Dan stared wide-eyed at the film. It was clearly the right vehicle, but there was no way to identify it rolling along the unlit prom with its lights off. ‘Sam, that’s what we pay you for. Brilliant work,’ he said. A little over the top, maybe, but he needed to drag the lad back up again.
‘Okay, let’s focus on suspect Kegan. We have a vehicle. We have a description, and a pretty accurate photofit. Adam, Lizzie and however many of Team One DC level are available, get on to that straight after this meeting. Sergeant Larcombe will oversee the division of labour. Everything routed back through him, please.’ He checked the time. ‘Most gyms are open in the evenings, I believe. Oh, and no heroics. We’re all on phones, call for backup before you do anything brave, okay? We want this guy in one piece.’
Bennett looked thoughtful. ‘This bloke who appears in the CCTV footage. Our friends in MI5 have shown huge interest in this case, because of the mysterious Paddy, what if this guy is one of them?’
‘Or,’ offered Sam, ‘could he actually be involved? It’s just a thought, sir, but it does seem like a lot of complicated stuff for a very small team of two to organise – one of them a gym instructor and one of them a student. Well, possibly a student.’
‘Go on,’ said Dan, ‘think it through.’
Sam blushed, but straightened his shoulders. ‘Well, she’s had to build her team, and that started two years ago when she came to Exeter. She had to find her victims, and that would have taken a lot of planning and searching. I mean, how long did it take her to realise they were all in Exmouth? Again, we are going back to when she must have been a teenager. Just doesn’t seem likely that she would have had the resources, that’s all.’
‘And she must have known what she was planning when she stole Kathy Kelly’s ID in Ireland, four years ago,’ added DCS Oliver, ‘and possibly set the fire that killed her. Could she have done that as a teenager, without help? I really don’t think so.’
‘Yes, that’s what I think, ma’am,’ said Sam, now in full flow. ‘We’re looking at a cold, calculating murderer, who had three victims in mind from the start. I don’t buy this “find a drunk and chuck him on the fire” business. I reckon she knows them all and chose them specifically. And she’s working as part of a bigger team.’ He sat back into his chair, having given his longest speech to an audience ever.
Dan nodded encouragement at him. ‘Good assessment. I like your thinking on this. Anyone else got anything to add?’
Sally did. ‘I think we have to go back to Allport at Lympstone. He was definitely covering something up when we mentioned Paddy. The first two victims were marines, why should the third be any different?’
‘MI5’s nosiness tells me that the marines were involved in Northern Ireland secret operations, maybe in the eighties or nineties,’ said Larcombe. ‘And maybe the marines upset some IRA members?’
‘That’s a bloody long time to wait for revenge,’ said Sally. ‘It must be twenty years since the peace process.’
‘So, going on what we have extrapolated so far, what if the third victim was also part of an operation in Ireland, in what, the nineteen-nineties?’
Lizzie yelped. ‘Sir, what if the third man is Allport himself? It would explain how he knows the victims.’
‘And all the lying is about protecting himself,’ added Sally.
‘Or, he could be lying to order, if something happened that isn’t in the public domain,’ said Bill Larcombe.
‘And what if Allport already knows he’s the next victim?’ Lizzie asked.
Sally snorted. ‘Well, as long as he stays on the campus, he’s all right, surely? He’s got hundreds of marines to protect him!’
Dan scratched his head with his pen. ‘You’re stretching it a bit, but I like it. It would explain some of what’s been going on. Allport definitely knew both men. They could easily have been in a team he was running back then. The involvement of MI5 could point to the fact that they know it’s not a closed case.’
‘And Paddy’s been pretending to be a homeless person to keep an eye on what’s happening?’ Lizzie punched the air then winced, clutching her injured hand. ‘We’ve got it!’
‘Okay, but say it is Allport, and he is somehow forced to leave the barracks?’ mused Dan. ‘That’s what I’d do, if I was Tana. I’d make it so he has to get off the base and be much more vulnerable. Now, what would make him leave the base?’ He felt the excitement rise; they were close now. ‘We have no idea about his life. Is he married, divorced, single, gay?
‘We have to talk to him, Sally. Bill, as you’re staying here, can you try to get a better ID photo-fit picture of Tana, and send us the best you can get? She might be recognisable. Also, Sam, the man in the overcoat and homburg hat, whatever you can get, I’ll take. Thanks.
‘The rest of you, try to ID Kegan, or whatever he’s really called, and get an address. Remember, he’s dangerous and may be armed.
‘Lizzie, you and Adam check out the Tana address.
‘Sally, you’re with me. Let’s go and confront the colonel, see if he’s ready to talk at last.
‘Ma’am, any chance you could contact the spooks again, let them know what we suspect? We could do with their help. I suppose you should send them a copy of the man in the homburg hat too.’
Larcombe sniffed. ‘If they’re not already listening, that is.’ He put his hand to his ear. ‘Is that a helicopter I hear?’
DCS Oliver stood up. ‘Go to work, Bill,’ she said. She turned to Dan; ‘It looks like you’re onto something with Allport, but we have little jurisdiction on a marine base without a warrant. I’ll contact a magistrate and get one emailed to your phone, just in case Allport is being difficult. I’ll have the print version ready if you need it.’
She signalled for Dan to join her on her walk back to her office. ‘If I call MI5 now, they’ll stop all our activity and throw us off the case, take all the credit, and leave us looking like fools. So, do what you can without them. Get straight on to me as soon as you think we have to inform them. And for God’s sake, don’t say King of the Sea on any open channels.’ She patted Dan on the arm. ‘Good luck.’
38
Claire answered on the third ring. ‘I gather that, as it’s six-thirty already and you’re not home, you’re going to be late?’ she asked.
‘Sorry, very late, and please tell me we’re not supposed to be doing anything tonight that I’ll have to grovel about.’
‘No, just a night in, in front of the fire, with music and soft lighting and good food. No, you stay at work and play with your friends, you’re not missing anything at all.’
He ended the call listening to her laugh. It made him feel better about not being there. He had tried to make it clear to her that jobs could take over, and, so far, so good.
Sally was waiting for him in the MI room, in her coat. ‘Spoken to Paul?’ he asked her.
‘Yes, and to Mum, and to the girls. They’re okay, if a bit itchy from all the chickenpox bumps. I just like to be home for bedtime, but it can’t be helped.’ She picked up her notebook and pen. ‘They start school full-time in January, you know. All grown up. It’s sad really.’ She gathered her bag and stood by the door, checking her notebook.
Dan thought about Sally’s kids starting school, on his way to the car. She could step up to DI soon, he thought, if she got cracking on her DI exams and training. How great would that be? He could get Lizzie started on her sergeant’s training too, and get in another couple of DCs to stretch out the team again. Bill and Ben wouldn’t be here forever either. Ben had dropped enough hints in the last few months, but Sam was also ready to start sergeant training. That could work very well, he thought. He clicked open the car doors and waited until Sally was inside before starting the motor. I just need to broach it when she’s not knackered, and minding sick kids, and in the middle of a case. DI exams are no joke.
* * *
Colonel Allport wouldn’t let them in. The marine doing gate security was apologetic, but Colonel Allport w
as in a meeting and could not be disturbed.
‘Look, I’m not being difficult,’ said Dan. ‘But he’s not in a meeting at seven o’clock on a Thursday night, is he?’
‘Sorry, sir,’ said the marine, ‘but that’s what he said.’
Dan shrugged, and brought up the hastily signed warrant on his phone and held it in front of the guard’s face. ‘I hate to have to do this, but we have a warrant to enter these premises and search Colonel Allport’s quarters. So, if you would open the gate, we’ll go about our lawful business.’
The marine stared at the warrant. ‘I’ll need to get someone more senior,’ he said, and disappeared into his booth.
Sally smirked. ‘Bet they’ve never had a warrant served on them before.’
‘I wish I didn’t have to use it. We’re on the same side, aren’t we? I’ve no idea why there is so little cooperation between the services.’
‘It’s because they like to manage this stuff themselves. They have their own disciplinary measures, and prisons.’
‘Hmm,’ said Dan, ‘but they’re not above the law.’ He watched as a familiar figure came round the corner. ‘Aha, we have action.’
Allport was shaking with rage. ‘What the hell are you people up to, disturbing me at a very important dinner to be told you have a warrant to search my rooms? How dare you? You can’t just walk in here like you have some jurisdiction over this base.’
Dan held up the warrant, close enough for Allport to read it. ‘I think you will find you are not above the law of the land, sir. I regret that this was necessary, but it really is a matter of great urgency that we speak to you, and we thought you might say no. So, please let us in.’
Allport’s anger beat out a pulse on his temple. He gestured at the guard to open the gate and stalked off at speed, not caring if they could keep up.
Sally glanced at Dan. ‘Worked a treat, that did,’ she puffed, as she hurried to keep up with Dan’s long strides. ‘He’ll be a pussycat, won’t he?’
In his office, Allport whirled on them. ‘I have nothing to say to you. Take what you need then get out.’ He folded his arms and stood by the window, looking out into the floodlit square.
Sally took the initiative. ‘Sir, we don’t actually want to search anything. We just need to talk to you. We think your life may be in danger.’
‘Well, it wouldn’t be the first time, sergeant. Why now?’
Dan shook his head; why was the fool pretending he didn’t know what they were talking about? He sat in a chair and beckoned Sally to join him in front of the desk. He waited until she had switched on her recorder and placed it on the desk.
‘We want to share the results of our investigation with you. We want to be open, and honest, and for you to be the same way with us. We’re on the same side, Colonel. We know that you’re well aware of what is going on, but you won’t bring us in on it. We all want to stop any more murders.’
‘We’re pretty sure you brought MI5 down on our backs, for instance,’ said Sally. ‘You were straight on the phone as soon as we left your office, and we had to give Paddy up to them. I’m assuming he’s now on a new mission somewhere. We know this is to do with undercover operations in Northern Ireland in the eighties or nineties. You know, all that stuff will be released into the public domain in a few years, surely you can tell us just what we need to know to solve the case?’
Allport shifted his stance at the window, turned, and sat in his chair. The high colour had subsided and he had his breathing under control. ‘I know what you need, Hellier, but I am bound forever by the Official Secrets Act. I can’t tell you what we were doing there. And you can turn that recorder off for a start.’
‘It’s purely for our records, sir. But you were on an undercover mission? With Ongar and Hamworthy?’
Allport gave a weary nod, some of the bluster had fizzled out. ‘And the man you know as Paddy, was our informer. He worked both sides. Ironically, Paddy is his real name.’
‘Has he been spying on you?’ asked Sally.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. He was keeping an eye on Hamworthy and Ongar. They were addicts, could have opened their mouths to anybody when they were half-cut, but it suited the powers that be to keep them in that terrible state – dependent on me for money, unable to do or say anything that would lead back to …’ Allport rubbed his hands across his face and glanced at the phone. ‘I thought he had killed them. Paddy, I mean. That they’d finally become too much of a risk.’
Dan could hardly breathe. Tell us, just tell us. He forced himself to sit in silence and wait for Allport to talk. Several minutes ticked by.
On a small outbreath, Allport talked. ‘I am aware that I am the intended third victim, Detective Chief Inspector. If whoever it is gets to me, then they will have killed the whole team.’
‘Can you tell us what happened, sir, even if you can’t tell us what you were doing there?’
Allport suppressed another sigh. ‘I suppose it was a long time ago, and, much as I have tried, I’ve never been able to forget what happened.’ He stared out into a well-lit courtyard. ‘Maybe it is time for it to come out. At least in private.’ He helped himself to water from a carafe on the desk. ‘I was not a marine when I joined the armed forces, I was in the army. I led an elite group of men in undercover work. That was my team: Ongar, Hamworthy, and two others – dead now. We worked across the services, including marines.
‘We had a tip-off that there was an arms cache in a remote farmhouse. There was, but we encountered a woman and her two sons at the farm, all armed. We should have captured them and taken them off-site, but Ongar, bloodthirsty sod that he was, said he wanted to finish it properly. He set fire to the barn. Only we hadn’t found the ammo we were looking for, it was hidden under the floor of the barn. The explosion could be seen for miles, and the family and the men guarding them were too close to the fire to get away.’
‘Who did you kill that night?’
Allport looked across at Dan, old wounds naked in his eyes. ‘The family of Brendan Moore: a major in the IRA, his two boys and their mother. And the two soldiers guarding them.’
Sally cleared her throat. ‘So, has Moore tracked you down after twenty years?’
‘For the second time, it looks like he has.’
She caught Dan’s eye. Second time. ‘Can you tell us about the first time?’
There was a hesitation in Allport’s voice. ‘I have never talked about this to anyone. It must not come out in court. Do I have your word?’
Dan could hardly answer. He couldn’t lie. ‘I will try my best to save you from that, sir. I think MI5 may help there.’
Allport nodded. ‘I lived on a base in NI at that time, with my family. Moore found us and set fire to my house one night.’ He ran a hand over his face once more. ‘My wife and son died at the scene. I managed to get out and I rescued my daughter, who was badly burned in the fire. I thought that would be enough. I thought that would be enough, Brendan,’ he shouted to the walls.
‘What happened then?’
‘The authorities thought it best to change my identity. Mike Shepherd disappeared, I became Mike Allport and transferred into the marines over here. I’ve been here ever since.’
‘But what about your daughter, sir? What happened to her?’ asked Sally.
‘Ah, yes. Maria. She was in hospital for many months having skin grafts. They thought it was safest for her to think I had died as well, to avoid further retribution. They had her adopted into a family somewhere in Ireland. She was eight years old. They thought that was best for her. As if she would just forget me, or I, her. Took my daughter, took my life.’ He shaded his face with one hand. ‘So, here I am, and out there is Moore.’
‘And somehow, he has found you again, through the woman we know as Tana?’ asked Sally.
Allport nodded, all anger spent. ‘It has taken him twenty years to track me down, but I believe it is him.’
‘And Tana?’
‘His daughter, or a granddaughter? I
don’t know if he married again after his wife was killed, but he may have spent years grooming her to take on this role. Certainly, he would be bitter enough to never let it lie.’
Dan found he was struggling to keep up. 'When did you realise what was actually happening?'
‘Oh, only this afternoon. We keep detailed surveillance of the gate and wall CCTV, and any odd behaviour, or change in patterns, is brought to my attention. Mostly it’s regular dog walkers and people riding their bikes. The woman, Tana, and her companion, a large young man, have been walking around the perimeter for weeks, obviously checking out security. Security teams just keep an eye on people like that. It’s a difficult place to break into, as you can imagine, but we keep them under surveillance.
‘I had no idea that they might be the killers until this afternoon, when I saw Brendan Moore, after twenty years, large as life out there with a young woman hanging off his arm, staring up at the fence. It didn’t take me long to work out who had killed the other two, and why they were here: they are after me. But it was only when I saw Brendan that I realised the depth of his need for vengeance. He won’t stop until he has us all.’
‘Or until we stop him ourselves. We can do this with your help, sir.’ Dan tried to catch the man’s eye, but Allport seemed far away in his thoughts.
‘No need, I know how to sort it out so it will be over very soon.’
Dan felt dread. What had the bloke done? ‘What do you mean, sir?’
‘I shall make myself available. While I have been in here they have been unable to touch me, whereas if I go out on Saturday as usual, as if I suspect nothing, they can pick me up, do their deed, and I can end it.’
‘Saturday? Why that day in particular?’
‘Let’s not kid ourselves, Chief Inspector. They have studied my routine. They didn’t try to pick me up yesterday, and my next evening off base is always Saturday nights. I have a … lady friend who I see on Wednesdays and Saturdays. They will know that, of course.
Death on the Coast Page 20
