“I think I will have recovered the entire programme by tomorrow. I’m about to go home to get some sleep, so if you want to see for yourself, I can run a demo for you then.” Morton responded enthusiastically and asked if it was far enough recovered to let the Prime Minister know.
“I advise against that, simply because we could yet hit a glitch. I’d rather he saw the finished article.” Morton agreed, and Chen breathed a sigh of relief because in his state of exhaustion he had temporarily forgotten about Vivienne Banks’ demand for a copy of the recovered programme.
*
The Colony was still having difficulty recruiting their kidnapper, despite having decided on the target. They had found that there was still a taste in the mouth of the recent clashes between rival factions, which had led to numerous deaths. Added to this, the government had drafted emergency powers to detain those arrested – based on the racial motives involved. There was also the promise of heavier sentences to think about. They felt it would ultimately come down to the price on offer, and therefore exercised more patience.
*
Ben Adams was improving considerably with each passing day, and Renton was so disgusted with Monica Armstrong’s blatant self-preservation speech that he had an impulse to visit his friend during his shift. His speech was pretty much back to normal and his recall was getting clearer. Renton wanted to talk about the football match at the weekend, and how Newcastle United had not been able to live up to that name. Ben wasn’t having that.
“It was just a blip. Next week is the big one, and I’m glad they got this wake-up call. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about Donoghue’s black and grey fibres and how they got on Banks’ clothing.”
“No Ben, we’re not talking shop, I came down here to see you, not to be reminded of how much we miss you.” He related the episode of the gallantry of Cousins.
“I don’t think so boss, he was either on stimulants or he’ll reveal the true purpose of standing in front of the battalion. Never mind Cousins, listen to me. Banks, as we know, got blue fibres from the Alfa Romeo. Donoghue thought the black and grey ones were from carpets. It suddenly dawned on me that since we accepted that Banks was driven from London to Newcastle in the blue car, that this was the whole story. I have heard since then that one of the two thugs he met to collect the package had been matched up with the limo driver who ferried the Banks party to the match.”
“And who told you that?”
“Give me a break boss, you aren’t the only one who has visited me, now will you please listen? Just because it’s pretty certain he was killed down there, we can’t rule out him having been stuffed in another vehicle before he was taken away in the Alfa. For what it’s worth, I did believe Jackson was telling the truth when he said Banks was dead when he arrived. It could be that these thugs were supposed to meet Banks somewhere else, and he was killed there.”
“Are you suggesting, as Jackson has, that they didn’t kill him either?”
“Possibly, but what I really wanted to say, if you will stop interrupting, is that if he had been in the boot of the limo, it should not be impossible for Donoghue to list the types of vehicle to check out. There are not that many auto manufacturers who make limos. There are obviously different lengths and engine sizes, but it would be worth checking which ones supply vehicles with black and grey fibres in the boot. If you get a match amongst them, you may then know something you’ve not investigated so far – the make of the car we’re looking for. You are looking for a driver in the Midwest, and if my hunch is correct, there can’t be all that many limos of that type with those fibres which have been supplied in that region. It certainly wouldn’t be a needle in a haystack, especially as we’re also looking at connections to the Colony.”
“Brilliant Ben, I’ll get Donoghue on it, and come back tonight.”
*
Simon Halliwell-Jones had an update for Bradstock.
“Our undercover man informs us that the countdown has started. We have our people covering the bottled water storage at the warehouses and mines. The distribution of the Iranian product will be the final indicator that they are ready to pollute the water supply. We are also monitoring this aspect. As soon as I give you the signal, we need the raids for all of the targets to be synchronised. This is the most vulnerable part of our plan, as we have to catch these individuals red-handed – they must be in possession of the toxin. As I have stressed before, we must keep the number of people who have advance information to a minimum. At the present time I estimate we will need your men posted within three to four days. I will now update this situation every twenty-four hours.” Bradstock was getting increasingly uptight about the deployment of personnel being required with less than forty-eight hours’ notice.
*
Sam Gibson recognised the voice. “Hello officer, I have remembered Inas Servil’s boyfriend’s name in Gosforth. Do you have a pen and paper?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“It’s Peterson. I thought it was something like Henderson, Harrison or Anderson, but it is Peterson.”
“Thank you very much for your help. I’ll try to find him right away and if I do, I will get her new mobile number for you.” Gibson checked with the council tax people but drew a blank. He began to wonder if Peterson was renting and paying cash with no questions asked. He put out feelers amongst the Gosforth uniform officers to see if they had ever come across a Gary Peterson.
*
When Forster and Bradstock had raked over all of the possible implications of the Colony finding out that the briefcase was empty, they decided not to proceed with the test. They felt it was better to bargain for something as a potential payoff, and set the price so high that the Colony would refuse. Again it was Forster who was thinking outside of the box.
“We want the limo driver, but they won’t part with that kind of information in direct negotiation. If they were prepared to wash their hands of him it would be through a different route. Let’s raise the stakes by first declaring we have not discussed the price for exposing the contents of the case.”
Bradstock’s head was spinning and he was having great difficulty in engaging with this caper while he was in yellow alert for Halliwell-Jones’ project. He simply said, “Great idea, do it.”
*
Gibson struck out again in trying to trace Gary Peterson, as nobody with uniform had heard of him. In desperation he began to go through the electoral register again. When he came to the alphabetical section where Peterson should have been, he suddenly thought that he had written down the name without asking the lady caller to spell it. He rang her back and she corrected his aural error by saying, “Sorry, he always got shirty if people didn’t pronounce his name the way he wanted it to be heard. To me Paterson is pronounced as Pat, not Pate! I think he was ashamed of his roots as a Geordie. He was a prick in more than one meaning of the word.” Now Gibson had two addresses for Gary Paterson.
*
Forster had an immediate response to discuss the price for scanning the briefcase. When he sent back the demand to speak to one of the thugs who had been present when Jackson was lumbered with Banks’ body, it achieved the desired severance of communications. This allowed him to re-enter with a different proposal. The new message indicated that Jackson had claimed to know how to avail of the authentic code to open the briefcase.
*
Donoghue’s database did not contain specific information on limousines, so Renton set Stephanie on the task of unearthing information from the internet. She came up with quite a lot more makes than they expected but this was narrowed by filtering with UK imports and right hand drives. She was left with seven. After over an hour on the phone she had requested samples of boot carpets from each manufacturer. They would arrive by overnight courier.
*
Gibson found Paterson at the second address. Unfortunately he was told that Inas Servil was no longer living with him. He had no idea that she was the sister of the murdered woman in London.
“Do you have any idea where she might be? It’s very important.”
“I think she still sells the Big Issue in town, but I’m not certain. If she does then she usually hangs out at the Eldon Square entrance next to Grey’s Monument.”
“Do you have a recent photo of her?”
“Sure, I have a couple in my wallet. You don’t need to give them back to me. It’s over between us.” Gibson had to get uniform on his side again.
*
Vivienne Banks called Wah Chen several times but his mobile was switched off. He finally returned her call at 6.45 pm.
“Hello, I’m sorry about being unavailable. I needed some sleep after a marathon session in restoring and siphoning off your copy. It had to be done in a certain way to avoid leaving a trail. Anyway it’s done and I’ll show it to Morton tomorrow.”
“Good. Have you thought any more about when you can join Bio-Cure?”
“Yes, I’ll demand a bonus from Morton tomorrow. Even if he agrees, I’ll tell him it is derisory for someone who saved his career. My demand will not be possible. I’ll get really angry and walk out. A couple of hours later I’ll hand him my notice of resignation. If he asks to discuss it I’ll refuse and when he reminds me of confidentiality agreements I’ll acknowledge this in a side letter to my resignation, as long as he gives me a glowing reference. I think we should wait two weeks before I undergo an official job interview, but I can begin consulting soon.”
“Ok, that sounds good. I’m quite concerned about the police at present, as they are sniffing around what was in Alistair’s briefcase when he died. If they ever find evidence that he and Price made this deal with you for the Directory, I’ll have to stumble on it after turning the house upside down. So I need the insurance of a second copy. They will probably search the house themselves and any computer systems at home, and in the office to see if it had been downloaded. I could use your help in cleansing these systems, so that they are satisfied that I knew nothing about the Directory.”
“Alright, that’s no problem. I’ll do it before I come for the interview.”
*
Seth Graham and Eddie Finley were weighing up their options. Firstly, they pondered how Jackson could obtain the code. Then there was the scanner offer which was now priced too high, as they would not even acknowledge that they had their people at the old hospital, let alone be implicated in a wider investigation. They demanded proof of Jackson’s claim. Forster’s reply was curt and indicated that both the Colony and the police were keen to get this information. This changed the dynamic of the exchange. Graham and Finley knew what they were looking for, but began to consider what the police might want. They were pretty sure Banks would not have told anyone of his acquisition of the Directory, as they themselves only knew of it from Peter Beresford. And he in turn had found out through an unknown contact, and this person was absolutely certain that Banks wanted to keep the lid on it, until he was ready to use it.
“Eddie, we wanted the merger stuff, but that is nullified now by Vivienne Banks announcement of the takeover of the German company. That is what Beresford wanted in the first place, but it became an obsession when his son-in-law ignored him. The Directory is potentially far more valuable in bringing down this government. So even before we consider this latest move, we must know how Jackson’s claim can be verified. Even if we are satisfied and we could open the case, we can’t have the plods present, or the whole purpose is rendered useless. If we go along with their claim in principle, they have to agree to allow us to open the case before handing it over to them, and they are not going to agree to that. It is a lock-jam.”
“Not completely, one of their objectives must be to determine if Baumann is alive and whether they can negotiate his release. I think we should get rid of him now, and cut off that risk. If we can be sure Jackson has access to the code, we could use Beresford’s death to our advantage. Let’s say that it was him, the boss, who wanted the merger stopped. He had found out where Banks was going to his meeting with Baumann, and sent two of his personal bodyguards to appropriate the briefcase. Then the truth, he was dead when they got there, and they had to get the body out as the briefcase was double chained to his wrist and they had to meet Jackson at the old hospital. There was no time for them to sever the chain and they had no tools anyway. It was a room in a small hotel. They just had to get out. The entire cock-up must have led to Beresford’s suicide, as his daughter had blamed him for her husband’s death. This would give them a new murder scene at the hotel in the centre of London to investigate. We can wrap it up by telling them where we hired the limo, without needing to compromise the driver. I’m sure that they would jump at the chance to get forensics on to that car. If we are so cooperative we can demand that they let us open the case before handing it and the contents over, minus the Directory. Either way, as you said, the whole shooting match depends on proof that Jackson can deliver the code.”
“I suppose it does no harm to see what they come up with when we ask for that proof.”
“Should I take care of Baumann?”
“Yes, he can’t offer us anything more, other than trouble. We must make sure he becomes untraceable.”
Finley immediately arranged for the disappearance. He was blindfolded and told he was being transferred to another location. As he stood, the thug with the East European dialect twisted his neck abruptly and it cracked as he slumped to the floor. The thug took off his gloves and burned them while the other one brought in a rug and a large plastic sheet. Having trussed up the corpse, they put it in the back of a transit van, alongside some ropes and heavy weights. They drove to the Norfolk Broads and checked into a hostelry for the night. The evening cloud cover conveniently obscured the winter moon and allowed them to push the van quietly to a slight incline. They freewheeled down the slope until it was safe to bump start the vehicle. They drove around eight miles until they found an isolated access point to the canal. With the weights securely fastened, the corpse was rolled gently into the water and made its way to the bottom with only a few bubbles to testify as to Heinrich Baumann’s final resting place. They returned to the hostelry to change clothes, leaving the van some distance away. As they had paid the bill in advance they left and walked to the vehicle. Arriving back in the Midwest, they had arranged for a lift back into the city. They set the transit van and their discarded clothes ablaze near to an old overgrown building in the middle of nowhere, and left.
Having been advised that the mission was accomplished, Finley told Graham they were clear to recommence negotiations. They would make contact mid-morning, and begin with what assurances could be provided on Jackson’s veracity – citing their suspicion of him angling for a deal. They already knew he would want to make a deal with the Colony, because even in prison they could make life extremely awkward for him. The ball was in Forster’s court
.
Chapter 35
Thursday November 22nd 2018
Chen went through his charade with the Home Secretary and was quite convincing in displaying pique at the prospect of not receiving a substantial bonus.
“I found this bloody problem and have fixed it by working all hours of the day and night. How much is your career worth? I am not prepared to accept a pat on the back or a Starbucks coffee voucher. Nobody else could have got you out of this deep shit.” He was correct in his assumption that Morton was more relieved about his own skin being saved than he was about hanging on to Chen’s services. “Look Sir, I don’t see any future here if this is your attitude toward your staff. I thought when I came here that my prospects would be determined on ability and performance. It seems as if I must reconsider my position.”
“Listen Wah, there is a scale of remuneration which can’t be breached. You have to be realistic in your demands.”
“Oh I see, so the bankers still get bonuses for outstanding failure, but success, or prevention of failure counts for nothing here. I’m taking the rest of the day off, as I’m well in credit for flexitime
.” He walked out, and there was no protest from Morton, who only had a conversation with the Prime Minister on his mind.
*
Sam Gibson took a call from uniform to say they had found Inas Servil. He thanked them and said he was headed for the town centre. The officer told him there were monstrous traffic problems and it would be quicker to bring her to the incident room with the aid of their klaxons. Having seated her in the warmth of the canteen, and plied her with a mug of hot tea, she asked if he wanted to see her about her sister’s body. “We still haven’t been told when it will be released. It’s very annoying.”
“Well, strictly speaking, I have no jurisdiction over her murder, but that could change if we can establish something which I already suspect. If that proves to be wrong then I’ll try to find out more information for you if I can. Now, can I ask if Nisha moved to London, or did you move to Newcastle?”
“She moved down there a long time ago, in early 2010, I think.”
“Do you remember why she wanted to go?”
“Well, I’m much younger than Nisha, and at that time I was very sad for her. My mum said it was trouble with her boyfriend. She still used to visit us, and over the years she confided in me that she would love to come back, but she was scared. This boyfriend wasn’t really a normal boyfriend. She hardly saw him except when he wanted it. When she decided to move on, he threatened her.”
“In what way did he threaten your sister?”
“He said he would spread rumours about her ‘being easy’ at first, and that is bad for a Muslim girl, and then he sent a letter to her employer saying that she was a petty thief, having stolen valuable items from his home. Finally, he said if he couldn’t have her, then nobody else would either. She managed to placate him by pretending to change her mind, and asked her employer to transfer her to London.”
“Oh, and who was her employer at that time?”
“Northumbrian Water, she worked in the office as a clerk, so they had lots of contacts with other water authorities and were sympathetic in view of the false allegations in the letter her boyfriend sent them. I think she joined Thames Water a few months after she moved; she just wanted to get away from him.”