‘And what exactly did she have to say about shaving her boyfriend?’
Driver shrugged. ‘Dunno. Sounded sexy, though. Shaved him and his two mates, apparently.’
There was a street map underneath the custody officer’s desk. Henry and Donaldson inspected it, Henry putting his finger on Springfield Road, which was about a quarter of a mile from where Donaldson had first spotted Sadiq on the prom, clean-shaven and ready to explode. It was at least a mile away from the flat further north that had been under police observation, the one Sadiq and Rahman were believed to have been in.
‘She went with Sadiq to an address somewhere around here,’ Henry said, his finger circling the street map. ‘Had sex with him and Akram, then they ditched her after she shaved them from head to toe — is what I think. Which is when Driver found her.’
‘OK,’ Donaldson said. ‘So they had access to the apartment under surveillance, but they sure as hell did not prepare for their last journey there.’
‘Bingo,’ Henry said. ‘You said your insider found out there were three of them, not two — which fits. They used someone else’s flat to prepare, and to have sex with Natalie.’ He mulled it over, his mind suddenly alive again. ‘We caught two of them, and you almost nailed Akram, which put a spanner in their works and obviously bomber number three was aborted.’
‘And if what Flynn says is true, that Akram has come back to finish what he started, then there will be another one of them waiting for him. Akram himself won’t be the third one, because he’s the one who sends others to their deaths. So we were right — it’s not over. He could be back in town right now, strapping explosives on to another poor schmuck. He needs to be there to push the buttons, metaphorically and literally.’
‘Then again,’ Henry said, ‘we could be completely wrong.’
‘I’d rather have egg off my face, H.’
‘Me too,’ Henry agreed. Henry led Donaldson back through the station corridors to Rik Dean’s office, both wondering how best to come at the problem. Rik was in his office, and so was an exhausted looking Chief Constable Robert Fanshaw-Bayley. He had felt it his duty to turn out because of PC Driver’s arrest.
‘Morning, boss,’ Henry said, his enthusiasm waning.
‘And Mr Donaldson, too,’ FB said. ‘Sometimes I think you guys are joined at the hip. Anyhow, come in and grab a seat. DI Dean is just bringing me up to speed with PC Driver. Good arrest, Henry. Shame it’s a cop. And you thought she might’ve been murdered by our terrorist friends.’
‘Not a bad guess, based on the fluids inside her.’
‘I know all that, but it wasn’t them.’
‘No, but I’m sure she was with them in the hours before her unfortunate meeting with PC Driver.’
FB nodded, then looked at Donaldson. ‘And why are you back up in this neck of the woods?’
‘Our terrorist friends.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Akram is back on UK soil,’ he stated, then turned to Henry. ‘I know this guy, Henry. I’ve been on his tail since 1988. He’s here in town, I feel it. He finishes jobs, and whether it’s today or next week or next month, a lot of people in Blackpool are going to die en masse, but my guess is sooner not later. He’s a quick operator. It would have all been set up until we spoiled it. He won’t hang around. He’s a busy guy, lots of people to kill the world over, and, according to my sources, there is someone else involved.’ He paused — a little too dramatically for FB, but it was to good effect — and turned to the chief, ‘You need to launch a manhunt — sir.’
‘Bastard laughed at me,’ FB said. The chief had made a call to Beckham at MI5, while Henry and Donaldson went up to the canteen to order breakfast. He’d then climbed the stairs to the dining room, arriving red-faced and breathless and not a little annoyed.
A coffee and bacon sandwich were waiting for him and he dived on to them with gusto, tore a few mouthfuls from the sandwich, wiped his mouth and then declared Beckham’s reaction to him.
Henry said, ‘What did he actually say?’
‘I told him we suspected another person was involved and he said, “What, three?” I said, “Yes, is that correct?” He said no, but wanted to know where my information had come from, and I told him I wasn’t at liberty to reveal my source.’ FB looked pointedly at Donaldson, who experienced an unsettling quiver through his intestines, and not from the look or the food. ‘He laughed and said, “From a Yank, I’ll bet” — then he clammed up.’
‘Did you press him on that?’ Donaldson asked. FB shook his head. Donaldson fell silent and Henry watched him working through this new piece of information.
‘Two things,’ Donaldson said at length. ‘I think I’ve been fed a hook, line and sinker here. They ensure that Edina — ’ Donaldson held up his hand to stop FB’s question ‘- hang on a minute… they ensure Edina comes across some information that might be of value to me. In other words, they feed her what they think is false information to see if it surfaces somewhere, then they can backtrack it. And now it has surfaced — ’ he looked at FB — ‘and now she’ll need to really watch her ass. She thought they were on to her, now it’s for sure.’ He shook his head at the enormity of the situation.
‘You said two things,’ Henry reminded him.
‘Oh yeah. Thing is, therefore, MI5 don’t actually know there’s a third party involved. They don’t know. They made it up, like spies do, to feed the “enemy” — me — a line. They don’t know. They knew about the two lads and about Akram, but they haven’t yet worked out that they set off from another location, just assumed, like us all, they managed to get out of the flat without the cops seeing them. Shit like that happens. They didn’t even check the drains. I’ll bet their scientists haven’t found any traces of explosives or anything in that flat — because the lads simply lived in it, but didn’t operate from it.’
‘Half-baked Intel,’ FB spat. ‘And if it hadn’t been for you guys, Blackpool would have been blown to smithereens.’
Henry blinked. FB handing out accolades. Almost unheard of.
‘It still might be,’ Donaldson warned. ‘Akram is back in town. Don’t forget Rahman’s video… “the big one is yet to come”.’ He exhaled. ‘That said, I need to make a phone call and warn somebody.’
As Donaldson stuffed the remainder of his bacon sandwich into his mouth, swilled it down with his coffee and got to his feet, Henry remembered something. It was eight fifty and Mark Carter was due to answer his bail at nine.
‘I need to move, too.’ Then Henry realized something else that he’d nearly forgotten. He put a hand on Donaldson’s sleeve. ‘Come down to the front desk with me. Might be something, might not… make your call on the way.’
Hung over, Mark Carter sat disconsolately in the public waiting area of the police station. He rocked slightly whilst waiting for the chance to get to the front counter and present himself, but there was a queue and he wasn’t in a hurry. His face fell when Henry appeared and beckoned him across. Henry opened the door for him and led him through to the custody office, booking him back into the system.
‘Do I need a brief?’ Mark asked when the question of his rights came up.
Henry said, ‘No.’
‘Can I trust you?’
‘No. This way.’ Henry steered him into an interview room and sat him down. ‘We need to wait a minute for someone to arrive, then we need a serious talk.’
‘Oh, it’s just been fun up to now, has it?’ Mark sneered.
‘C’mon babe,’ Donaldson whispered into his phone as he listened to it ring out.
Then a man’s voice came on. ‘Hello, Edina Marchmaine’s phone
… could I ask who’s calling, please?’ He had a southern accent and Donaldson was thrown slightly off kilter. Was this her husband, Hugo?
‘Can I ask who that is, please? I’m calling to speak to Mrs Marchmaine.’
‘My name is PC Archer from the Metropolitan Police.’
‘What are you doing with Mrs Marchmaine’s phone?’
‘I’m sorry, sir, but you need to tell me who you are.’
Feeling this ping-pong could go on for a while, Donaldson said — with dread — ‘An old friend… John Hancock from America,’ a poor ad-lib, but all he could come up with there and then. ‘We’re due to have lunch today, Mrs Marchmaine and I.’
‘I’m sorry,’ the voice said, ‘but Mrs Marchmaine has had an accident…’
‘A bad one?’
