Bearings: The Compass Trilogy Part One
Page 10
I nodded agreeably…
“He was lying to all of us… After a degree of arm twisting, his Building Society have confirmed that he didn’t keep the re mortgage appointment and also a personal savings account had been credited with thirteen thousand pounds. His estranged wife was under the impression he received it from the Society however, we now think the reason for the separation is down to the fact that the Building Society contacted her… The money was deposited anonymously in a branch in Leicester…”
“Thank you Steve, stick around please we’ll, well I’ll, need some guidance from you…”
“Yes Chief…”
I stood, walked to the window, looking at nothing in particular…
“So, his marriage was already over, had been really for months, judging by what his wife has said. Emotionally vulnerable, he meets a guy who offers him…? Well, we all know how it works…”
I turned and refaced the room…
“Steve, leave him in place until Angela McQueen returns to the UK, let’s see what he gets up to. I also don’t want her spooked. She’s on her way to finalise a property deal, clearly we need to know where… Sarah, when we find out which route she is taking, Holland or Belgium, speak to them and ask them to confirm arrival only. When the time is right we’ll give them what we have, also inform Niklas she’s possibly on her way to visit her sister too...”
“Chris who do we have quite close to Hull…?”
“Snipe, I think… I believe he’s checking containers at Immingham, you want him over there…?”
“I do, but at a discreet distance… If Catlin thinks there is another officer in place he’ll suss it. Brief Snipe on the trip; tell him the cams are faulty so we need eyes on…”
“I’ll do it now… Iain, he could do a bit of mingling too, Jay, Starling and Snipe have never met… Make sure he gets on board, like…?
“Yes, a much better idea but very quietly Chris…”
Chapter Twelve
Starling had arrived at the ferry port at 1645 after purchasing a ticket he rang the ops room, Chris answered…
“Section Head…”
“Starling giving an update boss…”
“Wait one, I’ll get the Chief and put you on speaker…”
He left his office instructing Charlotte to put him through when he entered mine.
“Go ahead Starling…”
“Backpack arrived at 1640 and purchased a ticket for the overnight service to Rotterdam, scheduled to return on Friday evening of next week… I have done the same… An SO12 officer, Jeff Pike, has made himself known to me as instructed… I’m now to try and locate Jay… I’ll check back in on board before departure…”
“Understood Starling…”
The Opel Astra driver had purchased a similar ticket and had driven straight to the marshalling area behind the passenger terminal. With both the Zeebrugge and Rotterdam sailings within an hour of each other the port was very busy with the passenger waiting areas filling up rapidly. There appeared to be more adults travelling on this crossing than the southern east and western channel routes. The carrier offered passengers a mini-cruise option here to sample the delights of Amsterdam, a short coach journey from Rotterdam’s huge Europort facility which was clearly reflected in the age and behaviour of the travellers. The terminal housed two bars which had ferry goers getting into the party mood early. The two well-known high street fast food chains housed in the building were gearing up for the pre embarkation rush…
Starling dialled the pre-installed number in his mobile phone which was answered immediately; with the security protocols fulfilled the officers met each other outside the main entrance...Two fellow passengers enjoying a cigarette was how it would be interpreted by others. Pike had retreated to his vehicle and was at that moment shooting a roll of film using his SLR… Snipe was doing the same from the link span gantry…
“So Starling, you’ve travelled from Belfast eh…?”
“Yeah, rush job too, as soon as I was on the POI we were off up the motorway. She’s booked on the Rotterdam boat… All I’ve been told is to shadow her to wherever she goes and shadow her back again. Someone somewhere thinks she’s trafficking for PIRA…”
Rod Catlin absorbed the information then said…
“You’re in a car then…? That’s much handier than being a foot passenger. What do they think she’s trafficking…?”
“Yeah, I’m in a Ford Mondeo… Nice car, it bloody shifts. It’s a good job really the speed she’s been doing… They haven’t really said what she’s trafficking. It could be that she has a car full of counterfeit cash. Watching her, she seems to have a fair wedge of the stuff on her. At least five or six hundred quid…”
“They are going to start boarding shortly… I’d get around there… I’ll go and inform the DO…”
“Ok Jay, I may catch you on the way back and hey…? Be safe fella…!”
“Yeah you too Starling…”
*****
Chris, Steve and I had retreated to the comms room situated on the fifth floor next to decoding. We had re-directed the Duty Officer line temporarily to receive Starling’s all clear. The room contained monitors for real time imagery from orbiting satellites, six telephones and a bank of radio transmitters capable of reaching the Adriatic if needed. Hull would be no problem… There was also a dedicated connection to GCHQ based in Cheltenham who could direct any outside call through here… We sat in silence listening to the steady hum of the air conditioning units keeping the banks of circuitry cooled, occasionally refilling plastic cups with iced water from the dispenser… It was also the only room which was dimly lit. There was another such room in the basement which controlled the buildings telephone and electronic mail lines…
The first voice to crackle over the RT was that of the SO12 officer…
“Delta 4 to control, subject has re-entered the building. I’m moving in closer, over…”
Steve would be communicating with him…
“Roger delta 4, visual only… No images from this point unless unobserved…”
“Received control… Out…”
The RT hissed, the room was silent again…
“Snipe to control, Rotterdam vehicle embarkation proceeding… Starling and Backpack have boarded, I repeat, Starling and Backpack have boarded, over…”
This time I responded…
“Roger that Snipe, hold position until departure…” “Roger control, Snipe holding…Out…”
Chris walked to the water dispenser and refilled his cup…
“Well, so far so good. No ranks of the ungodly trying to nobble our boy…”
Steve and I looked at him in amusement, I said… “Chris, have you been reading thrillers again mate…?”
“Aye, but only the classy ones mind... I’ve got to keep me eye in now I’m in the office, like…”
The three of us laughed at this. The tension was lifting…
“Delta 4 to control, subject is using payphone three, I repeat, subject is using payphone number three…”
“Roger delta 4, we are recording…Out…”
During the transmission Chris had lifted the direct line and spoke to GCHQ…
“Terminal building, number three…”
The voice on the other end of the line replied… Confirming terminal building, number three…” “That is correct…”, Chris said.
“Recording…”
He gave us a nod then concentrated on his drink…
“Snipe to control, Rotterdam ferry departing… All clear this side… I am calling all clear this side, over…”
“Received Snipe. Rotterdam departing, all clear your side, over”
“Roger control… Out…”
The Duty Officer telephone rang…
“Control this is Starling and all is well…! Embarkation went smoothly and the ship should be docking on time. If there are any problems I will use the ship’s satellite to contact you…”
“Ok Starling we’ve go
t that…”
Good, all that was required now was the transcript of Jay’s telephone conversation…
GCHQ would courier the recording to Compass… We were gearing up to receive it by 2100. Robin was returning to the office by 2030 after the review he would speak to the Home and Foreign Secretaries…
*****
“O’Hanlon speaking…”
“You’ve got a problem; McQueen is being tailed, so they’ll have you too… I suggest you make sure your house is in order and maybe disappear for a while…”
“I have someone on her so she behaves herself and anyway McQueen’s nothin’…”
“Really…? You don’t think that maybe they’re interested because of her sister…? You have someone on her, you say…? Why don’t yer know she’s got a tail then…? You better clear out to that nice cosy cottage you have in the country… Do it now…!”
“What about the shop…?”
What about it…? You’ve moved the money; we’ll tie up the loose ends, so we will… You get going…”
O’Hanlon slammed down the phone and reached for his coat and car keys he also removed a large package from his drinks cabinet. They were right, he would disappear but not to his cosy cottage as it was nicely put, he would disappear in the opposite direction… He felt his life depended on it…
*****
The Duty Officer rang a little after 1845…
“Chief I have the Box officer shadowing Stakeholder for you…” “Put him through please…”
“Yes sir…” “Section Chief…”
“Yes sir, I have been stationed outside Stakeholder’s property sir… Approximately ten, one zero, minutes ago he took off like a jet…”
“Carry on officer…”
“I saw him on the telephone and was trying to eavesdrop with a listening device; well he slammed down the phone, exited black face, I think, and took off…! By the time I’d reached my car he had gone sir…”
We three looked at each other and I asked…
“Has anyone had an opportunity to put listening devices in the property or business yet…?”
“Negative sir, we have to wait for the Belfast SC to sanction the release of the kit…”
That reply raised one or two eyebrows. It was Charlie who continued…
“Listen laddie, this operation has nothing to do with the Belfast Station Chief, do you understand…? He has been instructed by the Home Secretary to offer all assistance and to basically stay out of the bloody way… Now are you saying he is obstructing your operation…?”
“I wouldn’t say that exactly sir, It’s just he hasn’t been in the Station today…”
“Ok laddie, stay put and report when Stakeholder arrives back at home, got that…?”
“Yes sir…”
“I’m beginning to think I should have stayed there until April. That man’s an arse…!”
I could see Charlie was angry, he replaced the telephone receiver with just a little too much force… I placed my arm on his shoulder and I tried to be overly calm when I replied…
“Charlie I don’t think the phones have been crash tested yet mate…”
“Aye I know yer right…”
I continued…
“So it’s fair to say our friend using payphone number three has been reaching out… We should have called that bastard canary… Does Lapwing have any listening devices…?”
“Only the hand held ones. The more sophisticated stuff and the miniature cameras take a few days to put in place, as you know, it’s a skilled task. I’ll ask the RUC to look out for the car. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s gone to Armagh…”
“Yeah, good shout Charlie…”
“He also has a country retreat somewhere west in a national park, I think…? Seamus knows of it…”
I then made three calls. One to Lapwing to have him drive to the port in Belfast… One to Cormorant to do the same at Liverpool and one to Raven, I needed him up in Stranraer…
Sarah walked in before leaving for home… “How are we doing…?”
“Well, Starling and Backpack are safely on board the Rotterdam ferry. SO12 and Snipe covered Jay at the port making a phone call and shortly after that Stakeholder took off like a bat out of hell… Charlie is attempting to get assistance from the RUC to look for his car which shouldn’t be too difficult judging by the photos of it… Lapwing is on his way to Belfast port, Cormorant to Liverpool and Raven to Stranraer…We are as of now waiting for the telephone conversation Jay made at the terminal, we believe it to be whizzing its way down the M5 and then along the M4… And you…?”
“Dutch General Intelligence, AIVD, will monitor at a distance until they reach the Belgian border then the Belgian State Security Service, VSSE, will do the same until they reach Germany, assuming that is her destination. Niklas has two officers ready to look after Starling if or when he arrives in Düsseldorf… He’s impressed with you by the way; he couldn’t believe it was you speaking German to him… You ok, Chris…?”
“Aye, I’ve just got another one of me nags, pet…
The other car, what was it…? An Opel Astra…? The one with Republic plates…? Well the Gardai have said that they belong to a Volkswagon Golf… They are sending us the histories of all Astra’s of that marque sold… The RUC are having a look for it too…”
Sarah looked at the images of the car parked on the pavement by the bookmakers, she turned to Chris…
“You think it’s connected with the empty shop, possibly the other half of Mark Ward’s conversation don’t you…?”
“I do yes…”
The telephone transcript arrived just before 2100. Matt in decoding set the player for us then left the room. It left us in little doubt to where Rod Catlin’s affections lay…
“Yes…”
“Do you have a female on her way to Europe…?” “Maybe we do…”
“Right, well she has a shadow… One of ours known as Starling. He’s driving a Mondeo and he’s been behind her all the way from Belfast. He’s on the ferry watching her now… They’ve been on to her since before Compass…”
“Followed from Belfast, you say…?” “That’s right…”
“We’ll look into that, so we will… Your doin’ well, so you are… Value for money, keep it up…”
“No! That’s me done. You’ve had your money’s worth…”
“Now listen to me son. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what your new golden boy will do to you if he got wind of our arrangement… Think of your wife…We have the stuff remember, offered to give us information for the return of certain goods, so you did… We’ll tell you when you’ve paid…”
The phone line was dead…
We replayed the tape again to make sure we hadn’t missed anything further. I had made my mind up, I turned to Steve…
“I think we should leave pulling Catlin until she returns, any earlier could tip their hand and change their plans…”
I could see him weighing up the pros and cons of this before he responded…
“We have two men on him so he isn’t going anywhere. If she wasn’t in play I’d recommend tugging him now, of course, but you could be right, he may offer them something else before her return…”
Charlie had been sitting quietly thinking, I looked at him for his input…
“Charlie, your thoughts…?”
“We have some time; the ship doesn’t dock until 0800. No one could get a message to her until then and the Dutch would maybe catch that, however, I do think it’s known now we are on to her and it’s clear they know we’re on to Stakeholder too, hence his moonlight flit. We’ve missed our opportunity with him. Unless the RUC tug him, he’s gone…”
“How long does it take for the ferry to exit the Humber…? Surely a mobile phone signal would get through until then…?”
“Your right Chris, Jesus…!”
I picked up the phone and dialled C&E; I had our answer immediately I then contacted the fifth floor…
“Hold on Chief, I’ve a UK transmission mast map here… OK… Right… Probably right up to the ship passing into the North Sea…”
“Shit…! Thanks Matt…”
“Well, anyone could call her until the ferry reaches the open sea…” “Assuming she has a mobile phone, of course…”