Murder Without Reason (DCI Cook Thriller Series Book 5)

by Phillip Strang

  ‘He’s been in contact with Shafi.’

  ‘We know,’ Isaac said as he walked into the cell. ‘You also told him about his appeal lawyers.’

  ‘It didn’t seem important. Haji’s a nice old man and it was just polite conversation.’

  ‘A nice old man? But he associates with people who kill without hesitation,’ Isaac added.

  ‘Send me back to the prison on my next shift and no one will miss me.’

  ‘Consider it a done deal,’ Ed said. ‘You work with us on this, and your criminal activities will be rewarded with a medal, not a prison cell.’

  ***

  Haji was a proud man when he stood in the presence of the Master to update on Shafi.

  ‘I have some information of great interest.’

  ‘Haji, my old friend, what is it?’ the Master replied.

  ‘Shafi’s appeal lawyers were not as we believed.’

  ‘Tell me what you know.’

  ‘Their names are Frederick Vane and Andrew Martin. They work for the Office of National Statistics.’

  ‘What is that?’ the Master asked.

  ‘I’ve no idea exactly. It’s a government department, that’s all I know.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter, as long as they are not police.’

  ‘We don’t know that?’ Haji replied. ‘Why would two men from an obscure government department visit with a convicted murderer?’

  ‘Haji, you are correct. We don’t know. We should find out.’

  ‘I can conduct enquiries. A little old man can go where others can’t. And, being one of the oppressed minorities, any government department will go out of their way to help.’

  ‘We will talk on this matter in three days,’

  ‘Master, I will have some updates by then.’

  ‘How did you find this out?’

  ‘The prison officer, DeLeon, told me.’

  ‘Why would he do that?’

  ‘As I said, I’m a little old man, harmless and inoffensive. Everyone opens up if I approach them in the right manner.’

  ‘DeLeon is proving to be an asset,’ said the Master. ‘Does he suspect anything?’

  ‘No, he just sees that he is making some extra money to take over his father’s restaurant. He’s tired of looking after dangerous criminals and terrorists.’

  ‘And yet, he doesn’t know that he is working directly for the leader of those he no longer wants to guard.’

  ‘That is correct, Master.’

  ‘What about Shafi? Can we use him?’

  ‘He may have his uses,’ said Haji.

  ‘Can we trust him?’ asked the Master.

  ‘Never,’ replied Haji. ‘He is not one of us, but we can keep an eye on him. I have not seen any suspicious behaviour since his release, apart from his visits to the local whores.’

  ‘He is as depraved outside of prison as he was in, but he’s a good smuggler,’ said the Master. ‘We could do with some help moving packages around the country. He may be able to help.’

  ‘We can’t let him see the contents of those packages.’

  ‘Not at all, but he can deal with the logistics. Ask him to come onboard,’ the Master said.

  ‘Do you want to meet him?’ Haji asked.

  ‘Not yet. He will need to prove his worth before that time. His easy release from Belmarsh is still of great concern.’

  ***

  The meeting at the Office of National Statistics was tense. DCI Isaac Cook and DI Ed Pickles had the unpleasant task of telling Frederick Vane and Andrew Martin that they were possibly on a terrorist hit list.

  ‘We’ve got no proof. It’s pure supposition on our parts,’ Ed said.

  ‘What do you mean supposition? It either is, or it isn’t,’ Frederick nervously answered.

  ‘We know your cover at the prison when you met Shafi has been blown,’ Isaac admitted.

  ‘We only showed our identification to a prison officer. No one else knew,’ Frederick responded angrily. ‘We agreed to help, not be killed.’

  ‘Yes, it was a mistake going to the prison, but that’s hindsight.’

  ‘So who told the Islamic State? Shafi?’

  ‘No, the prison officer did,’ Isaac said.

  ‘Where is he now?’ Andrew asked.

  ‘He’s working for us, as is Shafi.’

  ‘You certainly pick your colleagues well,’ Andrew said bitterly.

  ‘We work with who is necessary,’ said Isaac. ‘The Islamic State is not an offshoot of the Boy Scouts. If we need to use villains to bring them down, then we will. It’s as simple as that.’

  ‘That’s understood,’ said Frederick, bringing the subject back to him and his colleague. ‘What about us? Andrew has a wife as well. Are we all going to be protected?’

  ‘You will all be given the best protection,’ said Isaac. ‘Andrew, does your wife have any relatives overseas?’

  ‘She has a sister in New Zealand. She was planning to go and see her in a few weeks. In fact, we both were.’

  ‘Can she go now?’ Isaac asked.

  ‘I suppose she could, but a ticket at short notice will cost more and the planes are full.’

  ‘Will it be plausible if you tell her that you have a hectic few weeks in the north of England, and you won’t be coming for a few weeks?’ Isaac asked.

  ‘She’ll probably agree to go, but the tickets and a seat?’ Andrew replied.

  ‘Tell her the department has pulled a few strings and it’s all sorted out,’ said Isaac. ‘Tell her you’re involved with some confidential reports for the government, the Prime Minister even.’

  ‘She’ll be impressed. I’m sure she’ll go,’ Andrew answered.

  ‘Get her out at the airport by seven o’clock tomorrow morning. There’ll be a scheduled flight waiting.’

  ‘Will she be secure tonight?’ Andrew asked.

  ‘No one will get within five kilometres of her current location. Besides, it’s unlikely that she’s even a target. As I said, it’s supposition at the moment,’ Isaac reiterated.

  ‘How does she get to the airport?’ Andrew asked.

  ‘You’ll organise a taxi, only it will be our people, fully-armed. Your wife will never know, and she’ll be upgraded to business class. She’ll be fully protected all the way to New Zealand.’

  ‘What are we to do now?’ Frederick asked.

  ‘Continue as before.’

  ‘Knowing full well that a bunch of individuals, bent on our deaths, may be looking for us?’ Frederick Vane was not a brave man, not afraid to admit it either. Andrew Martin was more resilient, although shipping his wife out of the country at such short notice disturbed him.

  ‘I agree with Isaac and Ed,’ Andrew said. ‘If anyone is watching us, they’re bound to become more suspicious if we’re acting out of the ordinary.’

  ‘We’ll have the best people conducting surveillance, watching your every move,’ said Isaac. ‘And Andrew, I suggest you move into town.’

  ‘What about the cottage?’ Andrew asked.

  ‘We’ll have a twenty-four-hour watch on it. We’ll even get someone to look after the garden.’

  ‘They better be good, or they’ll have to answer to my wife later, and she’s got a sharp tongue.’

  ‘They’ll be good,’ Isaac said.

  ‘We’ve not spoken about your analysis. What do you have?’ Ed asked.

  ‘It’s hard to be specific. There are just so many variables,’ Frederick replied.

  ‘Give us some ideas as to where you’re heading.’

  ‘These are smart people, or at least their leadership is. What we can see is an orchestrated attempt to alter the people of this country’s normal behaviour, a desire to undermine the organisations that we hold important.’

  ‘Explain what you mean,’ Isaac asked.

  ‘They started with the normal: shopping centres, places people congregate. They escalated to take out the pride of the Royal Navy. Did they ever find it, by the way?’

  ‘Yes, it’s ly
ing on the sea floor at a depth of close to one thousand metres,’ Isaac confirmed.

  ‘It’s not been reported as found,’ Andrew said.

  ‘The government is still not sure when to release the news. It smacks of incompetence on the Royal Navy’s part, and they still don’t know the full story of what happened.’

  ‘If the military is seen as ineffective, then they’ll focus on the other institutions that maintain the stability of the country,’ Andrew added.

  ‘Such as? What do you mean?’ Isaac asked.

  ‘It’s clear – the church, the police, the monarchy and not necessarily in that order.’

  ‘Would they attack the monarchy?’ Ed asked.

  ‘Why not? The IRA assassinated the Queen’s uncle,’ Frederick replied. ‘Somehow, we don’t think they’re ready for that. That may well be their final act before they complete the takeover of the country.’

  ‘The takeover of the country? How could they do that?’ Isaac asked.

  ‘I don’t mean that they take over the government, put the Chief Mullah in Buckingham Palace,’ Frederick said. ‘When the country ceases to function as an inclusive democracy, then they have won.’

  ‘Can they achieve that?’ Ed asked.

  ‘Why not?’ Andrew answered. ‘Haven’t they done that throughout the Middle East?’

  ‘But this in England, it couldn’t happen here.’

  ‘Then you are wrong,’ said Andrew. ‘Everyone is wrong. England is not somehow miraculously saved from this result. Admittedly, it will take longer, but it can still happen – will happen unless we stop the increase in terrorist activities. We need to remove the Islamic State and remove, one way or the other, those who support them financially and militarily.’

  ‘Are you saying that Anne Argento is correct? This is war?’ Isaac asked.

  ‘What else can it be?’ Frederick said.

  Let’s get back to the moment,’ Isaac said. ‘What’s the next target?’

  ‘They’ll continue with the shopping centres, the schools, but there’ll be another strategic target. We’re ruling out the monarchy for the moment. It’ll either be the police or a church.’

  ‘New Scotland Yard is the only likely police target,’ Isaac said.

  ‘I’d agree with Isaac on New Scotland Yard,’ Andrew said. ‘We believe it’s the Church.’

  ‘It could be any church then?’ Isaac asked.

  ‘No, they’ll pick a cathedral, something significant.’

  ‘When do you reckon this will happen?’ Ed asked.

  ‘It could be anytime,’ Frederick said.

  ‘With your analysis, isn’t it possible to be more precise? Isn’t there a formulated plan that you can see?’

  ‘Not that we’ve seen so far,’ Andrew said.

  ‘If it’s a cathedral, what are we looking at?’ asked Ed. ‘Will it be a suicide bomber in the congregation on a Sunday?’

  ‘Too small,’ Andrew said. ‘The cathedrals in this country are very old and fragile. They would come down with a significant amount of explosives placed in the right place.’

  ‘Then we should focus on cathedrals where there’s major structural activity?’ Isaac asked.

  ‘It seems a likely scenario.’

  ‘Potentially it could kill thousands, and the Islamists would proudly announce that Allah is all powerful and that Islam is the one true religion,’ said Andrew.

  ‘These people are mad,’ Ed said.

  ‘Mad they may be,’ Andrew replied, ‘but not so mad that they can’t bring down a place of worship.’

  Chapter 1 6

  The relationship between Clifford Bell and his deputy, Anne Argento, was tenuous at the best of times, impossible at its worst. She had seized every opportunity in the party room, the cabinet room and the National Security Council to portray herself as strong and resilient. In parliament and in the media, she was full of support for the Prime Minister, but nobody believed her. The Opposition was consistently using question time in the House of Commons to put Clifford Bell on the spot as to when he was to stand down and to hand over to his supposedly loyal deputy. Anne Argento would rise to the defence of her Prime Minister, to clearly state that the Leader of the Opposition was agitating and that his constant attacks were counterproductive and not in the best interests of the House and the country.

  ‘Where’s the Counter Terrorism Command?’ Prime Minister Clifford Bell asked as he sat in his office at Number 10. ‘I thought you were going to get them in.’

  ‘They’re still coming, but with your deputy being so intrusive, it’s been difficult to set it up,’ Rohan Jones, the Prime Minister’s senior adviser, and friend, said.

  ‘She’s gone up north for a couple of days. Now would be a good time, but you know that already. Are you trying to keep them away from me? Are you hedging your bets?’

  Rohan Jones purposely decided to ignore Clifford Bell’s jibing. ‘I’ll ask Goddard to come in tomorrow.’

  ‘Make sure the other person is with him.’

  ‘You mean the black man?’ Rohan Jones asked.

  ‘No, I meant the police inspector who happens to be black. I don’t want to be accused of racial discrimination, stereotyping.’

  ‘How can you? He’s a police inspector, and he’s black.’ Rohan Jones did not feel the respect for the Prime Minister that he had in the past. His back-answers were tantamount to sarcasm.

  ‘Rohan, you know what I mean.’

  ‘Yes, I know. I’ll get on to Goddard immediately.’

  Number 10 was quiet on the Sunday afternoon when Detective Chief Inspector Isaac Cook and Commander Richard Goddard arrived.

  ‘I need something to go with,’ the Prime Minister demanded. ‘The situation in parliament is looking precarious; the country is looking for answers.’

  ‘We’ve got some people undercover now,’ DCI Isaac Cook said, although he didn’t want to reveal any detail.

  ‘Are these people going to come up with much?’ the Prime Minister asked.

  ‘It’s undercover. It always tends to be a bit hit and miss.’

  ‘Hit and miss? That doesn’t sound like official police jargon to me,’ Clifford Bell said.

  ‘It’s not,’ Isaac admitted, ‘but we can’t go barging in. The people we have working for us are on the periphery. It will only be an overheard comment, a name. Or they see someone, hear something.’

  ‘There’s no time plan, is that what you’re saying?’ the Prime Minister asked.

  ‘Yes, that’s about it.’

  ‘Commander Goddard, what have you got?’ The Prime Minister realised he was getting nowhere with Isaac Cook.

  ‘What DCI Cook says is what we have,’ Goddard replied. ‘We’re dealing with jihadists, not common criminals. We can’t infiltrate as we would with a criminal organisation.’

  ‘I suppose you’re right, but it doesn’t help me,’ the Prime Minister conceded.

  ‘We believe they are planning to hit another significant target,’ Isaac said.

  ‘You told me you had no idea, and now you tell me you have a target. What’s the truth?’ The Prime Minister was agitated with the vagaries of the answers from Goddard and Cook.

  ‘We have some people from the Office of National Statistics working with us,’ Isaac admitted.

  ‘And what the hell do they do?’ the Prime Minister shot back.

  ‘They attempt to analyse, see if there is a plan, a strategy in the Islamic State’s campaign.’

  ‘Is there?’

  ‘They reckon they’ll hit the Church next,’ Commander Goddard informed the Prime Minister.

  ‘What do you mean by the “Church”?’

  ‘The Church is an organisation. It would be their religion against ours,’ Isaac said.

  ‘How did they deduce that?’ the Prime Minister asked.

  ‘It’s a process of elimination,’ Isaac continued. ‘They’ve hit the military, so it’s the Church, the police or the monarchy.’

  ‘I would have thought the
police,’ the Prime Minister said.

  ‘They’d need a big target, something that would make the world news. The only place possible would be New Scotland Yard.’

  ‘That place would be impregnable,’ the Prime Minister said. ‘They’d never get near.’

  ‘That’s why the police are discounted. The monarchy will be their final act,’ said Isaac.

  ‘Final act before what?’ the Prime Minister asked.

  ‘Before they seize control of this country.’

  ‘They’ll never do that!’ The Prime Minister was resolute.

  ‘They only have to destroy the country’s ability to function. They don’t need to take over the government as well,’ Commander Goddard said.

  ‘And they can do that?’

  ‘That’s what the statistics guys believe.’

  ‘Why aren’t they here?’

  ‘It never came up before,’ Isaac said. ‘Besides, their cover may be blown. Coming round here for tea and biscuits with the Prime Minister would not be advisable.’

  ‘Church, you mentioned the Church,’ said the Prime Minister. ‘Explain what your statistics guys believe will happen.’

  ‘They can see a cathedral,’ Isaac continued.

  ‘Which cathedral? There can’t be that many in the country?’ the Prime Minister asked.

  ‘There’s over forty of significance.’

  ‘Which one will they pick?’

  ‘We’re working on it,’ Isaac Cook said.

  ‘You better find out quick, or we’re all in trouble.’

  We’re doing our best, but we don’t want hundreds of plodding policemen over every cathedral in the country.’

  ‘Why not, if it will prevent a tragedy?’ the Prime Minister said.

  ‘We need to catch those behind this current campaign. If we barge in, they’re likely to blow the explosives immediately and then the organisation goes undercover. We’re then back to square one.’

  ‘And if we don’t, they’re still likely to blow it at a time of their convenience.’

  ‘Prime Minister, it’s a risk we have to take,’ Commander Goddard said.

  ‘I know that, but if you stuff up on this, it’s me taking the can.’

  ‘No one knows we’ve told you,’ Commander Goddard said.