“Good…! I was hoping you would, The Box liaison…?” “Yes sir…”
“Now this information, where to…?”
I led the way. The Home secretary was satisfied when he saw Case and Whatley involved operationally… Shreve had also mentioned to him our telephone call. They both were in agreement regarding the discovery within the images. When they had left Chris said…
“Yer not just a canny bastard, yer a smooth one too…! I near dropped one when they walked in…”
Robin interrupted…
“Well, that was the first test passed… Both spoke highly of all of you… O’Hanlon is ours now, all the live INTEL will filter through this office…Well done…”
“Yes sir…”
*****
McQueen had stayed at her parents for two hours then returned to the centre of Belfast and headed to the ferry port. She bought a single to Liverpool then drove the vehicle to the marshalling area… Starling did the same, opting for a different package so as to be in another loading lane. He still hadn’t clocked the Opel Astra or the driver who copied what the other two had done. Starling walked back to the fence, leaned against it, lit a cigarette and called in…
“We are both booked on the 1700 Belfast to Liverpool. If she’s heading for the continent she’ll need a hotel or something tonight…”
“Got that Starling… Cormorant will rendezvous with you if you stay local to the area…”
He added…
“I think she’s going to carry on… The speed she was driving, it’s like a bloody getaway…”
“Understood, check in when you disembark, one of us will be here until you settle for the evening…”
“Roger that…Out…”
I left my office and walked over to the others who were looking at further IMINT of O’Hanlon. These had been taken as he parked at the bookmakers and entered the empty shop…
“So what have we got…?”
“There are only two cars in the street. His pimped Jag and an Opel Astra… No people, no dogs, no anything…”
Norm was right, it was deserted… A main road running through a town in the middle of the morning…?
“There’s something else too…” “What’s that Norm…?”
“Well, look at the other shops…? Are they open…? What’s the INTEL take on the area like…?”
Sarah picked up the first few photos from the desk and said…
“We need to wait for the RUC to release it to us…I’ve never visited the town or knew about him until today…”
Charlie eased himself over to join in…
“That particular road…? It’s as rough as a badgers’ arse. Unemployment quite high also a bit of class “A” activity… Mmm, he does seem to be doing quite well for himself considering… His coat must be worth, what, five hundred quid…?
It’s another indicator for me; he’s up to something, that particular bookies wouldn’t have the turnover surely… What else does his file say…?”
Sarah began flicking through the sheets of A4 stapled together…
“It says…. He’s five eleven, forty nine years old, oh here we go… He likes to pay for his female company, that’s got to be worth a dig… He spends a lot of time travelling to watch Manchester United too… I think your right, Charlie… His business wouldn’t sustain that kind of lifestyle…”
Norman picked up the street image again before saying…
“I’m glad we now have Lapwing on him full-time… Do we know anything about the other motor…? Another dig perhaps…?”
“We need to get deeper. Is this all Box have got on him…? Christ it’s weak…”
I had picked up the brown file and noticed how thin it was, four pages in fact…
“Maybe it’s a job for the new boy, if he says yes…?”
“Yeah Chris, that’s not a bad idea… I don’t like this guy… His fingers are in many pies… We need to see what the RUC have on him…”
It was getting on for 1730 so we all wandered down to the mess. At 1800 I said…
“I’ll hang on for Starling’s call; I’m the on call anyway… I also want to know if Lapwing has anything. Get yourselves off…
Chapter Eleven
Lapwing had shadowed O’Hanlon all day… Apart from a social visit to a fellow bookmaker and his trip home there was nothing unusual about his activities. There would be a Box officer in residence now until the morning…
Starling had been correct… On disembarking the ferry at Liverpool Backpack had driven through the city and onto the M62, this information being confirmed by Cormorant during his routine call into the Duty Officer. Being on call, I was, as usual, in his bed in the DOs rest room. Starling finally rang at 0030 from Leeds… He had enjoyed an uneventful trip, so far and was safely ensconced in the room next to McQueen. His listening device fitted with a ceramic needle which transformed vibrations into sounds coupled with an audio filter control would have no problem with the hotel walls, being the size of a packet of cigarettes made it very portable too… He also carried a twenty two piece slim line lock pick set on the off chance she was being throttled in the middle of the night. He also carried his Glock… We both agreed she was probably headed to Hull… So, this would be a much more direct approach. She either felt safe or she didn’t care, I wondered which scenario worried me more. I informed Starling I would alert Jay if indeed it was Hull. I returned to my office and made the sofa bed…
Friday 10th March 1995.
I was back at my desk by 0700, with the building having new facilities we needed never go home again. By the amount of people already milling around some saw this as a positive advantage…
I was reading the RUC take on O’Hanlon in it was a photograph that answered many questions. Date stamped eighteen months earlier, it was of Angela McQueen at his front door… The date corresponded to a week before her son’s birthday. The time stamp said it was 2200. Continuing to view the images she left eighty minutes later at 2320. Further visits were also captured… Reading the file, one thing was clear, O’Hanlon was quite reclusive. Apart from the frequent use of the ladies the only other person to be in his life appeared to be a housekeeper of sorts. The only trips he took were to see his beloved Manchester United. He seemed to spend all his time between his betting shop and his home. We needed an “in”. One of the more creative Box operations was known as the “dodgy holiday”… A specialised team would mirror a national holiday competition being run by a household brand, approach the subject and inform them they had won it. When away on the holiday, which was genuine, the specialists would bug the house…
By 0830 everyone was in the office milling around. There was very much a feeling of the calm before the storm. There was a consensus of opinion that something was brewing, we were all filled with a sense of urgency to get the foundations right… I was convinced McQueen’s movements were in some way integral to PIRAs future plan…
Niklas Meier rang a little after 0900… “Guten tag…! Sind sie Frau Collins…?” (“Good day…! Are you Miss Collins…?”) “Nien mein name ist Jordan…”
(“No my name is Jordan…”)
“Ah, guten tag Herr Jordan wie geht’s…?” (“Ah, good day Mr Jordan, how are you…?”) “Gut, danke… Und du…?”
(“Well thank you and you…?”)
“Ja, gut danke…”
(“Yes, well thank you…”)
“Wer sind du…?”
(“Who are you…?”)
“Ich bin Niklas Meier, das bin ich Bundesnachreichendienst und du Sind…?”
(“I am Niklas Meier, I’m BND and you are…?”)
“Ich bin Section Chief Herr Meier…”
(“I’m Section Chief Mr Meier…”)
“Ah, ich habe die informationen fur die Frau Collins…”
(“Ah, I have the information for Miss Collins…”)
“Danke, Ich freue mich sehr fur ihre Hilfe, Herr Meier…”
(“Thank you. I am very pleased for your help
, Mr Meier…”) “Sie sind herzlich willkommen, Herr Jordan…” (“You are most welcome, Mr Jordan…”)
“Jan bitte…”
Then just to throw me he said…
“You prefer English, yes…? I insist on Niklas also… Your German has greatly improved Jan. A trip to a Munchen bier keller would improve it further, yes…?”
“It would Niklas, it would…! Thank you… I would also suggest a deeper discussion and involvement with our new initiative perhaps…?”
“Is that an official approach Jan…?”
“I have been informed it would be fine to offer that, yes. We can leave the politics of it to others…”
“Just so…! Danke…!”
He replied enthusiastically. Meier had worked hard to cooperate and exchange intelligence…
“I shall find Sarah for you…” “Vielen danke…”
The names on the visitor list for Donna McQueen were very short but very distinguished. It was the reason why Meier had rang personally rather than email… The list contained three names, the sister of course but the other two…? Robert Morris on two occasions and Gerard Harraghy, one of the duo released as good faith at the start of the ceasefire. Although on remand McQueen senior was still clearly involved…
We knew Morris had travelled to the continent on the 12th January. To spend part of it in the company of McQueen wasn’t because he was a family member or indeed a close friend… It was also pre planned, appointments had to be made by visitors to the JVA in Düsseldorf. Crucially, not having any surveillance from Belgium and another negative at Hull meant we had no way of knowing if or when he returned or passed through the UK. We also had no knowledge of Harraghy movements. We had nothing from Box or the French, Dutch, Germans or again the Belgians… This said to me Harraghy was based in mainland Europe…
The new surveillance cameras were a huge technological advance producing digital images saved on an SD card, each card capable of holding ninety six hours of footage…
Andy had called from decoding to inform me the SD card which should have produced images for the 14th to the 17th of February was blank or more specifically corrupt…
“How badly corrupt Andy…?”
“Totally. I’d say it’s been magnetised, a simple process of running any household magnet across it in the same way you can damage an ATM card… It’s not the camera, Chief. The SD cards afterward are perfect…”
I had a thought…
“Could it be the card batch…?”
“Matt is checking now but we don’t think so…”
“Ok, I’ll speak to Chris; he may have had it too close to something…”
“It wasn’t Magpie, Chief… It was Jay who signed this one out… It was his second Hull exchange. We’ll keep prodding, of course but…”
“Yeah, I’ve got you Andy, thanks…”
I walked across to Chris’s office as I passed his secretary, Charlotte I said…
“No calls Charlotte unless it’s Robin…”
I made a point of being quite friendly with all the staff… For her to see me in “mission mode” surprised her…
“Yes, right Chief…!”
I walked into Chris’s office and closed the door quietly… “I don’t like that look gaffer and the door closed too…?” “Well then, you’ll really worry when I close the blinds…” He registered the gravity of that immediately…
“What gives…?”
“Do you remember when you mentioned that one of the new Hull cameras had been altered…?”
“Aye, we thought maybe Box or SO12 had been looking at them. We looked into it; the report came back negative…”
“Yes I know… Morris visited McQueen in the JVA on the 15th February… The passenger and vehicle check in camera…? The SD card is corrupt. Andy thinks someone has run a household magnet over it before or after replacement…”
“You know what you’re saying Iain don’t you…” He said this as a statement rather than a question… “I do Chris…”
“We need to have him in then and let me “interview” him…”
“No, not yet… Let’s get the others in and let them know and I’ll speak to Robin… If Starling hasn’t checked in yet, could you chase him…?”
“I’ll do it now…”
I opened the blinds as I left the office then tapped on Charlie’s door… Gravely I said…
“On me Charlie and put your Belfast hat back on, has Norm left for Portsmouth yet…?”
“I overheard Abby tell Holly he left at 0530…”
I registered what now would be the new office gossip as I put my head around Sarah’s door…
“We need you Sarah, Robin’s office…”
“My PA too…?”
“Not for this, you alone…”
The three of us entered Janet’s office. She noticed the mood and said…
“He’s free; I’d go right in…” “Thanks Jan…”
I knocked but didn’t wait for the niceties of a response… “I do hope this isn’t a coup d’état…?”
“A very sensitive issue has come to light… Charlie and Sarah will be hearing this for the first time as well…”
“Carry on Chief…”
“One of the digital SD cards from Hull is corrupt for the exact period of Morris’ visit to Düsseldorf. It could also be the reason we received no intelligence from his previous return trip and the reason the second camera had been altered… If I could use your phone sir…? I need to ring Andy…”
“I’ll ring him, what is it…?”
“I need to know if the card was corrupted before or after the images were recorded sir…”
Robin dialled from his private line…
“Andy, the card, was it corrupted before or after use…? I see… I see, thank you…”
“The batch is not corrupt, just the card and it was magnetised after it was removed. Where is Chris…?”
“He’s aware, sir. I have him chasing Starling to tell him to watch his back…”
“Good… What of Jay…?
“I’m still thinking of informing him of Starling’s arrival, not to would arouse suspicion. I also want to speak to Steve Case so SO12 can mooch quietly…”
Robin lifted his phone again and said…
“I’ll brief Steve personally and speak to John Shreve. I know they have a file on him, as they do on us all but Jay’s is a little thicker due to the sensitivity of the personal issue. Wasn’t he the box officer who assisted Chris with the original camera placement…?”
“Yes he was. If you recall Robin we were a little surprised that he was so cooperative…”
“Mmm, it would appear we now know why… Ok ladies and gents, if they are heading to Hull we still have four hours or so before we need to inform east… Let’s get together when the office goes to lunch…”
“Sir…”
After Starling had confirmed their destination would be Hull we followed procedure and informed Jay. Starling would book in and rendezvous with Jay in the passenger terminal, all under the watchful eyes of SO12, of course. Steve Case had returned shortly before 1530, the look on his face said all we needed to know. We headed for Robin’s office…
“Right Steve, let’s have it…” “Sir…”
“Rod Catlin has not lived in the family home since Saturday 4th February. He did inform the Box duty officer of this that day, although this information had not been inserted into his file prior to his employment here on the 23rd…”
“Have Box given us an explanation as to why not…?”
Robin was keeping tight lid on his self-control…
“Not as yet sir, they are being a little slow in returning our calls…”
“That’s fine Steve, we’ll find they will speed up when I brief both Secretaries after we finish here, carry on…”
“Sir, our files confirm he hasn’t gambled or drank since October however, SO12 surveillance on the subject has been slackened somewhat…”
“Do
we know why…?”
I had tried to say this without sounding exasperated but I failed…
“It is common practice in some quarters Chief. He’s a friendly that has historically been of sound character. A lot of pressure can be brought to bear from certain individuals…”
The last point Steve relayed somewhat distastefully. He didn’t agree with it…The current SO12 data also hadn’t been updated since Monday 19th December ’94, Steve was embarrassed by that however we knew the oversight wasn’t down to him…
“This last point ladies and gents is unfortunately damning for him. On the 16th January he was to sign remortgage papers for his property to cover the outstanding debts. This coupled with the pay rise being employed in Compass should have made for happy families. If you remember Chief, he was positive on this point when you and I interviewed him…?”
Bearings: The Compass Trilogy Part One Page 9