I’m afraid.’
‘Do you hear that?’ said Reggie, slapping his thigh. ‘The theatre is saved. Praise the heavens. Hallelujah!’
Bridie did not feel like praising the heavens. What was Jack’s game? She pointed and said adamantly, ‘He started it.’
The fireman turned on his heel to where she was pointing. As soon as he saw Jack, he turned back. ‘He did not start it, I can assure you.’
Bridie narrowed her eyes. ‘How do you know?’
‘It was the woman he saved.’ He motioned at an older lady, perhaps her parents’ age. She was also sitting in the back of the ambulance, a hospital blanket over her shoulders.
‘She told us that she’d been heating a kettle on a two-ring gas hob, and the naked flame set alight a curtain hung across the room. If it wasn’t for that guy hearing her cries for help – she’d be a goner for sure, and so would your theatre.’
Bridie stared at the ambulance. ‘Who is she?’
‘She hasn’t spoken, but the hero of the hour thinks she’s your squatter.’
‘My … what?’
Chapter 53
Bridie listened as the fireman explained how Jack had discovered she had a squatter in her theatre.
