Ethereum

by N C Mander

  Chapter Thirteen

  0655, Thursday 6th July, Thames House, Westminster, London

  Kat returned to Thames House barely five hours after she had left it. She had fallen into bed at just after two in the morning, to be woken what felt like seconds later by her alarm. She’d had a cold shower, allowing the freezing stream to bring her to full consciousness. She’d travelled on a near-empty tube to the headquarters of MI5, deep in thought on her team’s next steps in this complex operation.

  Colin handed her a strong black coffee as she arrived. She took a long, grateful gulp and felt the coffee push away the last remnants of sluggishness. Mo arrived, followed almost immediately by Natalie and Jock. By 7.30 a.m., Kat had her full team gathered around the board in their office. They waited for her to speak.

  ‘You’ve all read your briefing on the intelligence we gathered from our field asset yesterday?’ Kat felt odd referring to Edison as a field agent – he was one of the best intelligence officers in MI5’s recent history. He should be here, in this room, running this operation. He would know what the next steps should be. Kat felt woefully ill-equipped to direct the team, but the need to act was increasingly urgent, she knew. Her sixth sense was tingling. It was the sense the Service’s recruiters can spot in you within the first hour of interview. The rest of the day is spent stress testing for the ability to keep secrets. They dug deep into indiscretions of your past, finding out anything that might leave you vulnerable to a potential blackmail or worse.

  The team confirmed they’d all read the encrypted summary file Colin had sent to them the night before.

  ‘Mo, I need you at Scotland Yard. Keep an eye on Colchester’s directives. I’m worried he’ll compromise any potential sting with his heroics.’ Mo nodded. ‘Are they pursuing the captain’s supposed suicide?’

  Mo shook his head, ‘No. The forensics came back and were pretty scant on detail. If it was a hit, it was very professionally done. Nothing in the path report indicated other than a suicide.’ Mo paused, ‘Do we definitely think it was a hit?’

  Kat was taken aback by the challenge but composed herself. ‘Here’s my take on things. Our suspect, or suspects, whoever’s pulling the strings when it comes to VIPERSNEST’s movements, had eyes and ears on Fleming. My conversation with Damien Clough precipitated a call to the captain which our man picked up on. Either a tap on the line or, more likely, he had hold of Fleming’s phone. It was conspicuously missing from Fleming’s home when they found him. Hearing that the police were sniffing around again, he moves the cell and makes sure that Fleming is no longer a risk.’

  Mo nodded. ‘What about the drugs? Getting rid of the captain means the drug running is over.’

  ‘Another indication we’re moving into the end game. We know their main source of income is coming from the bank. They were using the fishing route to bring their men over.’

  ‘What about the rest of the crew? They knew nothing about the drugs or the people-smuggling?’ Natalie pitched into the conversation.

  ‘They, all three, knew about the drugs,’ Mo confirmed. ‘One of them admitted to receiving a tidy payout for each shipment. But on the illicit delivery of wannabe jihadis to British shores, they were quite certainly kept in the dark.’

  ‘So, we can only speculate on Fleming’s demise,’ Kat continued. ‘Where are Colchester’s efforts focused, Mo?’ She looked at her watch, ‘Give us the abridged version; you need to get going.’

  ‘The property company. There are eighty-six flats and houses, according to the land registry, owned by the business.’ Kat looked to Colin for confirmation. He nodded. ‘Colchester’s doing a door-to-door.’

  ‘That’ll take a month of Sundays,’ Natalie pointed out.

  ‘Which is probably a good thing,’ said Kat. ‘Means we can pursue that line of enquiry a bit more efficiently without stepping on anyone’s toes. I’m going to bring Yousuf and Gurbuz in for a little chat. Whilst they’re out of the way, Natalie, I thought you might take a look around their offices?’

  ‘No problem. Anything in particular you’re looking for?’

  ‘Use your imagination. Rental details, tenancy references, that kind of thing. Can you see what you can find?’

  ‘Sure. You’re going to bring them both here?’

  ‘No, I’ve dug out a safe house in Leyton that should be nice and secure.’

  ‘What if the police strike lucky?’ asked Mo.

  ‘It will be difficult to justify not going in if Colchester’s men find the cell, even with the risk of lost intelligence on the broader network. We’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.’

  ‘Before I go, what are we doing at the bank?’ Mo asked. ‘We should speak to this Jamie character, right? Even with what happened yesterday, he’s still the prime suspect.’

  Kat had been musing on the best course of action with Jamie, and her decision not to pick him up was haunting her. She’d batted the options around late last night, arguing each one through with her own inner critic. Through the fog of exhaustion, at one o’clock this morning, she’d resolved not to arrest Jamie immediately. He was either ignorant to what was being done under his cover on the system or working in tandem with another operative. Whether the perpetrator of the bank fraud was an accomplice or not, arresting Jamie would risk spooking his paymasters. VIPERSNEST are definitely working toward an attack. Bringing Jamie in would either accelerate their plans or they would go to ground completely, setting HAPSBURG back months. ‘No,’ Kat explained to Mo, ‘I’m keeping him and the operation at the bank under close surveillance but nothing more at this stage. If we need to, we can arrest him on suspicion of money laundering, but for now, I think we need him in the field to smoke out the real hacker. There may be more money moves, so best not to cut off VIPERSNEST’s blood supply at this stage.’

  Mo looked sceptical but didn’t object.

  ‘Speaking of the money moves,’ Kat went on, ‘Jock, can you sort out surveillance on the internet café? I’m pretty sure they’re still in the dark on how close we are to them, so will likely continue to use that hub.’

  ‘Sure,’ Jock, the head of the mobile surveillance team, said. ‘That’ll be a job for me and Nat tonight.’

  ‘Right, Mo, time to get out of here. I don’t want Colchester to think we’ve lost interest,’ Kat instructed Mo, who gathered his things and left.

  Kat ran through her mental checklist. She’d arranged surveillance on the internet café, set in motion a sting on Barinak Holdings, and she still had Edison in Canary Wharf to smoke out the hacker. At the thought of Edison, her eyes flicked to her mobile. She hadn’t heard from him all morning. She tried to push aside his obsession with Sir Donald Hughes and put her growing affection for him out of her mind. He was just a field agent, supplying information on a particular part of the operation. She wrestled her focus back to the action points on her list. ‘Colin – are you looking at the investor list?’

  ‘The team is running it now for red flags,’ Colin replied. He looked down at his laptop – he was never seen without it – and scrolled across the screen. ‘Nothing as yet.’

  ‘Ok, keep me posted.’ Kat turned her attention to her nearly empty coffee cup. She was still contemplating the dregs of liquid when Tanya appeared outside the office and tapped on the glass wall. All four sets of eyes turned to her. Tanya looked stern and indicated for Kat to meet her in her office.

  ‘Ok. Everyone know what’s needed of them?’ Kat snapped, wondering what her boss wanted.

  Jock, Colin and Natalie nodded, taken aback by Kat’s uncharacteristic tone. Kat hurried out of the room to follow Tanya.

  *

  0756, Thursday 6th, Nelson Gardens, Bethnal Green, London

  When Edison woke again, his body felt heavy with exhaustion. The full light of day was pouring in through the window. ‘Fuck,’ he said out loud. He focused on the red glow of the digital clock by his bed. It told him it was just before eight o’clock. ‘Bloody hell!’ He hauled himself off the bed
– there was no time for lengthy ablutions. He sprayed deodorant liberally, hoping that would go some way to masking the stale smell of sweat that hung about him, and pulled on a clean, unironed shirt. He brushed his teeth as he moved about the kitchen, making a cup of tea. Eight minutes after he’d discovered the lateness of the hour, he was leaving the flat, a large ceramic mug steaming in his hand.

  He willed the bus through the rush-hour traffic. His mug garnering curious looks from the other commuters who were clutching paper cups bearing the garish logos of high-street chains. Edison arrived at the office just as the Thursday morning meeting was wrapping up.

  Tom gave him a disapproving look, pointedly looking at his watch. Edison muttered an apology. Tom simply said, ‘One of the guys will fill you in on what you’ve missed,’ before disappearing into his fishbowl.

  ‘You ok?’ Billy looked concerned. ‘You look like death.’

  ‘Thanks,’ said Edison ironically. ‘To be honest, I’m really not feeling great.’ He was feeling a lot better for the litre of tea he’d drunk on the bus, but the illusion of ill health was important for the plan he had formulated en route into the office.

  ‘Maybe you’ve got what Jamie’s had,’ Billy went on, nodding at Jamie, who was nursing a triple espresso in the corner. Jamie looked up at them and offered a weak smile. He looked pale, as if he hadn’t had much sleep either.

  ‘Yes,’ said Edison, seizing on the opportunity to consolidate his subterfuge, ‘there’s definitely something going around. I’m not sure how long I’ll last today.’

  At his desk, Edison pulled up a command prompt and logged onto the bank’s server. Rather than navigating to the crypto trading algorithm, as he had done every day for a week, he logged into the management database for the infrastructure fund. Half an hour later, and with a cache of code downloaded for future reference, he was satisfied he had what he needed to tie up the loose ends at the bank. He turned his attention to searching for trains. He was scribbling times in his notebook when Anna spoke to him. ‘Are you coming for dinner this evening, then?’

  ‘Dinner?’ Edison looked at her blankly.

  ‘Yes, team dinner tonight,’ Christoph chimed in. ‘Anna knows all the best Turkish restaurants in the city. This is probably in the top three. It is an unassuming-looking place in Edgware, but the best doner kebab on this side of the Bosphorous.’

  ‘I really don’t think I’m going to be up to it,’ Edison made his excuses. ‘In fact, I think I’m going to have to go home. I feel dreadful.’

  ‘That’s a shame. Feel better,’ Anna said. She exchanged a meaningful glance with Christoph, but he didn’t notice as he was thrusting belongings into his satchel ready for his escape. Edison quietly made his way off the fifteenth floor and headed home.

  *

  0915, Thursday 6th July, Thames House, Westminster, London

  Kat spent an hour with Tanya, relaying the detail of the previous day’s events and providing a comprehensive summary of her plan of action. She stopped Kat in her monologue when she spoke of the appearance of Lady Hughes on the investor list for the crypto fund at Penwill & Mallinson’s.

  ‘That’s interesting, isn’t it?’ she said.

  Kat was surprised that Tanya should pick on this minor detail, she had only included it because of the connection to Edison. ‘I don’t think it’s relevant,’ Kat replied. ‘The Hugheses must be invested all over the place.’

  ‘You’re probably right.’

  ‘Although,’ Kat paused, wondering how to broach the subject of Edison’s fixation with the former director general, ‘Edison’s got himself wound up about it.’

  Tanya looked uncomfortable. ‘What is the latest from Edison?’

  Kat gritted her teeth. ‘I haven’t heard from him since we debriefed yesterday evening.’

  ‘What?’ Tanya exploded. ‘What do you mean you haven’t heard from him? He still hasn’t got to the bottom of who’s pulling the strings at the bank. I would expect him to be submitting hourly reports!’

  Kat felt angry. He’s your agent, she thought. ‘It wasn’t my choice to bring him onto this investigation,’ Kat blurted out, regretting it almost immediately.

  Tanya seethed but collected herself. ‘I need you to focus on the investigation, Kat.’ She spoke sternly. ‘As you say, it was my call to bring Scott Edison back as a field agent, and it was his decision to accept the opportunity. Please let me know as soon as we have anything on the property search. I will deal with Edison.’

  Kat bowed her head in acknowledgement of the instruction. ‘Is there anything else?’ she asked.

  ‘Not currently,’ Tanya replied, a menacing staccato applied to every syllable.

  Kat left the office as quickly as she could without running and made for the ladies’ toilets, thankful to discover them empty. She barricaded herself in one of the cubicles and let out a long breath. She took out her phone and dialled Edison, promising herself that this would be the last time she would check up on him.

  He didn’t answer.

  She returned the phone to her pocket and, true to her promise to herself, pushed the thought of Scott Edison from her mind.

  *

  Tanya made a call of her own after Kat left her office.

  ‘Hello,’ Charlie answered his phone after a number of rings. Over a crackly line, Tanya could hear young children squealing in the background.

  ‘Charlie, it’s Tanya.’

  ‘Oh, hello.’ His voice was deadpan but the infinitesimal pause between the ‘oh’ and ‘hello’ told Tanya that Charlie had been put on edge by her call. ‘What’s up?’ He was trying to sound calm.

  ‘I was wondering if you’d heard from Edison lately?’

  ‘No, I’m on holiday with the family. What’s happened?’ His voice cracked with concern. Tanya could feel the blame already creeping into his tone.

  ‘Nothing.’ Tanya tried to sound reassuring, ‘Can’t tell you too much. It was a tough day yesterday, and he hasn’t checked in this morning.’

  Tanya could hear the noise of the children receding as Charlie moved away from his family. Safely out of earshot, he said, ‘For fuck’s sake, Tanya. There is more than the defence of the realm and your career trajectory at stake here. He’s pushed himself too far, hasn’t he? Beyond his brief as a field agent, and that’s got him into trouble?’ Tanya tried to interrupt Charlie’s tirade, but he was on a roll, ‘He couldn’t stand not being fully read in. You can’t expect a man of Edison’s experience to stick to run-of-the-mill intelligence gathering.’ Charlie finally ran out of steam. A pregnant silence hung on the line.

  ‘What do you mean, Charlie? What has he told you?’

  ‘Nothing that’s in breach of the official secrets act,’ Charlie spat back. ‘Don’t worry.’

  Tanya could sense that she was getting nowhere. ‘Charlie,’ she adopted a soothing tone, more in hope than expectation that it would calm Charlie, ‘if you hear from him, could you let me know?’

  ‘Daddy, Daddy,’ a child called in the background, ‘can we have ice cream, please?’

  ‘I have to go, Tanya.’

  ‘Will you call me if you hear from him?’ Tanya pressed.

  ‘I’m not making any promises,’ Charlie replied and hung up, turning to the youngest of his three children, who was looking at him with hungry eyes. ‘Chocolate or strawberry?’ Charlie said, lifting the small boy into his arms and carrying him back to where his brothers and Layla waited. The little boy pondered the question carefully, a furrow forming in his brow beneath his shock of curly, ginger hair.

  ‘Chocolate,’ he said seriously.

  Charlie set the little boy down and turned to his wife, ’Layla, I have to make another call – could you sort these monkeys out with ice cream if they promise to be good for the rest of the day?’

  ‘Do you promise boys?’ Layla asked, and the three children nodded in unison. Addressing Charlie under her voice, ‘Everything ok? You look upset.’

  ‘Just work,’ he replied
and moved away from her.

  Charlie dialled Edison and willed him to pick up.

  In the flat in Bethnal Green, Edison glanced at the phone as it rang, expecting to see an unknown number. He was surprised to see Charlie’s caller ID on the screen, and he grabbed the phone, answering it just before it went to voicemail, ‘Charlie.’

  ‘Eddie, everything ok?’

  ‘Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?’

  ‘Had Tanya on the phone.’

  ‘Really?’ Edison was incredulous. ‘They’re using you to check up on me?’

  ‘Something like that.’

  ‘I’m fine.’ Edison tried to shut down the conversation. ‘You can report that back.’

  ‘I’m not reporting back to anyone. Are you sure everything’s ok?’

  Edison softened, recognising the genuine concern from his friend. He let his guard drop a little to reassure him. ‘I’m ok, it’s all been a bit much, and I’m tired. Going to take a few days off, I think.’ He was careful not to reveal his true motives for abandoning his post at the bank. He did not think anyone, even Charlie, would understand what he needed to do.

  ‘We’ve got a sofa bed at the holiday let – why don’t you come up here? If you can put up with the kids – they would love to see you.’

  ‘Charlie – that would be amazing. I might pop in on me mam on the way.’

  Charlie chuckled.

  ‘What’s so funny?’ Edison asked.

  ‘Eddie – the only time you’d ever know you were from Newcastle is when you talk about your mother. Listen, I have to get back to the family. Get the train to Inverness and I’ll pick you up. See you tomorrow?’

  Edison’s brain worked quickly, considering his plans, ‘I might not make it up until Saturday.’