Resident Fear

by Hylton Smith

  *

  Meanwhile Donald Price had opted for the apparently less risky route and visited Bio-Cure. He was unexpected but Julian Hepworth agreed to meet him.

  “Well Mr Chief Executive, how is the world of medicine and corporate intrigue treating you?”

  “No crises to quell so far Donald. I’m waiting for the return of the chairman, chairwoman or chairperson. Companies like my own don’t seem to have these grandiose functions. I hope she hasn’t complicated matters. I guess we will find out from Martin tonight.”

  “Yes. It was Vivienne I came to talk about. There may be an opportunity to exploit while she is cutting her teeth.” He told Hepworth about the ‘steal’ of the Directory from the Home Office.

  “I only mentioned it to Alistair as a joke, but he fastened on to it like a barnacle. He staggered me by agreeing to pay such a fee, and pestered me to get it done as soon as humanly possible. We delivered and he only made the down payment. If I tell this tale to Vivienne she will merely think I am practicing extortion, with the threat of exposing the company. Let me tell you the fee has been earned because it was an incredibly complex job to get it out of their system without them knowing who or how. I thought if you were to back me up, we could share the spoils.”

  “And how do I know this is genuine? She is bound to ask you to find the briefcase and prove it.”

  “Probably, but she won’t want anyone else to have the proof. She would then be exposed to genuine blackmail. Also I can arrange for you to meet the person in the Home Office who made the steal possible. He is able to prove the theft, and is also very angry at not being fully reimbursed. He is one such candidate who could blow the whistle and become a hero, or blackmail Vivienne directly. What I’m suggesting is that we smooth everything over and get paid for it. I accept that we may have to countenance a small part being retained until we find the briefcase. We would actually be helping her.”

  “You said until we find the briefcase! You mean until you find it. The police are all over this, or had you forgotten? I’m prepared to back up your story after meeting the thief, but I want nothing to do with searching for that briefcase.”

  “Ok, in that case we have a deal.”

  *

  Vivienne asked Martin Parrish to drive to her home to collect Marlene.

  “We can go directly from there to the police. I will help Mum to absorb everything we can about Dad’s death, and you can tell them about the confusion over Stansted and Heathrow.”

  He noticed that she said ‘Dad’. She had always referred to Peter Beresford as ‘him’ or ‘father’. They found Marlene wandering around the garden, talking to herself. Vivienne held her close and Parrish gave them space for the intensely personal moment. Finally, they persuaded her to change clothes and accompany them to the police station. Upon arrival they were shown to an interview room and a senior uniformed officer joined them. Parrish made the request to see Renton and was told that the D.C.I. would be attending the session with Marlene Beresford first. Renton eventually arrived and explained that his interest was to determine if there was any connection of Beresford’s death with the disappearance of Paul Grimes.

  “It’s a long shot, but we have someone detained for the murder of Purdil Pitafi, and Grimes was indirectly involved. So, knowing that Grimes had a relationship with organised crime, and Mr Beresford had received many death threats, we want to be sure we cover all bases.” Vivienne revived her cynical persona.

  “You put that so delicately Inspector. You have witnessed my grief at the scene of Alistair’s death, and now you suggest my father may not have taken his own life. My mother is bereft at present, and a little more subtlety would be appreciated in letting us know what happens next. Like the small matter of his body, and making arrangements for his funeral, sorting out his will – you know, the kind of stuff the bereaved have to tackle head-on before the grieving process can begin in our civilised society.”

  “You’re quite right Mrs Banks, it may be better if I can talk to you separately after the officer brings you up to date with information from the Clyde police.” This gave Parrish the chance to speak with Renton about his recollections of the events immediately after the football match.

  Renton listened carefully to the detail and then asked, “So let me get this right. It wasn’t the pilot who told you that Banks and Bowman were not going to fly back, it was Banks himself?”

  “Yes, well both really. Alistair mentioned that he and Harry had a meeting and he was going to retrieve his briefcase, which we assumed was at Stansted. When the three of us made our separate ways back, the pilot told us they had a meeting and wouldn’t make the flight. We just nodded because I suppose we already knew of the meeting and it must have dragged on. Apart from being disappointed that we weren’t going to celebrate back in Newcastle it didn’t seem like a big deal. Alistair would never just curtail a meeting to catch a flight if the subject matter was very important.”

  “And just to confirm previous information, you, Donald Price, and Julian Hepworth went on your own shopping trips?”

  “Yes, I think Julian wanted fancy lingerie and went to the King’s Road. Donald always bought his wife jewelry and headed for Knightsbridge. I visited a favourite shop to buy my girlfriend a rare book she has wanted for some time.”

  “Can we just run over the times again? Because I’m still a little confused as to how Bowman made it to Heathrow and Alistair didn’t, especially as you also thought it would be very tight in terms of traffic.”

  “I know. I’ve traced this back repeatedly. It was perhaps only half an hour after the game when we split. I can’t be accurate about this, as I can’t recall checking my watch then. So that would be about 5.30pm. Because of the match crowd, I took a taxi to Covent Garden and didn’t get there until after 6.10pm. I did check my watch then because I had to get back to Stansted, and I asked the driver to wait until I had got my book. He was happy to do so with the promise of a decent tip. Donald was back at the airport before me, and Julian arrived a few minutes after I did. The pilot had called each of us to say where we would meet. I think the airport clock showed 7.50pm, or thereabouts, when we were all assembled and ready to go.”

  “I tend to agree with you that this does not leave a hell of a lot of time for Banks and Bowman to retrieve the briefcase, have a meeting together, Banks and Bowman to be separated and Alistair to die while Bowman, Baumann, or whoever makes it to Heathrow for boarding time.”

  “That’s why I came to see you Inspector. I can’t help feeling that the driver who collected us at Stansted is involved in taking the briefcase from Alistair before the match and picking him up afterwards. I saw it when he took out his North Face jacket in the airport, and he definitely did not have it when we got into the car or in the bistro. Do I get the impression that you think he was killed in London?”

  “Perhaps. How do we trace this driver?”

  “I can remember the company logo; it was Manor Limousines.”

  “Well that helps. Thanks for coming in Mr Parrish.”

  Greg Watson rang to say that the body found in the ruin had been put through his new programme and the indicated time of death was Monday 12th November.

  “This puts it at roughly the same time as the one in the reservoir, and does at least explain the interest it attracted from the scavengers. I have additional recovered tissue which confirms the presence of excessive insulin.”

  Renton thought about this for a few seconds and then asked if he had talked to Donoghue about any forensic evidence to suggest they were killed in the same place. “I have indeed Jack, but the answer is negative. It was the first thought which occurred to me, but it’s over to you now.” Renton passed this on to Gibson and Stephanie, and scratched his head. “See if you come to the same conclusion as I did.”

  *

  Bradstock had arrived in Durham and immediately got across his concerns.

  “Before I turn to the new incident room approach, I want an update on this Grime
s fugitive. I should not need to remind you that it was two of our own that he gunned down, yet I have heard nothing. With the resources on this task, we should have bagged him by now. We must be going about it the wrong way.”

  This was a warning delivered to everyone present, but targeted at Bernard Cousins, in front of his subordinates. Renton had taken a progressive dislike to this man and openly challenged his inference.

  “We’re all aware that Grimes was run by the Colony, and could be under their protection. Perhaps the Midwest force can pick up faint signals of any contact he has made with the hive. It’s almost impossible for the Three Rivers to penetrate this ring of mafia-style hierarchy from here. We’ve had no hint of him still being in this region.”

  Bradstock’s eyes narrowed and Cousins, although grateful for the unorthodox respect shown by Renton, tried to defuse any mounting animosity.

  “I think D.C.I. Renton makes a good point Sir, and I will redouble my efforts to collaborate with the Midwest on this. The fact remains that the two officers were gunned down on our patch.”

  Renton had tried to make the subtle point, to all attendees, that the Midwest was part of a bigger problem. Getting information from them was considerably more difficult than squeezing blood from a stone. He had restrained himself from making an outright accusation that there was a blind eye policy in the Midwest force toward certain activities of the Colony. He rankled at Bradstock’s cheap shot by criticising the stricken officers’ colleagues to protect his own grubby domain. Taking on inappropriate guilt for fallen comrades was all too easy for those wanting revenge, and this senior official was milking it. Renton wasn’t deliberately being reckless with regard to his own career; he wanted to flush out the real reason for this ridiculous incident room. He had made sure that Bradstock was stoked up. When the chief spoke again it was not difficult to see that he was privately smouldering.

  “Of course we are pursuing all routes of enquiry, both official and the more risky alternative, in the Midwest, but this region is where he evaporated from, and I have no indication of how he has crept through the net. Unless we have failed to spot him on public transport, which seems unlikely, he is either still up here or he has driven through our checkpoints. I want this force to become more focussed on detection than reprisal. It is understandable that emotions run high in such cases, but composure is what is really required. Now I want to progress to the approach to the other items after a short break. D.C.I. Renton, I would like you to join me to run through the latest information on the decomposing corpse found in the ruin.”

  Renton settled into a chair and anticipated a fierce reaction. He was also prepared to insist that Cousins was present if the session became a charade, merely to admonish him for breaking the team ethic. However, Cousins was invited to be part of the discussion. Bradstock wanted to clarify Renton’s statement.

  “Exactly what did you mean by the Midwest being better placed than this force to siphon information from the Colony?”

  “I meant exactly that Sir. It’s no secret that the hive moved from London to the Midwest with Beresford, and now that he has expired, the control is even more concentrated there. Also, it would be a bit amateurish for our people to show up on your patch and begin asking difficult questions. I don’t think that the Midwest force would like it either. I was simply making the point that if he has fled to the hive, because he feared there was no safe haven here, we could use your help. I’m speculating, which I try to refrain from, but I would think he’d prefer to be anywhere but the northeast right now, or indeed anywhere with cameras, such as airports, train or bus stations. I agree with you that he may well have already got through the hastily constructed net, and that’s very unfortunate. Also, may I say that my comments were from a different perspective; this is primarily because C.I.D. is not conducting the manhunt. I thought I was being helpful and open-minded.” Cousins breathed a sigh of relief, while Bradstock feigned misunderstanding. He would need to see to Renton at an appropriate time.

  Chapter 22

  Julian Hepworth phoned Vivienne to say that he was travelling to London to meet with a key supplier, and hoped to catch up with her Bio-Synth visit on his return. He travelled by car with Donald Price. They were to meet with Chen that evening.

  It was Stephanie who mirrored Renton’s intuition.

  “Sir, I’ve thought about Greg Watson’s time of death of Todd, in the ruin. When I put this together with the note, I believe the author is trying to tell us that it’s the date of discovery of the body which fits a pattern rather than the time of death. The other aspects of location, employment and faith remain in the frame. The time of death is a parameter which we need for matching evidence with the individual killings, not one which is reliable in predicting when the next one will occur.” Renton smiled and nodded. She was quite pleased with herself. He turned to Gibson.

  “I’ve had a very interesting chat with Martin Parrish about the timeline in London just before Banks’ death. You like detail Sam, and have a fresh pair of eyes. Here’s the addendum to his original statement, and those of Hepworth and Price. We need to go through that timeline again, but much more clinically.”

  *

  Despite the deep reservations they had about Beresford’s suicide, the Clyde police had no evidence to justify treating the death as suspicious. This was passed on to Durham and it made at least one person happy – Nigel Bradstock. It strangely left Vivienne and her mother in a vacuum. They had not wanted to contemplate Beresford having been murdered, and now they could resume their reconciliation of why he wanted to take his own life.

  *

  Seth Graham and Eddie Finley were ready to re-plan the means of helping the cause of Enigma in London. It had been delayed by getting rid of Grimes and Beresford. Also the public had been preoccupied with the string of killings which had been linked by the press if not publicly by the police. The media had now adopted the short-speak title of ‘The C.V. (Curriculum Vitae) Killings.’ The media may well have chosen a different phrase, if the latest victim had been a Muslim. Graham and Finley did not want the enforced delay to eclipse the good work that had already been done. The march had been portrayed as fairly low key, but behind the scenes there was a storm brewing. The policing requirement was difficult to judge, as it was going to begin and end in a Chinese-dominated residential area. Graham had brokered financial agreements with certain underground Muslim fringe groups who would intrude into the parade as members of the Muslim Shield. Following this, the Colony could return to what Beresford had been obsessed with – the Midwest project.

  *

  Hepworth and Price sat in a café until Chen emerged from the partially lit Home Office building after his day’s work. He headed in their direction. They rose and followed him to a noisy wine bar where it was difficult to hear any conversation, let alone eavesdrop on someone else’s. Hepworth was not aware of the influence Price had wielded in helping Chen secure his new post. He was even more surprised by the detail which the young man was able to quote on some of the internal politics at Bio-Cure, gathered while he worked on their security system. He had a near photographic memory of not just the people, but the emails which passed between them. He confirmed the insatiable desire Banks had expressed for the Genetic Profile Directory, and precisely how he had obtained it.

  “I don’t care where it is now. Mr Price tells me it is in a lost briefcase, but I insist that a deal is a deal and if I expose this in a certain way, Bio-Cure could crash completely. Don’t think I won’t do it.”

  Hepworth asked, “What if someone else gets the briefcase open and recovers it intact? They would become a second blackmail threat.”

  “Possibly, but I am talking six days before I act. After that it is not my problem, and I repeat – my remuneration was the subject of a contract, and is therefore not blackmail. If I expose the theft it is a consequence of default on the part of Bio-Cure.” Hepworth got the picture and agreed to tackle Vivienne about honouring the final instalme
nt.

  *

  Searching for Manor Limousines hit a dead end, there was no such company registered. When Renton contacted Parrish to tell him this, he said it was not all that unusual.

  “I’m in that business myself and I often come into contact with unregistered punters. You just buy some decals and stick them on the side of the car. I must say that one looked authentic, with telephone number, web page etc. It was very professional. Anyway I am absolutely certain that was the name. Perhaps I can make some enquiries under the radar, as opposed to the official route.” Renton thanked him and made a note to check up on this again.

  *

  Vivienne received a response from the C.E. of Bio-Synth. “After many meetings and tough talking we have a consensus that we will consider your approach to acquire our company. However, our independent valuation has resulted in a lower threshold below which there can be no agreement.”

  “I see, and am I about to be advised of this threshold?”

  “Indeed. For straight purchase of all voting stock we require an offer in excess of the equivalent of £73 million.”

  “Well good luck then. I have no further interest.” There was a short silence and she assumed he was communicating her response to others.

  “You are free to check the valuation report, and then commission one yourself Mrs Banks.”

  “Look, I suggest we transfer this call from audio to a video conference, as I have something you may wish to see rather than hear from me.” He agreed and she sent for her finance director. When the connection was made, she saw no fewer than seven executives or shareholders in the German office. She guessed that there may have been more prior to the video link-up. She introduced Thomas Enfield, who was sat in front of a laptop and had already loaded a page.

  “Now, since I was in Germany there must have been a leak of the possibility of this deal being imminent. I can assure you that it has not come from here, and in a moment Mr Enfield will show you how the relative movement of the share prices of our two companies have been affected. You will not be surprised to see that Bio-Synth has shot skyward, whereas Bio-Cure has drifted downward. I could bore you with a lot of projected scenarios which could be manipulated if we were to proceed, but my own reaction is very straightforward. You can see my personal portfolio here and my purchase of large tranches of stock in my own company – the rough equivalent of those which speculators have sold. It doesn’t take a genius to see that the market views my potential offer to plough money into your company as foolhardy. They see you, not so much as a lame duck, but more of an endangered species. So, with the drain on cash for the purchase of more shares in Bio-Cure, I am rather restricted in liquidity to even consider your valuation, even if I was foolish enough to accept your threshold. There is something else you may wish to think about. My C.E. is in London at present. He is negotiating contractual supply for our intermediates for next year. Currently you have over seventy percent of these, but your contractual status is up for review in April 2019. I suspect that without this volume the independent valuation you claim to have would shrink somewhat. I have an alternative valuation in mind. The merger proposal was rather irregular in its structure, but there was one key figure which was underlined several times. It conveyed the crucial injection of £65 million cash to relieve the mounting pressure from your bank, concerning cash flow. Mr Enfield has projected from your balance sheet and latest trading statement that your position is worsening. With the much more stringent controls the bank regulators have installed since the Eurozone implosion, you really have nowhere to go. I am offering £58 million for your company and a potential increase in contractual intermediates when you become wholly owned. This is my final position, and as I have other irons in the fire, you have twenty-four hours to decide. I would understand if you don’t need this time to consider the offer and wish to reject it now, in fact that would clear the way for me to progress my other options.”