Levels of Power

by Mike Gilmore

  Marion Bellwood leaned toward Randy. “Your luck held again, MP. You must be like a cat with nine lives.”

  Randy simply nodded and moved to whisper back to Marion. “Yeah, and I’m using them up too fast.” He shook his head. “If only I could have captured him.”

  Deputy Commissioner Shepard addressed the group. “Does anybody have any questions for Senator Fisher?”

  The defense minister spoke first. “Did you have any idea there was a second man before he struck you from behind on the bridge?”

  Randy shook his head. “No. He was a complete surprise. I am afraid I lost sight of my target many times during the chase. It is entirely possible they met briefly or communicated by cell phone and planned the attack. My instinct tells me he might have been somewhere close by and acted on his own. Maybe they were going to rendezvous and I caused them to rethink their plan.”

  Gloria Merd spoke for the first time. “You’re quite certain about the words the first man spoke to you? His words about his brother were clearly understandable?”

  Randy never hesitated. “Absolutely. He had very little accent. He told me he wanted to avenge his brother’s death by me three years ago. There is no doubt in my mind he is the brother of the man who tried to set off the nuclear device in my country three years ago.”

  Chapter 16

  London

  Sunday, November 29, 2015

  10:35 a.m.

  Randy Fisher’s words about a nuclear devise caused small pockets of conversation to break out in the room. The big elephant in the room had suddenly made itself visible. Was London about to face a similar threat from a terrorist group?

  Only one known terrorist had been behind the American incident, and he was dead. Here in London, at least two men were involved in a possible terrorist plot, and the threat of a nuclear incident brought terrible images to the people assembled in the conference room. The Central London population exceeded eight million residents, and thousands of tourists were always within the city at any given time. In comparison, Randy’s entire home state of South Carolina had a population just under five million people.

  Paul Andres, head of MI5, rapped his knuckles on the table. He gave Shepard a look that hastened the DC of the London Metropolitan Police department to use his own knuckles to get the meeting back under control.

  “All right, all right. Let’s settle down. Director General, do you have questions?”

  Paul Andres was a large man. At six-foot-four, he was the tallest person in the room. His large girth nearly overfilled the chair he was currently commanding. “What have we learned about the two men, other than what the senator and our friend from the American Central Intelligence Agency have provided?”

  Shepard looked back toward the projectionist at the small desk in the back of the room. “Officer Langhorne? Would you bring up what we have developed so far on the two suspects?”

  Several slides quickly flashed across the projector screen before Officer Langhorne finally settled on one from the digitalized information Randy had provided Commander Corley yesterday at his office on Agar Street. The people in the room quieted down as they focused on the new slide.

  It was clear to all in the room that the photograph before them was of a dead man lying on a laboratory table. The closed eyes and Y-shaped incision from the autopsy were visible. On the side of the abdomen was the narrow wound from a knife blade that was the cause of death. Shepard resumed his briefing. “This is the snap of the man killed three years ago in America. The Yanks have provided all the information they have on their suspect, and we added that to the portfolio provided to everyone here. Next slide, please, Officer.”

  Randy looked at the picture blown up on the large screen. Before today, it had been a small photograph from the original file when viewed on the smaller screen on his computer or cell phone. His memory of the fateful day quickly filled his thoughts.

  Randy’s mind cleared itself of the past as the screen filled with a new slide. The previous slide had showed a nearly naked body lying on an autopsy table, devoid of color. This photograph contained vivid colors and details. Four people were in a clothing shop; a red arrow superimposed onto the photograph signaled out one man in particular at some distance from the camera’s location. As Randy and Marion focused their eyes more closely on the photograph, they could tell it was a men’s clothing and accessory store.

  Randy suddenly recognized the location. It had taken a little longer than might have been normal because the picture was from the back of the store facing the lobby of the train station. The tie shop.

  Shepard continued. “We were not able to locate the suspect in any of the snaps taken by our security cameras as we did the senator. However, our investigators had a bit of luck. The officers retraced the entire route of the chase and asked every street vender and storeowner if they remembered seeing the man in the autopsy photograph. We got this picture off the security camera at the haberdashery shop inside Charing Cross Station. It seems our suspect stepped inside to hide from the senator, and over time, the store manager became suspicious. He approached the man several times to ask if he needed any assistance. The first time the man simply told him he was waiting for a friend, and that might be the truth, as the second suspect showed up soon afterward on the bridge. When the manager approached him again, the suspect decided to purchase a leather jacket. The manager claimed it was the quickest sale he had ever made.”

  There was light laughter around the room.

  Someone from the back of the room called out a question. “How did the suspect pay for the jacket?”

  Shepard’s eyebrows popped up slightly. “Well, now. I am afraid our luck did not extend far enough. He paid with cash.”

  Shepard looked over at Randy in the reduced light in the room. “Senator Fisher, can you confirm the man in the picture is the same man you chased yesterday through the train station and later confronted on the Jubilee Bridge?”

  “Yes. In the picture, he is wearing a heavy wool sweater, and he is holding his hat in his left hand. He put the coat over his sweater to try to disguise himself. You can also see the backpack he was carrying. It is still over his right shoulder. The backpack is what I noticed as he was walking away from me. When he realized I had recognized him, he jammed the hat back on his head, I assume to prevent any camera from capturing a good photograph of his face, especially the elevated cameras.”

  Someone in a chair along the wall spoke up. “Good show, sir, not to lose your focus on the suspect.”

  Shepard nodded again toward the projectionist. “Next slide, please.”

  The next slide showed a close-up photograph of the backpack and all the contents found inside arranged on a white surface. Slowly the projectionist flipped through several more slides that showed a close-up of every item. In addition to the backpack were the knife, a cell phone, a spiral notebook bound along the side, a cotton handkerchief, a bottle of water, a folded map of London, and several English currency bills of various denominations.

  The police lab technicians had displayed the notebook from the backpack by itself for the next slide. A small plastic ruler lying next to the notebook provided a two-dimensional reference. The notebook was five-by-eight inches.

  Shepard continued. “From the knife, cell phone, and bottle of water, we were able to lift several good sets of fingerprints. No positive returns so far within our own database, but we are still awaiting the response from Interpol and from our American friends, thanks to Mr. Bellwood. We are hopeful in this respect.”

  The next slide was the cell phone. “Our suspect was taking snaps with the camera in his cell phone. We have almost 150 snaps of high-traffic tourist spots: Nelson’s Column, the National Portrait Gallery, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and the House of Parliament. At any time during the day there can be upward of several thousand people at each location.”

  He turned from the scree
n to look at the people in the room. “That’s not all. The notebook also contained a short list of some of the same locations. Our translators worked out the conversion.”

  The screen flipped to a page showing handwritten Persian words next to the English translations. The room was silent as each person read the list of some of the most popular tourist locations within London. Even Paul Andres was quiet as he worked the security problems through his mind.

  خانه مجلس

  House of Parliament

  چشم لندن

  London Eye

  کاخ باکینگهام

  Buckingham Palace

  وستمینستر کلیسای

  Westminster Abbey

  ستون

  Nelson’s Column

  گالری ملی پرتره

  National Portrait Gallery

  Randy and Marion looked at each other. They were quietly thankful the page in the captured notebook did not contain a list of high-traffic tourist locations in Washington, DC. The realization of a possible terrorist attack in Central London quickly sobered their thoughts.

  A person could have heard a pin drop on the hardwood floor before Deputy Commissioner Shepard broke the silence. “All right. Let us review our security procedures and every department’s responsibility in the investigation and search for our suspects. Please turn to page fifteen of your booklets.”

  Chapter 17

  London

  Sunday, November 29, 2015

  2:30 p.m.

  Due east of London, as the River Thames flowed generally east, was the historic dock area. For hundreds of years, London’s supply of food, spices, and many other goods entered England by boat to be sold at the markets.

  As the River Thames cut through the land, it made a huge southern bend shaped like a horseshoe with the open end on the north side called the Isle of Dogs. On the open area close to the river, it was natural over time to construct docks and warehouses within the horseshoe-shaped land. One development included the markets to sell the imported goods and food products. One of the oldest markets was located at Billingsgate. Several large facilities to handle trade included the two West India Docks buildings, the South Dock, and the Millwall Docks. They closed in 1980, and the business owners built the Canary Wharf Development on the site.

  Established by special charter in 1327 by Edward III, Market rights prohibited rival markets within 6.6 miles of the city, determined by the distance a person could walk to market, sell his produce, and return in the same day. Through the years, other laws granted by charter allowed the population to collect tolls and customs at Billingsgate and other locales like Cheap and Smithfield. Since then the Billingsgate Market Acts of 1846 and 1871, followed by the City of London Acts of 1973, 1979, 1987, and 1990, have confirmed the city’s role as the Market authority.

  The name Billingsgate evolved from predecessors like Blynesgate and Byllynsgate, used by the locals until they finally adopted the present form. The origin of the name, still unclear, could refer to the water gate at the south side of the city. It was originally a market for corn, coal, iron, wine, salt, pottery, fish, and many other miscellaneous goods. It seemed to become an exclusive market for fish around the start of the sixteenth century.

  In 1699, an act of parliament declared Billingsgate a “free and open market for all sorts of fish” except eels. Eel sales were restricted to the Dutch fishermen who helped to feed the British people in London during the Great Fire.

  Until the mid-nineteenth century, merchants sold fish and other seafood products from stalls and sheds. As the population grew and the demand for fish increased, it was decided to build a market designed to handle the fishing trade sales. In 1850, the first Billingsgate Market building was constructed, but it proved to be inadequate and later demolished in 1873 to make way for the current building. Designed by city architect Sir Horace Jones, today most of the Market is located in a more upscale neighborhood called Docklands.

  Both police and fire services for Billingsgate fall under the protection of the City of London. As one of London’s twenty-five wards, Billingsgate elects an alderman to the Court of Aldermen and commoners to the Court of Common Council of the City of London Corporation.

  North of Billingsgate is the community known as Poplar. It is a quiet, mostly residential area of East London, about 5.5 miles east of Charing Cross. The district center is Chrisp Street Market. Notable public housing includes the Lansbury Estate and Balfron Tower.

  Named after George Lansbury, a Labour Party MP, the development started in 1949 after the war to rebuild an area heavily damaged by German bombing. The developers used the design philosophy that new development should comprise neighborhoods and the neighborhoods should have all that a community required, including flats, homes, churches, schools, a retirement home for the elderly, and a shopping area with pub.

  The Greater London Council selected a building site on the Brownfield Estate for Balfron Tower, and the construction crews completed the project in 1967. The 27-story, 276-foot-tall building holds 146 homes. A separate attached structure enclosed the lifts, or elevators, and accessed the main building with walkways located at every third floor. Should a person live on the eleventh or thirteenth floor, they would take the lift to the twelfth floor and then the stairway up or down one floor.

  Other areas of interest include the Poplar Recreation Grounds, Robin Hood Gardens, and the Follett Street Seaman’s Mission built in 1898. The Poplar Hospital for Accidents opened in 1855 on the north side of East India Dock Road with the main intention of treating injured dockworkers. Notable people born in Poplar include Angela Lansbury and Jennifer Worth, author of Call the Midwife, which was adapted for television.

  All Saints Church lies in the southern half of Poplar and is the Church of England parish church. The church laid the first foundation in 1396. The foundation stone of the current structure followed in 1821. During the Blitz of the Second World War, the building received extensive damage from a V-2 rocket, and postwar reconstruction begins in the nineteen fifties. Today the church’s main body is two stories tall; a steeple located on the west end added another fifty or sixty feet to the structure’s height. The church sits on a large lot, taking up an entire city block. The long axis runs north and south, with Bazely Street to the rear and Newby Place along the front. The north and south streets bordering the church are East India Dock Road and Mountague Street.

  Directly across Newby Street from All saints Church resides a large, square, brown brick home. The two and one-half story structure was originally a retirement home for the elderly. The building fell on hard times after the war. The owner, killed during one of the German Luftwaffe attacks, left the building in disrepair, and the surviving relatives had no funds for improvements. In the midfifties, the city was close to ordering the structure removed, but an Arab family owning a rug-importing company purchased the home from the owner’s estate for a value well below its previous worth. They poured thousands of British pounds into the renovation and saved the structure. They used the downstairs for a retail sales showroom and offices; the family members lived on the second floor and in the attic.

  Their business did well over the years. In the late 1980s, the father passed his company to his eldest son and his family. Some of the daughters continued to work in the business until they were married off.

  In 1979, one son decided he needed to take a different path in life from his father and older brother. He returned to Iran shortly after the fall of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, better known as the Shah of Iran. He quickly inserted himself into the new Islamic Republic led by Ayatollah Khomeini. He rose rapidly within the ruling religious order and was soon leading t
he Revolutionary Guards insurgency efforts against other countries. He name was Seyyed Reza Nikkhad. Over many years, he went by many names for security purposes, but eventually he became known as the Elder.

  In the early part of 2008, he learned of his older brother’s fate. The rug business was failing; the crippling world economy affected nearly every business, including the sale of Persian rugs. His brother was looking for a way out of the business and enough money to move to a more modern location in the northern part of England.

  The Elder convinced his superiors to purchase the property under the cover of a false business incorporated in France. They planned to use the property as a base of operation and a safe house for future missions against the United Kingdom.

  His older brother never knew Seyyed was behind the sudden offer from the French company. They had not seen or spoken to each other since Seyyed had left England in 1979. The financial arrangement was more than he had hoped for from the sale. The sale included a generous amount to cover the purchase of his business name, the buildings, current inventory, and the two old panel trucks he used to deliver what few rugs the company sold.

  Using false French identity papers, several Iranian men moved into the house and operated the rug business under the same name. The new owners had purchased the company’s name under the lie they wanted to keep the name due to the reputation developed by the original owners. Today it was the base of operation for the Elder’s plan against England—more specifically Central London.

  Shir Mohammad Moez Ardalan was in a second-floor room of the house. From the front corner window, he could see the trees lining the yard that ran parallel with Newby Street, as well as the highest portion of the church steeple beyond the trees. The rusted wrought-iron fence surrounding the large lot encompassing the rug building was invisible from his position, but it would keep anybody from entering the property. Two walk-in gates, always chained and locked, prevented anyone from walking in off the sidewalks. The only access for potential customers was by the driveway. There was a small public parking lot near the front entrance to the retail shop. The shop window displayed rugs for sale, but they were of obvious low quality with extremely high prices. They were open for business but did everything possible to discourage customers. The same driveway provided access to the back of the old retirement home, where a storage shed built several years ago was located. They could enter or leave the rear of the building and storage shed unseen through the thick woods surrounding the three sides of the property. Their business cover and the secluded location were perfect for their purpose.