by Matt Johnson
Chapter 38
Grahamslaw was not expecting rapid results. Although Special Branch were used to mounting surveillance operations at short notice, it was rare that they produced news particularly quickly.
Heading home to the flat, he wondered if Emma might be there, waiting. Text messages he’d sent had gone unanswered. It was as if she was letting him down gently.
When his phone rang, he picked up without checking the caller, hoping it was her. It wasn’t, it was Parratt.
Grahamslaw’s initial disappointment was dispelled by the urgency of his friend’s voice. ‘Guv, I think you’d better turn the radio set to channel nine. There’s something you need to hear.’
Grahamslaw sat forward. ‘Pull the car over, John,’ he said to his driver.
As the car slowed to a halt, the Commander held his telephone to his left ear and listened to the radio speaker with his right.
‘What’s happening, Mick?’
‘It’s one of the Special Branch detectives, Stuart Anderson. He’s in a covert van outside the Hewitson place. He’s reported a man acting suspiciously.’
‘What exactly does he mean by “suspiciously”, Mick?’
‘He’s walked up and down the street three times, seems to be checking the windows of houses and looking in cars. Anderson reckons he’s looking to see if there’s any surveillance OP.’
Grahamslaw felt a twinge of jealousy at the excitement the Special Branch Detective must be experiencing. He would be sitting in the back of the van with just the tiniest of peep holes to look through, observing the surrounding street. It wasn’t the easiest of jobs. Long hours of boredom would challenge even the most dedicated. The vans weren’t exactly equipped for comfort. Any food or drink had to be taken with you and when it came to a call of nature, well that was where you hoped not to be sharing the van with a member of the opposite sex. But when the surveillance paid off, it made up for all that discomfort.
Hewitson could only have been home a short while. It wasn’t that long since his release.
Grahamslaw found channel nine. As he did so, a voice came over the radio.
‘Control, OP One.’
‘That’s Anderson,’ Mick Parratt said on the telephone.
The Special Branch Detective would be using a specially encrypted radio that had its micro-chipped frequency changed every few minutes. It prevented transmissions being picked up by scanners. Grahamslaw was familiar with the technology, having authorised the purchase of the radio sets himself. It was a necessary precaution in a world where scanners could be easily purchased at electrical shops.
‘Control, OP One. Eyeball target two, repeat, eyeball target two.’
Grahamslaw spoke into the telephone. ‘Who is target two, Mick?’
‘Costello, guv … it’s fuckin’ Declan Costello.’
Chapter 39
During the night-shift week, I’d found a little-used staircase that would take me up to my office without going past the Chief Superintendent’s door. Like an idiot, this day I forgot to use it. As I walked past, a familiar voice called out to me.
There was no way I could pretend I hadn’t heard him. I did my best to force a smile as I walked through to his office.
My smile faded instantly when I saw that beside Ian Sinclair sat the SO13 Commander, Bill Grahamslaw. It looked like they had been waiting for me.
Without greeting me, Grahamslaw turned to Sinclair and politely asked him to leave the office so he could talk to me privately. I experienced an immediate and now familiar sense of foreboding. The only time I had previously known a senior officer asked to leave his own office was when the Complaints Investigation Branch needed to use it to interview and then suspend someone from duty.
As Sinclair shut the door behind him, I felt very lonely. Grahamslaw told me to sit. It wasn’t a request.
‘Right, Mr Finlay. I want to remind you that you are an Inspector and I’m a Commander. Understood?’
‘Yes.’ I spoke slowly and nodded my head. Grahamslaw was building up to something, I just didn’t know what. Even though I was forty-eight years old, I felt like a schoolboy in front of his headmaster.
‘And as a direct result of that rank differential, you’re gonna tell me the truth, OK?’
‘OK,’ I said.
Grahamslaw’s approach was unusual and clever. I was on the back foot, and he knew it.
‘Did you know Bob Bridges and Rod Skinner, not in the police, but from when you were in the army?’ Grahamslaw demanded.
I hesitated. It was a straight question. If the Anti-Terrorist Squad had been digging into my past, it was quite possible they had made the connection. My heart had begun to pound. I had to say something. I figured that a degree of honesty was going to be best in the long run. And Grahamslaw probably knew the answer to his question already.
The Commander ran out of patience. ‘Answer the fuckin’ question, Finlay. Did you know them or not?’ There was menace in his voice.
‘I knew them, yes.’
‘You were in the SAS with them?’
I wavered again, now doubly uncertain how to answer. Was this a clever bluff or did he know and was testing my honesty? Long forgotten lessons in resistance to interrogation started to come back to me. Empathise, I recalled. That’s what they’d taught us. Talk, but don’t reveal too easily. Make the interrogator work for it. The theory I knew. But this was real. I thought about Monaghan. Should I say? I had no doubt that Grahamslaw was one of the Met’s best detectives. He would be able to tell if I lied. How did he know, I wondered? How had he found out?
‘Don’t bullshit me, Finlay. I’ve not long come from a meeting with MI5. If you’ve heard of the ROSE department, you’ll know that before the day is out, I’ll know everything about you. You might as well start with the truth.’
The mention of the ROSE office clinched it. ‘I was a B-Squadron Troop Commander. Rank of Captain.’
‘That’s a good start. Now, cut out the name and number crap. What’s your connection with the other two?’
‘Bridges was an NCO on the same squadron, Skinner was a trooper.’
‘Same troop as you?’
‘No … not the same troop as me.’
‘Good. Well, at least we’re off to an honest start. So, as I know you’re capable of telling me the truth, tell me this, were you the target of last week’s bomb?’
I paused yet again. This wasn’t going well. ‘I guess so. After Bridges and Skinner, the coincidence was inescapable.’
‘So who’s behind it? Why did someone target you, specifically?’
‘I was hoping you’d know that. From what I read in the papers you seem close to making arrests.’
‘Don’t get smart, Finlay. Anyone with half a brain could work out that coppers are being targeted. What I want to know is if it’s random or if there’s a connection. So, I ask you again, why are you a target?’
‘I don’t know. Seriously, I don’t. I thought I might have been the target, but after the initial attacks, it’s all gone quiet. Like it’s all over.’
‘OK. Let’s assume you really don’t know why someone would be trying to kill you. Do you know if there are other targets?’
‘Again, I’m not sure. Do you know how they managed to find Bridges and Skinner?’ I was having to think on my feet. This could be an unlooked-for opportunity to make myself, Jenny and Becky safe. I needed to know what the squad knew. If they were close to the terrorists, there would definitely be no need for me to get involved with Monaghan.
‘I thought you might have been working on that yourself…’ Grahamslaw remarked, looking down at the table, then up again.
‘I’m not in touch with anyone, so I’m in the dark.’
‘That’s bollocks, Finlay, and you know it. Someone has been feeding you information about what’s been going on. If your lads are being targeted then someone told the terrorists how to find them. If that leak came from my department I will find it.’ Grahamslaw stared hard at me. There was clea
r threat in his voice as he asked his next question. ‘Have you been approached by anyone, MI5 or similar? Anyone who has also noticed the link between the attacks?’ he said, slowly.
For a moment I thought about what to say, whether to maintain Monaghan’s wish to keep things between us or to seek the aid of the man who might be most likely to help. Common sense prevailed.
‘One of our old bosses,’ I said. ‘He’s now MI5, he said something to us about some files going missing from a police station in Northern Ireland.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘I can’t say. I really can’t,’ I said. Revealing Monaghan’s identity was a step too far.
‘OK. But trust me, Finlay. I will find out. What kind of files are we talking about?’
‘Army files. Files with our names on them, what job we do now, that kind of thing.’
‘I’ve never heard of files like that.’
‘But you know about ROSE?’
‘Of course.’
‘Well, according to my old boss, it’s ROSE files that were stolen.’
‘So, he thinks that’s how the terrorists have caught up with you?’
‘I guess so, yes.’
It was now Grahamslaw’s turn to pause for a moment. He seemed to be thinking about something. It wasn’t good news. ‘I heard about a break-in at an Irish police station,’ he said. ‘It was at Castlederg a few months ago. The official report said nothing of note was taken.’
‘You know about it?’ The surprise in my voice must have shown. It meant that Monaghan had been telling Kevin and me the truth.
‘The Special Branch office was turned over.’
‘So, it’s true. Files were taken?’
‘Like I said, the report that came through to me said nothing was taken. But if your old boss knows better?’
‘Yes … perhaps he does. Is it right what’s being said in the papers, that the IRA are behind the attacks? I thought they’d declared a ceasefire.’
‘Don’t assume anything, Finlay. What I will tell you is that we are close to nailing them. They are Irish but it seems to be more complicated than that.’
‘What do you mean, more complicated?’
‘I have sources I trust that tell me these two buggers are not operating to an agenda set by any branch of the IRA.’
I blinked. Then realised my mouth was hanging open, so I closed it. I shifted in my seat. Another chance like this might not come up again. I had to take advantage.
I took a leaf out of Grahamslaw’s book and pinned him with a stare. ‘Mind if I ask you about an alternative theory that was going through my mind – something that has nothing to do with the IRA?’
‘What theory is that?’
‘A different connection between me and the two dead lads.’
Grahamslaw leaned forward on the desk. I thought he was going to stand up. ‘What kind of connection?’
‘We were all on Operation Nimrod.’
‘The Iranian Embassy?’
‘That’s the one.’
Grahamslaw slammed his fist on the desk. ‘I bloody knew it. I knew I recognised you, Finlay.’
‘You were one of the detectives that gave us a briefing, the day before we went in. I looked a bit different in those days.’
‘We’ve all aged, Finlay. So what you’re thinking is that some of you, maybe all of you, are on a hit list as a result of your part on the embassy raid?’
A faint smile appeared on the Commander’s lips. It puzzled me.
‘That’s what I was starting to think,’ I said.
There was a long pause. Was Grahamslaw trying to make me more uncomfortable, or thinking about what to say next? He was a professional, his expression didn’t give him away.
‘Were you aware that another old colleague of yours was killed a couple of weeks back?’ he said at last.
My stomach shrank. ‘No … who was it?’ I blinked rapidly, trying to think.
‘Iain Blackwood.’
I knew the name. In the early eighties, Blackwood had been a Staff- Sergeant and in charge of the quartermaster stores at Hereford. ‘You mean Mac Blackwood?’ I asked.
‘That’s him. He’s dead, too.’ Grahamslaw stared at me intensely. He was looking for a reaction.
‘What happened?’ I asked. ‘Last I heard, Mac was in South America.’
‘Blackwood was blown to bits by a suicide bomber in India, just after he’d arrived in the country.’
‘What was he doing there?’
‘No telling. He was a mercenary, so we can assume it wasn’t a tourist visit.’
‘Mac wasn’t at the embassy … Maybe it was just a coincidence.’
‘And maybe his name was on one of those files you’ve been told about? You got any better ideas?’
‘Only the embassy connection. But even then, I’ve struggled to think of any real motive. I’ve thought about it hard, and the only thing I can come up with is that one Arab who survived our attack. Do you know what happened to him?’
‘Still in prison, last I heard. I’ll check though,’ said Grahamslaw.
‘I’d appreciate that. You have any plans to offer me protection?’
Grahamslaw’s face relaxed. He remained serious, but looked more reassuring. ‘We’re going to have to do something. When you get home tonight, I suggest you start packing. Have you mentioned anything to your wife?’
‘Not yet, I was sort of hoping you would nick the terrorists before that became necessary.’
‘Well, you’d better start thinking about telling her soon. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can sort something through Witness Protection, maybe a safe house. You can use that until this is all over.’
‘Thanks, but I have my own plans. I’ll move my wife and kid to her mother’s. I’m gonna be taking some leave. Lie low. Wait until you’ve sorted things out.’
‘You sure?’
I nodded.
Grahamslaw took a deep breath. ‘OK, it’s your shout, but whatever you do, make sure I know how to contact you.’
There was no telling who now had the information contained in the stolen files. If nobody apart from me knew where we were, we would be safe. ‘I can’t fight them,’ I said. ‘So the best I can do is hide. Escape and evade, just like the old days.’
Grahamslaw offered me his hand. ‘I never did get a chance to thank you guys for what you did at the embassy. By the time I arrived at Regent’s Park Barracks, Maggie Thatcher had well and truly stolen the show. Now’s my chance to repay a debt.’
‘Not to me, sir. I was just a desk jockey. Hardest job I had was making sure the beers were ready for the lads when they got back from Prince’s Gate. It was the assault teams who did the tough bit. For now, just keep me alive. That’s all I ask.’
‘OK, Finlay, you can go, just keep in touch.’
We both stood and Grahamslaw saw me to the door.
As I headed back to my office I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. At least I’d been able to put my theories about the embassy connection to one side.
The moment I had seen Grahamslaw, I had imagined that he was going to confront me with pictures of my clandestine meetings with MI5. That hadn’t happened. And I also now knew what Monaghan had been saying was true. It seemed there wasn’t a lot that Grahamslaw didn’t already know. I was impressed by him. If things turned out badly, he was someone I could do with keeping on my side.
Chapter 40
As soon as Finlay closed the office door behind him, Grahamslaw picked up the telephone.
Mick Parratt answered almost immediately. ‘How did it go?’
‘Good. He fell for the MI5 bluff and he paused to think a lot before answering questions. My guess is he was trying to work out how much I knew before answering.’
‘So we got what we needed?’
‘Mostly. Not all good news, though. I’ve confirmed the SAS link and also an interesting fact that both the dead lads and Finlay were on Operation Nimrod, the Iranian Embassy siege.’
‘
No kidding? We’ll need to follow that up.’
‘Yes, I agree. But that can wait. I found the source of the leak.’
‘Finlay knew about it?’
‘Only second hand. An old boss of his from the regiment told him. It seems to have come from that break-in a few months ago at the Special Branch office in Northern Ireland. Some army files were stolen, apparently.’
‘I thought nothing was taken?’
‘So did I, but I can’t say I’m surprised they covered it up. I want you to get over there and talk to the RUC, find out the truth. And, before you go, make a call to MI5. If there is an IRA cell out there with a list of targets, we need to know who they are.’
‘What about the MI5 office here at the Yard? Shall I ask them?’
‘No, leave them. I think we need to ask at a higher level. Try the section head of the Irish department. If you don’t get any joy with him, let me know and I will try one the directors.’
‘On it, guv.’
As he ended the call, Grahamslaw pulled a slip of paper from his wallet. On it was written a telephone number. He dialled it. The call was answered almost immediately.
‘Sir, it’s Bill Grahamslaw, SO13. It’s about the burglary at the Irish Special Branch offices earlier this year. I’m in receipt of evidence that suggests some sensitive files were stolen and that they may now have surfaced.’
Within thirty seconds of making the call, Grahamslaw had packed all the notes and papers he had available into a briefcase and was heading for the police station car park. He was on his way to see the Home Secretary.
Chapter 41
As soon as I was back in my office after my encounter with Grahamslaw, I left a message for Kevin to contact me.
He rang me back just a few minutes later. He was shocked to hear the news about Mac Blackwood.
‘Did Grahamslaw say anything else?’ he asked.
‘Yes, quite a lot. He knows about ROSE and he confirmed the story from Monaghan about an incident at a Special Branch office in Northern Ireland where there was a break-in.’
