Mariam steps into the bath as, down in the street, the postman throws her package back into his cart.
Marco’s son, Stefano, opens the door of the launderette and lights his cigarette.
Unaware of the puddle of petrol on the forecourt, the taxi driver turns on his engine.
The clock on Juliet’s computer reads 09.21.59. Full of hope, she pushes the button to bid on the fabulous dress, just one second early.
Alongside her, little Max presses himself against the glass, his eye dodging between the twin attractions of the horses and the digger. His tiny friend Polly is still singing ‘Likkle schtar . . .’ as she, Lily and Nell run towards the window to show him their glittery snowflakes.
As Lucy Noble starts rubbing at her scratchcard, Chloe pulls off one of her mittens and drops it on the floor.
‘Please don’t go!’ says Terry’s friend.
The vicar drops to his knees to clean up the confetti. And Matthew Larkin presses the lid back onto his paint tin.
‘Just a minute, Mum!’
Flicking her hair behind her ears, Miss Hunter walks up the aisle of the coach. ‘Guuuurrrrrr 8C!’
Rahil yanks the wire from his ear and quickly stashes the phone out of sight.
Rory Lennahan stuffs a sausage into his mouth to hide it.
Kayleigh Palmer shouts, ‘Miss!’
Jeff Quinn doesn’t notice any of the mayhem around him. He’s still engrossed in his judo magazine. He’s finished the word search and is reading tips on nutrition and exercise. He can’t wait for tonight’s competition.
And the boys in the back seat carry on with their song: ‘Why are we . . .’
THE VICTIMS OF THE HEATHWICK DISASTER
Most of the sixty-five who died were killed by falling masonry, flying glass, blast injuries and burns.
ON THE COACH:
IN THE NEWSAGENT’S:
IN THE STREET BETWEEN THE NEWSAGENT’S AND THE BANK:
IN THE FLAT ABOVE THE WEDDING SHOP:
IN THE FLAT ABOVE THE FLORIST’S SHOP:
IN THE STREET BETWEEN THE BANK AND THE CHURCH:
OUTSIDE THE CHURCH:
AT THE PETROL STATION:
OUTSIDE THE BAKERY:
IN THE FLAT ABOVE THE BAKERY:
IN THE BAKERY:
IN THE STREET BETWEEN THE BAKERY AND THE LAUNDERETTE:
IN THE COFFEE SHOP:
IN THE FLAT ABOVE THE SHOE SHOP:
IN THE SHOE SHOP:
IN THE FLAT ABOVE THE DANCE STUDIO:
IN THE DANCE STUDIO:
IN THE LAUNDERETTE:
MOTORISTS WHO DIED IN THEIR CARS:
Many casualties suffered injuries, some extremely severe. The most seriously hurt were Nicholas Birkham, 19 (a charity worker); Leonard Gibbon, 13 (whose mother died in the shoe shop); Robert Grey, 36 (hearse driver); Farouk Osman, 24 (student); Francine Palmer, 38 (whose daughter died on the school coach); and Samuel Riley, 18 (a member of staff at the coffee shop).
Remember, too, Lucy Noble’s unborn baby, who would have been a brother for Chloe, and Donald Whyman, 59, whose body, on its way to his funeral, was severely mutilated by an explosive blast. One of the two horses pulling the hearse was killed outright. Because the funeral director died and the carriage driver was seriously injured, there was no one to say whether it was Dime or Dollar. The other horse was gravely hurt. A veterinary surgeon put him out of his misery at the earliest possible opportunity, which was three hours after the explosions.
* * *
KEY
Elizabeth Hunter
Philip Apley
Joshua Johnson
Chenelle Knight
Shilpa Kohli
Rory Lennahan
Calum Nailor
Rahil Nandi
Kayleigh Palmer
Jeffrey Quinn
Liam Tracy
Charmaine Young
Anthea Cahill
Patricia Cahill
Touseef Patel
Lucy Noble
Chloe Noble
Gavin Alderson
Lorraine Lee
Alice Donaldson
Joseph Donaldson
Serena Dunn
Sharon Carter
PC Lewis
Sarah Wilkins
Matey
Terry Potts
Margaret Sharp
Kate Daintree
Gillie Dougall
Edmund Flood
Richard Inman
Stanislaw Krasinski
Nina Krasinski
Janine Nailor
Matthew Larkin
Ben Whatmore
Keith Oxley
Charles Perry
John Hardy
Joseph Harman
Lotte Rabane
David Harman
Sheila Harman
Norbert Robinson
Paul Broadbrook
Frank Pilbury
Deanna Fletcher
Suzanne Sorley
Max Sorley
Belinda Davis
Lily Eames
Nell Lang
William Orme
Polly Lang
Juliet Morgan
Noel Gilliard
Raquel Gibbon
Unidentified woman
Maggie Tate
Marco Lorenzo
Stefano Lorenzo
Barbara Lapsom
Kelly Viner
Sally Thorpe
* * *
EPILOGUE
Six months later
8.10 a.m.
RADIO PRESENTER: It’s ten past eight, and you’re listening to the Morning Newshour on Radio Heathshire.
It’s six months now since the disaster that made Heathwick a household name, with the loss of sixty-five lives, many serious injuries, and the devastation of the ancient centre of the town.
Later today, the official Commission of Inquiry into what happened will publish its interim report on the tragedy. To find out what it’s expected to say, I’m joined by my former colleague Donny Daintree, whose own daughter, Kate, was one of the victims. As many of you will know, Donny gave up his job here after the loss of his daughter to devote himself to seeking the truth about how she, and so many others, died.
Thank you for coming in, Donny, on what must be a distressing day for you and your family.
DONNY: I’m glad to be here and, of course, every day is distressing for us since we lost Kate.
PRESENTER: Indeed. I’m sure the listeners understand what you are going through, and we’re grateful to you for coming back to your old studio today.
Now, you, and the relatives of other victims, have been pushing for the publication of this report. Tell us why.
DONNY: What we are hoping for is a clear picture of the sequence of events. You remember the chaos on the day. I was actually on the air when the first reports came in, and for a long time we weren’t at all sure what had happened. Had there been one explosion or many? Was it terrorism? A plane crash? Something to do with the gasworks that were underway that morning? And why were the emergency services so slow to respond? I for one am haunted by the thought that my daughter might have survived if help had reached her sooner.
PRESENTER: And you’re still in the dark about all this?
DONNY: Yes. With so many people who were there either dead or seriously injured, it was impossible to get a clear account at the time. If anything, things have got worse since then, with news organizations and websites all over the world coming up with incompatible theories and dubious evidence. As you know, we failed to get the official Inquiry held in public. The government insisted on secret hearings because of the suggestion that terrorists might have been responsible, and the commercial sensitivities of the gas company and the airline involved. It means that we, the relatives and the injured victims, have been cut off from important information, and it may be months, or even years, before the Commission finishes its work. That’s why I’m delighted that we have persuaded the Commission to bring out this interim report on the cau
ses of the disaster – to put our minds at least partially at rest. It means we won’t have to wait for the full report, which will go into much more detail, and include recommendations for action to avoid anything similar happening in the future.
PRESENTER: So, what are you expecting today’s report to say?
DONNY: Well, I’m pretty sure it will bear out some of the things I and other researchers have found out through our own investigations. For example, we know now that there may have been as many as four explosions, set off in a sort of domino effect. But we don’t yet know for sure which was the first, or precisely what caused it. I’m pretty confident that the Commission will resolve that this afternoon.
PRESENTER: And your best guess is?
DONNY: I think the blast that happened at the petrol station was the first.
PRESENTER: Yes, there was a fuel delivery in progress at the time, wasn’t there? Did something go wrong with that?
DONNY: Possibly, and the oil company may have serious questions to answer about their safety procedures. But it seems that today’s report may well reveal a more sinister explanation – something that hasn’t been made public before. Now, your listeners will recall that a taxi – the only other vehicle on the forecourt at the time – was completely destroyed in the explosion and subsequent fire. It’s my understanding, having talked to contacts in the Inquiry team, that remnants of explosive devices have been found amongst the remains of the luggage in that taxi.
PRESENTER: So this was a planned terrorist attack?
DONNY: Not necessarily. Or not a planned attack on Heathwick, at least. As you know, the town is not far from the airport. It’s my belief that someone was on his way there with deadly intent.
PRESENTER: So the terrorist died in the blast? It was a suicide attack?
DONNY: I don’t think so. Remember, only three bodies were found at the petrol station – Charles Perry, the taxi driver, Keith Oxley, the driver of the petrol tanker, and John Hardy, who has been identified as the owner of a white van which had run out of petrol further down the street. There does not appear to have been a passenger in the taxi.
PRESENTER: So the taxi driver, Mr Perry, might be a terrorist suspect?
DONNY: There’s nothing to indicate, from his history, or from what his family and friends have said about him, that he had any questionable views or associations. My theory is that he and his passenger were held up on their way to the airport in the terrible traffic that day. I suggest that the passenger knew that the timer in his baggage was counting down, and that he got out of the taxi to save his own skin.
PRESENTER: But why would the taxi driver have kept his luggage?
DONNY: Perhaps the terrorist said he was coming back. As you know, the police have released some footage from the CCTV camera outside the bank in Heathwick High Street. Of course, that camera wasn’t trained on the traffic – it was watching the cash dispenser outside, but at one point you can see a taxi door open, and shortly afterwards a man passes close by the ATM. That man has never been named, despite police appeals for him to come forward, and there are no unidentified male victims now. The one body they can’t put a name to is definitely that of the beggar who had been a feature of the High Street for years. It’s my belief, and I understand it to be the view of the police, that whoever got out of the taxi was the bomber.
PRESENTER: So you think he was on his way to the airport to catch a plane. But surely, with all the security there these days, he’d have been bound to be intercepted.
DONNY: But maybe he had no intention of getting aboard a plane. Perhaps he wanted to bomb the crowded check-in area – where he could position his luggage to do maximum damage before the security checks kick in. Surely the timing of the explosion – if it was set off by a timing device – suggests that he expected to be at the airport then. And he would have been if the traffic hadn’t been so bad.
PRESENTER: So that’s one explosion accounted for, and given that it was at a petrol station, it’s not surprising that its impact was catastrophic. But you, and some of the survivors, say there were more. How do you explain them?
DONNY: Well, first, look at the pattern of damage. As you say, the buildings near the petrol station were bound to be affected, but right at the other end of the street, there was major devastation.
PRESENTER: That’s where the school coach and the funeral cortège were hit?
DONNY: That’s right. What seems to have happened is that the first explosion set off another. Remember, the reason for the traffic chaos was emergency gasworks in the High Street.
PRESENTER: You think there just happened to be an escape of gas as the first blast happened? That sounds a bit of a coincidence.
DONNY: It does. But one of the people in our victims’ support group is convinced that there was trouble in the roadworks. Many of your listeners will know Bernie Blackstock, the manager of the Rose and Crown. He escaped death by a whisker, chasing his dog, who was running away. Bernie recalls one of the gas workers trying to raise the alarm in the seconds before the explosion.
PRESENTER: So that explains two blasts. You say there may have been as many as four. Why do you think there were others?
DONNY: Well, you’ll understand that I need to protect my sources here, but I’m told that forensic evidence points to two other incidents, neither of which would necessarily have been so tremendously devastating on their own, but which were exacerbated, or perhaps even triggered, by the bigger explosions. One of them may have terrorist implications. There hasn’t been any publicity about it, which of course makes it all the more interesting.
PRESENTER: And what is this forensic evidence?
DONNY: Well, a postman was making deliveries in the High Street at the time of the blasts. He was killed. It’s my understanding that an examination of tiny fragments from the wreckage of his cart has revealed explosive damage on the inside.
PRESENTER: But that surely suggests a coordinated attack on Heathwick itself?
DONNY: My sources tell me that there is no similarity between the debris of the devices found in the taxi and in the cart. It seems that the postman was about to deliver some sort of parcel bomb.
PRESENTER: In Heathwick? That sounds a bit far-fetched. It’s not exactly Baghdad or Belfast.
DONNY: I can’t tell you how I know this, but it seems that shortly before the disaster a potential target had taken a room above the dance studio in the High Street. This is the ‘unidentified woman’ on the casualty list issued by the authorities. It’s my belief that they know full well who she was, and are withholding her name for security reasons. I hope there will be some information about her in the report this afternoon.
PRESENTER: And the fourth explosion? Something set off by the other three?
DONNY: Perhaps not. I’ve been talking to a fireman who was on the scene soon after the disaster – he doesn’t want to be named. He’s mystified as to why one of the shops right at the end of the street suffered a total and catastrophic collapse. It was across the road from the gasworks and well away from the other explosions. This was the launderette. Your listeners will probably remember it.
PRESENTER: It was flying masonry from there that killed the horses, wasn’t it?
DONNY: Yes, that’s one fact the authorities have released to the press. The proprietor and his son died too. And it seems possible that this fourth explosion – if indeed that is what happened there – may have been caused by the build-up of inflammable vapours from the dry-cleaning machine. Obviously, on a normal day, that would have been a momentous event for Heathwick in itself. We may never know what actually happened, unless today’s report reveals more evidence.
PRESENTER: Does it really matter what caused those particular deaths? If the Lorenzos hadn’t died in that explosion, they might have been killed by one of the others.
DONNY: The fact that you ask that question brings home the sheer enormity of the overall event. Sixty-five deaths. Some of them possibly avoidable. It’s not good enough to a
ssume that this was a completely unavoidable fireball.
PRESENTER: Which brings us to your other main concern. The length of time that elapsed before the emergency services arrived on the scene.
DONNY: This is crucial. Official logs show that the first emergency call was made at nine twenty-four, and yet the first fire engine didn’t arrive until nearly ten o’clock.
PRESENTER: Do you think today’s report will have an explanation for that delay?
DONNY: I think it will, and I think we already know what went wrong. Do you remember that day, when the news first came through? I think we all assumed, knowing that Heathwick is on the flight path, that such devastation could only be explained by an air crash – perhaps a plane in trouble coming down short of the airport. We were wrong. But it turns out that there was an air emergency that morning. A plane had radioed about a suspicious passenger and a fight on board. The local emergency services had been scrambled to the airport. You’ll recall that the spending cuts last year involved the closure of Heathwick fire station and more sharing of facilities with the airport fire service. It was hoped that there would never be two major incidents at once.
PRESENTER: But fire appliances were not needed at the airport that morning.
DONNY: Well, as it turned out, that plane landed safely, but not until some minutes after the explosions in Heathwick, and the controller felt she could not release fire engines and ambulances from the airport until it was absolutely clear that they were not needed there. She followed procedures to the letter, and did not divert anyone to Heathwick until the plane had come to a standstill, and all the passengers had disembarked.
PRESENTER: With hindsight, she should have broken the rules?
DONNY: With hindsight, yes. It’s hard for me not to criticize her when I know that my daughter was lying in the rubble needing help while firemen were standing by at the airport twiddling their thumbs.
PRESENTER: Of course, the people to blame for that were the people threatening to bring down the aircraft.
The Last Minute Page 13
