A Real Job

by David Lowe

  ‘Yes and Davey’s a DS now and I’m a DC on his team,’ Steve said.

  Jimmy gently prodded Steve’s shoulder and said, ‘That’s because he’s got Irish blood in him unlike you.’ He started to laugh. ‘Come on boys, let’s forget our troubles and have a few drinks.’

  Taking his wallet out of his pocket David produced one of his business cards. Handing it over to Jimmy he said, ‘When you do hear something, give me a ring. My mobile number’s on there, or, you can email me. My email address is on there as well.’

  Jimmy looked at the card and smiled. ‘How times have changed. I remember when it was scraps of paper you handed me with public phone box numbers on it along with times to call you. So no questions are asked by the others, have a couple more before you go and we’ll talk about everything under the sun except what your business is.’

  ‘How about the younger lads you’re with? How well do you know them?’ David asked as the three men began to walk back into the bar.

  ‘Well enough for you not to worry about them.’ Looking at David, Jimmy said, ‘Unlike Stevey here, no matter how hard you try not to, you still look like an off-duty peeler,’ and patting him on the shoulder Jimmy started laughing.

  * * *

  ‘Sorry Debs, we were with Jimmy O’Leary longer than we thought we’d be,’ David said walking over to his desk in the ISB office where Debbie was working on his PC.

  ‘You wouldn’t apologise to me if you’d been a couple of hours with a snout while I had to do the work back in the office,’ Steve said, ‘but there again I don’t live with you!’

  Sniffing the air, Debbie said, ‘Going by smell of your breath, it must have been hard work in Reilly’s bar!’

  ‘He was with all his mates and once he saw us he called us over to join him. We had to be careful, for his sake as well as ours,’ David said.

  ‘I’m only pulling your leg. Did you get anything useful from him?’

  ‘Not much, but he did say that O’Byrne and McElvaney are working in Liverpool for some bloke that operates from Cheshire. He had no idea McCrossan was over here,’ Steve said sorting out the post on his desk that had been delivered while he was away in London.

  ‘But he did say that he’ll find out what’s going on and get back to us as soon as he can,’ David added. ‘How about you, did you find anything?’

  ‘I’ve got no record of O’Byrne and McElvaney working in Liverpool. There’s nothing further on McCrossan. It looks like he’s well and truly gone to ground and SO15 are struggling to get any further leads on his whereabouts. I’ve added the new intelligence on O’Byrne and McElvaney’s files, but we need to find out the details of this man in Cheshire they’re working for.’

  ‘With luck we won’t have to wait too long. Jimmy might get back to us in a day or two,’ David said.

  Chapter Eight

  GMP Special Branch Offices,

  Monday, 2nd July, 09.00 hours

  Waiting to find out what their next investigation would be, there was a buzz of anticipation among David’s team as they assembled in one of the briefing rooms running off GMP’s large open plan ISB office. As the team’s detective inspector, George Byrne walked into the room, the droning sound of numerous conversations between members of the team ceased. ‘I hope you all enjoyed your weekend off, especially after the revelry in London last Wednesday. It was worth suffering a sore head on Thursday morning getting Ahmed and Younnis convicted. Although we have a new investigation to deal with, David and Steve still have the Chechen job coming up in court in a few weeks. That’s right isn’t it gents?’ Both David and Steve nodded indicating it was. ‘So once that’s over we can well and truly draw a line under the whole of that operation. All of your efforts averted a major incident and I think some formal acknowledgement will be coming your way soon.’ Seeing Steve raise his hand, George said, ‘Yes Steve.’

  ‘Does that mean I’ll finally get my knighthood sir?’

  ‘The closest you’ll ever get to being called “Sir” is by passing the inspector’s exam and seeing how you haven’t even passed the sergeant’s exam yet, I can’t see that happening for a very long time. Now back to business. As you’ve had a pretty tough time over the past twelve months, I thought you needed a less pressurised job to deal with. This team is going to assist West Yorks rather than lead an investigation. Let me introduce you to DC Jerry Ives from West Yorkshire ISB. Jerry will be liaising with us on this one. To start us off, I’ll give the outline of the latest on this investigation then Jerry can fill in the gaps. Is that OK Jerry?’

  ‘Yes sir, that’s fine,’ he said smiling nervously at the assembled officers.

  George continued, ‘West Yorks have been looking at an Al Qaeda cell in the city of Bradford for the past four months. They believe there’s a link between the Bradford cell and two targets they’ve identified living in Poppythorn Lane in Prestwich. If you look at the screen, you can see the latest pictures we have of them.’

  All the officers looked up to the large screen at the end of the briefing room as George clicked the remote control of his presentation except for Hurst whose phone started vibrating. Taking it out of his trouser pocket he saw Jimmy O’Leary had sent him a text message. As discreetly as he could, David held the phone down by his side and opened the message:

  ‘Phone me on this number. Got info you need.’

  Nudging Steve, he showed him the message.

  As two unflattering photographs of the targets the officers would be investigating appeared on the screen in the briefing room, George noticed his favourite DS was not paying attention. Surprised, he stopped speaking for a moment and said ‘DS Hurst, have you something there that you find more interesting than my briefing?’

  ‘Er, no boss. Sorry boss, I’ve just got a text message from a possible snout, that’s all.’

  ‘I’m sure it can wait. Of all the people in this room who should be setting an example, you know the rule. All phones are left outside the briefing room unless ordered otherwise. I should not have to remind you of the importance of a primary briefing into a new job. Will you and your side kick DC Adams start paying attention to the job in hand? If this doesn’t interest you, I can have you both transferred back to uniform dealing with minor street crime.’

  ‘Sorry boss, but trust me, it’s important.’

  ‘And so is this. See me after the briefing,’ George said with an admonishing tone, ‘Now where was I? If you look at these photographs, especially you DS Hurst, the male on the left is Abdullah Islam and the female is Shrinal Hussain. MI5 intelligence kicked off the West Yorks investigation. They are both British born Muslims. Islam was born in Bradford. His date of birth is the twenty-eighth of the fourth 1978. Hussain was born in Leeds on the fifth of the seventh 1980. Islam studied medicine at Leeds University and Hussain studied to be a dentist at Aston University in Birmingham. Islam is currently a GP at a medical centre in Crumpsall while Hussain is working at a dental practice in Clayton. West Yorks believe they’ve been assisting a number of Al Qaeda cells based in northern England.

  ‘In late 2004, Islam went to work as a doctor at a refugee camp in northern Pakistan for the Red Crescent organisation where he met Hussain. She was also giving her dental services for free at the refugee camp.’ A picture obtained from the BBC News Service when they covered the story of the refugee camps in 2004 appeared on the screen showing Islam working at the camp. ‘Apparently the traumatic events they dealt with transformed not only their outlook on life, but also radicalised their beliefs. That’s when Al Qaeda made their move and recruited them. After working out there for just over two years, they returned to the UK in March 2007. Since they arrived back, our mutual friend and top Al Qaeda man in the UK, Sayfel assisted them in settling down in the Manchester area.’

  As the latest picture the ISB had of Sayfel appeared on the screen, Hurst and few of his team muttered, ‘ba
stard’.

  ‘I understand your sentiment,’ George said, looking at Hurst and Adams in particular, ‘I know he gave us the run-around in your last job and a couple of you are literally bearing the scars from your dealings with him, but intelligence has come in revealing he was behind Islam and Hussain getting their respective positions at the medical centre and dental practice here in Manchester.’ Clicking on his remote, George brought up the latest surveillance pictures of Islam and Hussain on the screen. ‘As you can see, their appearance is westernised. They’re living as a cohabiting couple, to enhance the image of their rejection of the Islamic faith to those on the outside. To aid their authenticity, they’ve gone as far as being outcast by their respective families, especially Hussain as their lifestyle has brought shame on their families. From what we know, their families have no idea of their Al Qaeda connections. They never attend a mosque and to all appearances they look just like any professional couple that have fully embraced a contemporary western lifestyle.

  ‘Since they returned to the UK, they disappeared off our radar until a few weeks ago. West Yorks saw Islam call at an address in Bradford they’ve been watching.’ A picture of Islam talking to one of the targets at the front door of the house in Bradford came up on the screen, ‘There, he made contact with one of the major targets in their investigation.’ George pressed the keyboard and started showing a film on the screen. ‘As you can see from this video footage you can see him park his car . . .’

  Alex Bullard shouted out, ‘A BMW Z4, now that’s a nice car. It’s nearly as nice as your old Aston Martin David. Now I could fall for a man with a Z4, and he’s a doctor too. Very classy.’

  ‘Thank you for that nugget of information Alex. If any of you know of any eligible bachelors in the medical profession that drive a BMW Z4, can you please put them in touch with our Alex? I don’t know what’s got into you lot this morning. If it’s alright with you all, can I carry on?’ George asked sarcastically. ‘If I go back to where we see Islam park his car,’ George said rewinding the recording to the relevant point, ‘you can see him take two attaché cases from the boot of the car. He parked his car a few doors down from the targets’ house. As he’s walking up to the house you can see him constantly looking around. As he approaches the front door, it opens without him having to knock and he walks straight in. From the microphones West Yorks placed in the targets’ house, this is what was said.’ George played the audio recording that started with the Bradford target speaking.

  ‘You’ve brought the stuff. Are sure you weren’t being followed? That car of yours sticks out around here man. Why didn’t you rent a poxy Fiesta or something?’

  ‘I didn’t have time. I got the message that you needed the stuff right away.’

  ‘You should have checked with us first before you made the delivery. For a doctor, you’re fucking thick at times.’

  ‘So the job’s not for a few days yet?’

  ‘You know better than to ask for that kind of information, you’re just the courier. How’s it going at your end?’

  ‘Shrinal and I are ready and we’ve got the chemicals in a safe place.’

  ‘Are you thick? Walls can hear things they’re not supposed to, even in houses like this. If you need to give me any more details then we can go for a walk and you can tell me then.’

  ‘It’s hard when you’re not on the front line all the time like you boys are.’

  ‘[Laughs]You mean that rich western style of living is making you soft? Not to worry brother. Here’s the paperwork you and Shrinal need. Don’t read it until you get home. You can relax. You’re not to make a move for a few weeks yet. Other things have to be put in place before we can exchange contracts as it were.’

  ‘I understand. Have you heard from Sayfel?’

  ‘I was talking to him on a chat room last night. He told me to keep a close eye on you to make sure you’re OK.’

  ‘I could do with speaking to him myself. What chat room does he use?’

  ‘I can’t tell you. You know he’s hot property after what happened six months ago. They’re still after him for killing those two MI5 agents and those motorway cops as well as nearly killing a Special Branch copper. All I can say is he’s safe and he’s looking forward to his return. Now it’s time you left before your car attracts any more attention.’

  When the recording stopped, George continued with his briefing, ‘That recording was taken two weeks ago, so we can assume the few weeks they discussed means they are closer to carrying out their operation. Some very interesting points came out of this conversation. Firstly a mention of our Steve’s dice with death and how Sayfel’s still pulling the strings even though it’s believed he’s still in Pakistan. Also, regarding Islam, it looks like we’re looking at a target that’s a bit green behind the ears in relation to terrorist operations. Importantly, what came out of this conversation was the fact he’s transporting chemicals. Being a doctor, no one would seriously question his possession of chemicals. So by monitoring their movements in Prestwich and at their workplace, it’s important we find out what chemicals they’re getting their hands on, as well as how they’re obtaining them. You never know, Al Qaeda might be fancying their chances with another dirty bomb attack. Have you anything to add Jerry?’

  ‘Only that we’ve been working on this one for a good few months and we’ve built up a good profile of the targets we’ve been watching. We’ve no idea when they will strike, but the Manchester and Liverpool job six months ago leads us to believe they may be considering another dirty bomb strike. Of course, and I’m aware that I’m talking to the leading team on that job. As you all know, one of the targets did try and mislead us as to their intentions. We’re wary that they may be giving us misinformation on this job as well. What has us going down the path they’re planning another dirty bomb strike is the fact they’re collecting chemicals. We first got a hint they were doing this from intercepted Internet traffic between our targets and an Al Qaeda cell based in Pakistan. MI5 have assisted us and they’re sure the operative helping to organise the attack is one this team are very familiar with, Yousef Sayfel, who’s simply known as Sayfel. From all the forms of communication traffic West Yorks ISB and MI5 have intercepted, it appears he’s instructing our targets when to carry out each stage of their preparation. That includes the two you’ve been asked to look at for us. Your role in watching Islam and Hussain is to see if they’re accessing chemicals and if so, where and in what quantity. As we’re looking to go to the search and arrest stage, we need you to find out as soon as you can about the chemicals. I’m sorry I can’t give you a timescale. All I can say is we’re looking to move to the arrest stage as quickly as possible. Time is not on your side. Thanks sir, that’s all I have to add at this stage.’

  ‘Thanks Jerry. As I said, Jerry’s going to be working with us over the next week or two, so I’d be grateful if you’ll make him feel at home. Jerry’s staying in one of Manchester’s finest hotels, well the finest we could find on the meagre expenses West Yorks have given him. So make sure he’s not left on his own during out of work hours, I want you to be sociable and show him the bright lights of our city. Regarding how we can start our side of the investigation, I’ve already made some enquiries with local estate agents and I’ve secured entry into premises that affords an excellent view to the front of our targets’ house as well as one that is directly at the back of their house. A stroke of luck I know, so let’s keep that lucky streak going. Has anyone got any questions?’ As the assembled officers remained silent, George said, ‘Right apart from David Hurst go and get a brew and start thinking how best to start up the obs. Steve, I want you to organise that while David and I brief Detective Superintendent Edge.’

  ‘Consider it done sir,’ Steve said

  ‘Thanks Steve. Come on David let’s go and update Mister Edge.’ As they walked out of the briefing room towards Edge’s office, George said, �
�I was disappointed in you this morning bringing your phone in. I know it’s unlike you, but I had to bollock you during the briefing, especially as we had an officer from another force with us.’

  ‘I’m sorry George, I should have had a word with you before the briefing, but I knew you were tied up with other stuff.’

  ‘So who’s this snout that’s so important?’

  ‘Do you remember Jimmy O’Leary?’

  ‘That’s going back a few years and if I remember right, he was your main snout when we were investigating the Irish.’ As they were getting close to the detective superintendent’s office George stopped walking and said, ‘Has this something to do with you and Steve seeing Sean McCrossan and the shooting last week?’