by Jack Gatland
Turning the radio off and tossing it onto the dashboard of the car, Frost looked to Billy.
‘You were right,’ he said. ‘He’s trying to move me out of the way.’
‘Perhaps then we need to ensure that we sort this before he reaches us?’ Billy suggested. ‘If we get a chance, we should tie up all the loose ends, if you know what I mean.’
Frost nodded.
‘We’ll give it ten minutes,’ he said. ‘And then we move in.’
Walking down the stairs to the basement bar, Declan saw that the door to it had a sign that read CLOSED - PRIVATE EVENT. Opening the door and entering, Declan saw a long table by the wall with Monroe, Doctor Marcos, Anjli and DCI Bullman sitting there. Monroe looked tired, but forced a weary smile as Declan walked over, sitting down at the table.
‘I didn’t order you a drink,’ Monroe said softly. ‘I didn’t know what this new persona of yours would drink.’
Anjli grinned. Declan couldn’t help it; he smiled as well. After a full twenty-four hours of constant fear and tension, to sit with friends was something he sorely needed.
‘No Billy or Davey?’ he asked. Doctor Marcos shook her head.
‘Billy is with Frost and Sutcliffe,’ she replied. ‘And Davey is working on something.’
Declan nodded. He’d expected that. ‘How long do we have?’
‘Not long,’ Monroe replied. ‘So let’s get down to it. What do we have? Declan?’
‘Rattlestone was created back in 2010,’ Declan started. ‘I think it was Malcolm Gladwell who created and named it, and seemed to have the most to gain from it. Over the years he brought on board Francine Pearce, Charles Baker and Will Harrison. Later, Donna Baker, Charles’ wife, was placed on the public board, but didn’t seem to know what was going on there. In 2015, Rattlestone gained its first Ministry Of Defence contract after a UN Peacekeeping force was attacked in the Balkans, killing four soldiers.’
‘The Ministry of Defence leaked that,’ Anjli interjected. ‘We thought Will Harrison, perhaps.’
Declan shook his head. ‘I found files showing that Malcolm Gladwell did it. At the time he was Baker’s boss, of sorts. He arranged it to look like it came from Baker’s office, though.’
‘Why kick off about it now, though?’ Bullman asked. ‘I mean, that was years ago. What tipped the apple barrel?’
‘We did,’ Declan explained. ‘We brought Baker’s past into the limelight. Kendis did more digging. She’d been there in 2015, and this gave her the opportunity to move in on Baker. She got to know Donna, intending to use her as an unwilling source. The problem was that Donna wasn’t aware of this and then took this to Baker.’
‘It might have been more than that,’ Anjli replied as her phone beeped. ‘We spoke to Laurie Hooper, Donna’s PA, and although she didn’t say much, she said that on the night Donna died, she had heated arguments with both Will Harrison and Malcolm Gladwell, who she was with the night that you met with Kendis at The Horse and Guard. We think she was the whistle-blower and spoke to Kendis that night.’
Declan shook his head. ‘She met with the whistle-blower, but I don’t think it was Laurie,’ he replied as he showed the image of Kendis and Gladwell on his phone. ‘She met with Gladwell after meeting with me.’
He stopped.
‘Gladwell didn’t want people to know that he was meeting Laurie there,’ he said, thinking. ‘It didn’t fit his narrative. People might question his motives. That’s why The Horse and Guard was destroyed; not to remove the CCTV footage of us, but of them.’
‘Possible,’ mused Anjli.
‘Who took this?’ Bullman was examining the image now.
‘Nasir Gill,’ Declan replied. ‘I took it from his camera’s SD card after he died. He was following Kendis for Rattlestone.’
‘Who then killed him.’
‘Pretty much,’ Declan replied.
‘I’d hate to see their retirement package,’ Monroe smiled.
Anjli had been reading her phone’s message and now looked up. ‘I might have something,’ she said. ‘From the Harrison murder.’
‘The what?’ Declan asked in surprise.
‘Laurie Hooper and Will Harrison killed each other this morning,’ Bullman explained. ‘Well, we’re meant to believe so, anyway. Harrison was stabbed with the same letter opener that Kendis was killed with, and there was a receipt found with the box that proved that he’d bought it on his credit card.’
‘How did Laurie die?’ Declan leaned forward.
‘Some kind of taser torch, held in Harrison’s hand,’ Bullman replied. ‘Why?’
‘Kendis Taylor was killed in Malcolm Gladwell’s mausoleum,’ Declan looked to the table, remembering. ‘I found a ceramic vase that had broken, there were bloodstains on the floor and taser marks on the walls from a scuffle.’
‘Why was she in Gladwell’s mausoleum?’ Monroe frowned at this. ‘Especially if he was the whistle-blower?’
‘Because he had a secret safe in it,’ Declan’s tone darkened. ‘And I think Kendis didn’t fully believe him. He had a motion detector on the mausoleum, and he would have been alerted that she’d broken in.’
‘So Gladwell arrives, they fight and he stabs her with Will Harrison’s letter opener? How does that work?’ Doctor Marcos asked. Anjli held a hand up at this.
‘I know that one,’ she said, showing her phone. ‘Anthony Farringdon just came back to me. Parliamentary members must reveal all gifts they receive, yeah? The same week that Will Harrison bought the Montblanc letter opener on his card, Farringdon remembers Malcolm Gladwell registering the same thing as a gift.’
‘Thank god for photographic memories,’ Monroe whispered to himself.
‘So how did it get back to Harrison?’ Bullman asked. ‘Unless…’
‘Unless Gladwell gave it to Laurie Hooper to kill Harrison with. Maybe even returned with her, and zapped her to ensure that the ends were all tied up,’ Anjli replied. ‘And the whole whistle-blower thing? Maybe she told him she was going to tell Kendis about Donna’s death and Gladwell saw an opportunity to remove Harrison and Baker.’
Bullman nodded. ‘He agrees to speak to Taylor on her behalf, then pretends to be the source, so that when this all eventually comes out, he’s seen as the hero while Baker’s department is shown the door, and removed from Rattlestone.’
‘You shoot at the king, you’d better not miss,’ Anjli mused. ‘Harrison did both.’
Declan nodded. ‘But how do we prove this?’ he asked.
Monroe stroked at his white beard.
‘I think we need to be a little more biblical,’ he replied.
Billy looked at his phone and cursed softly.
‘What now?’ Frost asked. Billy looked up, his expression sheepish.
‘We’re at the wrong pub,’ he said, showing the screen of the phone. ‘I was worried, so I googled. It’s not The Fitzrovia Pub, but The Fitzroy Tavern, just down the street.’
‘Christ!’ Frost grabbed his radio as he bounded from the car. ‘All units! Get to the Fitzroy Tavern! Now!’ He looked to Billy, now next to him. ‘You’re an idiot!’ he snapped. ‘How could you screw this up!’
‘Hey, I fixed it!’ Billy exclaimed as they ran. ‘That has to account for something!’
In The Fitzroy Tavern, Declan patted Monroe on the arm.
‘I’m glad you’re doing okay, Guv,’ he said. ‘It wasn’t the same without you. Where did you hide out?’
Monroe looked pained to answer, so Doctor Marcos replied.
‘Globe Town Boxing Club.’
‘The Twins?’ Declan half rose to his feet. ‘Are you insane?’
‘No, but I was desperate and critical!’ Monroe snapped back. ‘I had limited options!’
Declan sat back down. ‘Did he at least look after you?’ he asked.
‘Well, he almost killed two men who wanted to kill me,’ Monroe smiled. ‘Does that count?’
There was a moment of silence as Declan and the others around the table too
k this revelation in.
‘Anyway, Rosanna said you heard Frost on a tape?’
Glad for the change of subject, Declan nodded.
’Trix had it,’ he smiled. ‘She came through for a change.’
‘Always knew that girl was an asset,’ Monroe lied with a smile.
‘So how do we do this?’ Bullman asked. Monroe looked to her.
‘You need to get out of here,’ he said. ‘You’re not part of this. You shouldn’t be punished for it.’
’To hell with that,’ Bullman replied with a small smile. ‘They still haven’t decided what to do with me about DI White. They’ll probably use you as a character witness, so I need you on my side.’
‘The moment you came to help Declan, you gained me as an ally,’ Monroe looked back to Declan. ‘How did you get out of the offices?’
‘Trix, again,’ Declan replied. ‘She had a backup exit in case she needed to run, but never used it.’
‘I have a feeling that we under-used that girl,’ Monroe mused. ‘And Dec, I’m sorry to hear about Kendis. I might not have been a fan, but you were, and that was enough—‘
He stopped as the door to the downstairs bar burst open and armed police swarmed in through it, assault rifles aimed at the lone table.
‘Hands on the table!’ The lead armed officer shouted. ‘Hands on the table!’
Declan slowly placed his hands on the table and watched the door as DI Frost and Billy entered, Billy looking away in what seemed like shame as he did so.
‘Judas,’ hissed Anjli.
‘Always,’ Billy replied, looking straight at her. ‘But I’m the one working on the side of justice, it seems.’
Frost walked up to Declan, pulling him up by the arm, cuffing his hands behind his back as the armed officers gathered up the others around the table.
‘This time there’s no clever escape, my little terrorist friend,’ Frost snarled. ‘This time your life is bloody well ended.’
31
Killed While Escaping
They’d been out of the main entrance and bundled into a police van that was parked up outside the pub and, with Frost and Billy in the black Lexus that followed, they left Fitzrovia, heading eastwards as they did so. In the back of the van a single armed officer sat with them, his helmet and goggles still on as he kept his distance, as if scared that even being next to these potential terrorists would somehow stain his own reputation.
‘Are you still sure that this was a good idea?’ Bullman asked. Declan chuckled.
‘I never said it was a good idea,’ he replied.
‘So what do you think?’ Monroe asked. ‘Police station or murder site?’
‘Murder site,’ Anjli replied. ‘Definitely.’
‘I say police station,’ Doctor Marcos stated optimistically.
‘I’ll take that bet,’ Anjli smiled. ‘Tenner do it?’
‘And how do I pay you if you win?’ Doctor Marcos asked. ‘Let’s face it, if it is a murder site, we won’t be coming out of it to square up.’
‘Don’t blame me,’ Anjli snapped. ‘It was the Guv’s idea.’
They sat in silence, each now in their own thoughts for the rest of the journey which seemed to be about another thirty minutes. And then, with a sharp turn to the left that threw them off their seats and a bump of the wheels that sent them tumbling about on the metal benches, the truck came to a stop. The armed police officer banged on the back door, and after a moment the doors opened, the two other armed officers who’d entered with Frost and who’d driven the van now standing there, their carbines at the ready. Behind them, emerging from their own car, were Billy and Frost, the former of the two looking confused why they had stopped here.
‘Get them out,’ Frost said as the armed police manhandled Declan, Anjli, Bullman, Doctor Marcos and Monroe out, lining them up.
They were in an abandoned warehouse, the broken windows and open doors looking out to what looked like the Thames. It looked like an industrial estate, the other buildings around it quiet, and Declan assumed this was more of an abandoned one than a bustling, busy one. The only places he could think that looked like this were on the south bank, maybe between Lambeth and Rotherhithe, but they could have been anywhere. There were mounds of bricks by the pillars, and piles of plasterboard lay unloved in corners. This looked like a place that someone had comprehensive plans for a long time ago, but had never followed through.
Perfect for executions.
‘You owe me a tenner,’ Anjli muttered to Doctor Marcos.
‘I’ll pay you later,’ Doctor Marcos replied with a wry smile.
‘Forgive me for asking, but this doesn’t look like Scotland Yard,’ Monroe said. Frost laughed at this and then, without warning, punched Monroe hard in the gut, almost doubling him over. There was a unified shout of outrage at this as the others moved to stop this, but the weapons raised by the armed police stopped them.
‘You like my personal police force?’ Frost asked. ‘They’re Rattlestone through and through. Given to me by my fairy godfather.’
‘I thought your fairy godfather just got skewered by a secretary?’ Bullman muttered.
‘That was my old one. I have a new one now,’ Frost replied. ‘And these guys do whatever I tell them.’
‘And what are you telling them?’ Anjli asked. Frost grinned.
‘That terrorists tried to break you out of custody, and you were all killed in the resulting firefight.’
Anjli looked to Billy, who turned away.
‘Don’t think that he’s helping you,’ Frost interjected. ‘He’s learned who’s really the power here. He’ll go far.’
‘So what, you’re going to kill us all here?’ Declan looked around the warehouse. ‘Not really sporting.’
‘No, I’m going to kill them, but leave you alive,’ Frost replied, pulling out a silenced pistol. ‘My boss needs a password from you.’
‘Oh, he found that I’d changed the safe combination then?’ Declan laughed. ‘Tell you what, Frost. Or whatever your actual name is. How about you let them go and I’ll give you the password? You can take all the folders, make your own luck.’
‘No thanks,’ Frost aimed the gun at Declan. ‘I’m loyal.’
‘To whom?’ Anjli asked. ‘Will Harrison or Malcolm Gladwell? I mean, Will gave you the command to attack the Guv, but he’s dead now.’
‘Curiosity gets you nowhere,’ Frost smiled. ‘Now, which of you do I shoot first?’
‘None of them,’ muttered Billy.
Frost shook his head. ‘Changed your mind?’ he asked. ‘Siding with terrorists now?’
‘No,’ Billy replied. ‘I want to see you take down Declan. He was always a smug shit. But he won’t tell you if you kill everyone. He’s a martyr, with a bleeding heart. You need to hurt them, make him beg you to stop.’
Frost’s eyes widened at Billy’s response, and Declan could see that he was reassessing the situation.
‘Fair point,’ he replied. With his pistol in his left hand, he flicked out his right arm, the extendable baton clicking out into his grasp.
‘Recognise this, old man?’ he asked with a sneer as he turned to face the handcuffed Monroe. ‘Maybe I can start with you, finish the job that I started.’
Monroe, instead of backing away however, stepped forward.
‘Not sure,’ he said. ‘Mind if I have a look?’
Frost, confused by this complied, holding the baton up for Monroe to observe. Eventually, shaking his head, Monroe stepped back.
‘Nope, not seen that before,’ he said.
‘Are you blind?’ Frost raised the baton, holding it close to Monroe’s eyes as he leaned in. ‘Do you need a reminder?’
‘Yours didn’t have DW stencilled on the base,’ Monroe replied with a dark smile.
Confused at this statement, Frost looked at the baton, noticing that the base did indeed have DW stencilled on it. He looked to Billy, who for the first time smiled.
‘Why the hell are you grinning like
an idiot?’ Frost snapped.
‘DW stands for Declan Walsh,’ Billy explained. ‘I gave it to you when we were at the house. I took your one and passed it to forensics. Interestingly, they texted me this morning with the news that they found a whole load of DCI Monroe’s blood DNA on it.’
‘You’re on my side!’ Frost hissed. ‘You told me about Sutcliffe! You showed me the texts he sent you!’
‘Yeah, about that,’ Billy shrugged. ‘I stole his phone. Used a silicon sheet that DC Davey made me of his thumbprint, unlocked the phone and sent the message to myself, replied and then sent the second one. Took like five seconds. I then deleted the thread, right after sticking in a worm app that took all the data in his phone and forwarded it to my personal server, while also keeping the microphone on, recording everything that happened around him.’ He shook his head.
‘You really should have listened to me when I told you I was a cyber expert.’
He looked to the armed officer that had ridden in the van with them. ‘You picked Sutcliffe up right before the stakeout, didn’t you, sir?’
‘Indeed, we did,’ the armed officer replied as he now pulled off the helmet and goggles to reveal the face of Chief Superintendent Bradbury, now turning to Frost. ‘And we were right beside him when he radioed you.’
The two armed officers, once believed to be Rattlestone, now turned their weapons on Frost, who slowly clapped his hands.
‘Very good,’ he said. ‘I knew this day was going to end bad. But all you have on me is Monroe, and they blackmailed me into doing that.’
‘We have more than that,’ Billy added. ‘Remember when I sorted your phone’s carrier settings back in Hurley?’
Frost pulled out his own phone, staring in horror at it as Billy continued.
‘Can you guess what I did to your phone as well?’
Declan now stepped forward, his hands now appearing in view, the handcuffs open.
‘You might as well tell us everything, Frost,’ he suggested. ‘It’s the last chance you’ll get to do a good thing. And if you don’t, we’ll just ask Sutcliffe.’
