“Okay.”
“Wally knew your boss well didn’t he?”
“Yes they worked a big case about twenty years ago. Jack will come up here personally I’m sure.”
“Will you kill this man?”
“We’ll try not to, though it looks like Cobb and the others that came in with him are death or glory types, especially after what’s happened at Perth. I’d rather he was put on trial, along with the people who hired him, that can only happen if we catch him alive.”
“What happened at Perth?”
“There was another shoot out, one dead assailant one dead police man and his dog.”
“It’s awful.”
“What Wally was doing was a part of all this. We have to stop these men before they do whatever it is that they think killing innocent people is worth the price of.”
With that they said their goodbyes. Tony took a last look at Ginny and Tara. He fixed in his mind the image of Wally’s corpse and their faces. It would determine him, harden him to the task. He carried them grief before him as a warning and a torch to light his way in what was becoming a very dark journey.
Chapter 41
Perth Scotland
Midnight
“Right the one at the Marina is Cobb.”
“Right.”
“Spencer was the dead one on the track.”
“Right.”
“Wheeler was the one who escaped the hospital.”
“Right.”
“That leaves Mason to be the one on the train.”
“Right.”
“A booking was made in the name of Townshend weeks ago, but Spencer was in that sleeper.”
“Right.”
“Except Mason didn’t show up on the CCTV for Inverness and evidence from CCTV linked to a stolen white Alfa shows someone like Mason on the industrial estate where it was taken.”
“Right.”
“Which means there’s a fifth man.”
“Dewey missed one then.” Beaumont said finally.
David nodded.
“Let’s tap into the CCTV footage of Inverness. You know before we left London I was looking at Spencer on the screen and something bugged me about the man at the next cashier. It was the same thing that bugged me on the platform.”
They pulled up the CCTV footage.
“Trains, planes and automobiles.”
“What?”
“Well, one bike, one boat, one train, one flight which leaves walking.”
“Or hitching.”
“Right.” David ran the footage and froze it on Stanton. It was hard to see his face clearly, but for a second McKie caught a glimpse at one eye. He ran the footage on and there was a look of recognition from Spencer as the fifth man passed.
“Spencer knew this guy. They could have met on the train. We’ll arrange interviews with restaurant staff and have the girl at Inverness who served him interviewed too.”
McFarlane had been sat in silence quietly stroking his dog. Too old for the duty rota he spent time knowing his city and the people in it.
“Your man has probably gone down river. He’ll head for the motorway and hitch. If you pull up the map I’ll show you where it joins.”
“Good John. That’s a thought.”
“He’ll kill the driver of course.” Beaumont added gloomily.
“Why?”
“No witness.”
“That could mean he killed the driver who took him to Inverness. Jack said to check missing persons.”
McFarlane pulled up the map on the laptop. The M90 was clear as a scar on sunburn, threading south.
“Edinburgh or Glasgow?” He asked.
“No idea.” David was stumped.
“I like the idea of Glasgow.”
“Call Jack and have him send a duty team to Edinburgh, we’ll go Glasgow way tomorrow.”
“After we’ve talked to the police and some of the staff. If only we had an image of the fifth man.” Beaumont suddenly brightened. “Couldn’t you try and sketch the face you saw on the platform, the way Dewey did?”
“I can’t draw. I’d know him if I saw him.”
“I can draw. I was a graphic designer. I still do some freelance work. Get that Inverness image up and we’ll add any changes.” McFarlane left the room to get a sketch pad and a portable scanner.
“Okay. The man on the platform had a goatee beard for a start.”
Half an hour later they had the sketch of their fifth man, scanned it in and sent it to Jack at DIC centre. Jack told them they’d have to decrypt the MI6 site again, that could take until sunrise. Fulton agreed they should head for Glasgow. He also suggested that there might be more than five. He added to their knowledge by telling them of Sternway’s conversation, crackly as it was, and that it might implicate him in whatever plot was unfolding. He explained about the police being called to a burning Alfasud on an estate in Glasgow. Mason was probably there too and Wheeler could be holed up there. There was no doubt that Glasgow should be their next stop.
They tossed a coin for the spare room and Beaumont won. Exhausted and troubled Beaumont and McKie went to sleep, David with his hand gun on the arm of the sofa. The slightest of noises woke him all the way through the night.
Chapter 42
Just outside Perth
Midnight
It was a sopping wet and exhausted Stanton who stood at the edge of the M90. He had swum three miles down stream, knowing that the thermal imaging helicopter was checking the ground to the south of the station. He heard dogs and sirens, but kept swimming on, freezing and as the night wore on the rain got stronger, a veritable downpour. In the end the weather was to his advantage. He skirted the A94 and crossed fields to get to the Glasgow bound section of the M90 and risking being spotted started walking, soaked and muddy along the hard shoulder. Exhausted as he was he knew that he must keep going, the risk of capture now held years in prison and he had been free too long to suffer a cell.
Cars were few and far between and none would stop for the sopping figure, most having heard the news at least on the radio; man on the run. It was looking grim as at any moment one might connect and do the good citizen thing.
The rain lashed at him and he shivered uncontrollably. It was in his mind to get out of the country. Find a friend and leave this mission behind, money or not.
