BOOK 4: PREPARATION / CH. 16:FALLOUT.
2.30PM
“Hello, Hilda. I'm afraid I need to tell you your afternoon schedule is going to be in pieces soon.”
“Hello Karen, what's wrong? I can't really get away, there's a meeting tomorrow with a lot of stuff to process beforehand.”
“I'm fine, but someone tried to kidnap me outside the school, after May had gone in. Someone in a stolen police uniform trying to lure me to his van, where his mates would grab me. The police got them all, but found a pile of photos in the van: May and you, May and Tim, George and me, and a lot of photos of people going down the road towards, you know, the building where Tim took shelter from May's brother. A friend from Security wants to talk to you about it.”
“Oh, that's horrible. You're OK?”
“Yes. He didn't really start making a scene until I ran into the school office. At that point he tried to knock down the door, which didn't work. Various things had made me suspicious, so when he said he wasn't going to show me his warrant card that made me hit my panic button.”
“Oh, but they don't show you their warrant card, unless they're arresting you.”
“Hilda, you showed a policeman your I.D. and he said he didn't need to show you his warrant card?”
“Yes, a few weeks ago.”
“Interesting. I'm putting Eliza on. Please tell her all about this.”
“O.K.”
“Mrs Brown, could you tell me all about this event? I heard Karen's end of that conversation.”
“I was meeting May at the school, and the policeman asked me for my I.D. I was a bit surprised, and he said it was a school policy that only parents could pick up students. I said I was May's foster mother, May confirmed it, and he said he'd need to verify my I.D.”
“And he refused to show you a warrant card?”
“May asked to see his warrant card and he said they only need to show it if they're arresting people now.”
“And when was this?”
“A few weeks ago. I was taking May to the dentist, I can check when the appointment was, if you like.”
“Mrs Brown, what he said about the warrant card was a lie, the same lie as he or a colleague told Karen. Are you at work? We need to talk face to face.”
“Yes, Karen knows where.”
“OK. I'll be right over. Karen can you take me there, just to reassure Mrs Brown that I am who I say I am?”
“Of course.” Karen agreed.
“Mrs Brown, I'm going to have to put a block on your I.D. Don't trust your wrist unit, or any other system your I.D. might get you access too. If you need to contact your husband or any one else, ask a colleague to call on their wrist unit.”
“You think my I.D. might have been stolen?”
“Almost certainly. Was anyone else stopped when you were?”
“I don't think so.”
“That's good, at least. We don't want to have a block put on every parent at the school. I'll be there as soon as I can.”
“See you soon then.” Hilda said.
Eliza ended the connection, and then called headquarters. “Hi. I'm going to need a secure transport. Second problem is probable identity theft. I need a block on the I.D. of the Mrs Hilda Brown, I've just been talking to. I'll also need a listing of the last few weeks of her I.D. activity.”
“Weeks?”
“Yes. False I.D. check a few weeks ago.”
“OK. Right, I.D. is blocked. Only, hmm, three thousand events in the past three weeks. Any time-point you can give me?”
“Visited the dentist with her foster-daughter, just before the false scan.”
“Hmm, OK, yes, I've got an access to dental records logged. Two thousand five hundred and seventy six events to check. At five seconds per event that'll only take you about four hours. Your eyes will glaze over and your brains go to sleep of course, and you'll miss the things you're looking for, long before you're finished, I expect. So I'm going to cut out regular, predictable behaviour. I hope that's OK?”
“Very much so.” Eliza agreed.
“OK, list will be with you soon, then.”
“Thanks.” Eliza said, and turned to Karen.
“Karen, if you were a criminal who'd just heard that he had about thirty seconds before access to Mrs Brown's account got cut off, what would you do?”
“Proceed with stage two or three of the plan and send May a message to go home with a colleague, along with a recognition code so that May feels safe.”
“Ooh, you sneeky thing, I hadn't thought of the recognition code thing. Mitigation?”
“I'll send May a message.” Karen typed a message to May. 'Hi May. Hope your teeth OK after dentist visit. Real police always happy to show you their warrant cards. Do not trust text messages from your Mum. She'll meet you from school in person, with my friend. Friend's brother will help with your collection. K. ps. I was the member of public in recent/expected school announcement.' Then, before she sent it, she had a thought. What if the secretary had lied, and May had already been kidnapped? She checked May's feet.
She was there in the large room, which was there in the building, which was the school. Good. “What do you think, Eliza?” she showed Eliza the message.
“You don't want to tell her you're OK?”
“I thought of saying 'All OK' at the end. But decided that it might not be for May. After all, her Mum's probably had her I.D. stolen, her whole family and Tim are probably at risk. I expect her life is getting complex.”
“Fair enough, send it. Hey, thinking of May's life getting complex, no one actually checked what the secretary was doing during your interview, did they? It's always possible she could be in on the plot, and didn't actually check May was there.”
“She locked the door against the bad guy before I asked her to, Eliza.”
“Oh, that's a good sign,” she said as the transport arrived.
“I thought so, too.” Karen agreed.
“I need to call detective Dewhurst. And don't you want George to know what's going on?”
“He knows what happened. I can fill him in on the details any time. You phone your new boyfriend's boss.”
Eliza pulled a sour face. “Pris told me to leave him on tenderhooks. I'd much rather just tell him no.”
“Oh. Sorry. I thought that your 'let you know' was embarrassment at accepting in public.”
“He bottled out at the thought of training, I loved it. I'm in Security, he's not. Secrets everywhere. I don't think it'd work out.”
“I can't fault your logic. But did I hear a but in there?”
“Not really, just, am I being too picky?”
“Well, that's better than not picky enough, I'd think. Why don't you pray about it.”
“Why? What's God got to do with it?”
“Well, it depends, really. Do you take expert advice or not?”
“I try to be the expert.”
“You don't surprise me. But what would you do, faced with an area you know relatively little about?”
“You mean, like deciding who's not going to be a total waste of time getting close to?”
“For instance. Love and marriage are pretty life-changing events.”
“The biggest, in fact.”
“Oh, I don't know. They're big, but, children are a similar impact, maybe even bigger. But your relationship with God is bigger still.”
“Look, I'll accept you're not bonkers, and that you think your God is real. But I don't believe in him, OK?”
“Sorry, which way do I take that? I'm not bonkers, but I am basing my life on a lie, which isn't exactly sane; or you're perfectly happy not believing the truth, so leave you alone?”
“I'm sure that your belief is true for you.”
“Then it's true for you too, Eliza. This isn't wave-particle duality, or blind-men describing an elephant they've only been able to touch part of.”
“I like the elephant analogy. What's wrong with it?”
“The elephant in the analogy is passive, it might as well be a statue, and the blind men aren't allowed to talk to each other or even know the others are there. The real world isn't like that — people do talk to each other, and the real God isn't like a statue. There are quite a few passages in the Bible where God tells people off for treating him as though he is. God wants us to know Him, he's told people what he's like, got them to write it down, and do uncomfortable and embarrassing things to get the point across. Even sent them to explain things to their military enemies. And then, when humans still didn't get it, he came to earth in person, and let himself get killed in a rather nasty way to get the message across about how much he cared for us. There were other things going on as well, of course, but that was part of it. God wants to be known. He's just not going to force it on you.”
“OK. You're convinced, I can see that.”
“Good. So, are you going to let God convince you that he's real, and he cares?”
“All right. If God drops Mr Right in my lap then I'll start listening.”
“Define Mr Right.”
“Handsome, single, in Security, a bit older than me, someone I can respect. Interested in getting to know me.”
“OK, but if he's a Christian then he shouldn't be interested in romancing you. You know that, right?”
“Because different religions pull people apart?”
“Yes, and if you're not a Christian then you're going to pull him away from God. And his relationship with God is more important than getting married, from the eternal perspective.”
“Hmm. I guess that's fair enough.”
“So, you're going to accept God's existence if he drops a Christian into your lap that you're really really interested in, and who starts off interested in you until you tell him you don't believe in God, at which point you get rejected by him?”
“That doesn't really sound like a very pleasant test, does it?”
“Not really. Or perhaps God drops a non-Christian into your lap? Then if you're serious about your end of the bargain, then you will eventually need to reject him. How about instead you start reading the Bible yourself, listen to some explanations if there are things that you don't understand, come to your own conclusions about God's existence and don't put God to the test like that.”
“Where's the proof in that?"
“God's self-revelation in scripture is far more solid a thing than a coincidence or a miracle. I mean, miracles get people's attention, but people are incredibly forgetful, and get distracted so easily. Like, didn't you need to call Detective Dewherst?”
“Yes. And pick your brains about somewhere we're being sent. But I'll call the policemen first.”
Eliza rang the Detective's office. “Detective Dewhurst's office. Sergeant Jones speaking.”
“Hi Darren, Eliza here. First off, information. The fake policeman ruse has been going on for a few weeks, apparently, so the parents need to be warned. It looks likely that at least May's mother has had her identity stolen. I can get you the dates of that, if you need it. We've got a stop on the I.D. and I'll be doing an event check with her pretty soon. Secondly, I'm assigned as liaison on this case. I urm mentioned to my supervisor that you'd probably be happy about that, and I've been told in no uncertain terms to keep emotions out of it for the duration. I'm not allowed to give you a yes or no, and if you ask me for a hint once then my supervisor takes it up with someone about three above you in the chain of command, and if you ask again then her supervisor who happens to be head of global field operations will be making the chief of police's life miserable on your account. Got that?”
“Strictly professional. Yes, maam. Even off duty?”
“Yes. The only emotion you're allowed to experience is abject terror at the thought of any other emotions creeping into our working relationship.”
“Gulp. Abject terror. O.K. I'll try.”
“Next, are your side going to talk to the boyfriend and parents about risks and their options, or should we do that? Decision needed by home-time at his school, I'm not sure if they're at the same one though.”
“All I have to I.D. Him is 'boyfriend, Tim' So if you can talk to her Mother and follow that up, that'd be great.”
“O.K. consider that covered. Next. Have you woken up the perpetrators yet?”
“Yes. They're keeping quiet and waiting for their lawyers, but it seems like Mr Policeman is in charge.”
“O.K. Any idea when that's going to happen? I should be there.”
“About five minutes, I think.”
“Bother. OK. Well, I'll have to be late. I'm going to be at least quarter of an hour here, then I'll need to be back with Mum in time to pick up May. So, formal request from Security, don't let them go, as we'll be considering whether to place terrorist charges against them, or merely get them for breaking the UN reporting ban. I'll be along to explain it to them and their lawyers as soon as I can, in words of one syllable if need be.”
“How do you say terrorist in one syllable words?”
“Dead man.”
“Oh. Yes. That works. You think it'll stick?”
“Sophisticated kidnapping attempt against a protected person, outside a highschool, which also targeted multiple staff members of a UN protected facility? I think it'd be quite an easy case, really.”
“Ooh, let's hope they're not cooperative.”
“I want their employers' names, addresses, motives, blood types, everything.”
“O.K. I'll pass this on. Anything else?”
“Call me if there are any developments.”
“How?”
“Easy. Call Security and ask to be put through to Agent Eliza Smythe.”
“OK. Will do.”
“See you soon.”
“I hope so.” Darren said, looking forward to seeing her in action.
“Careful!” Eliza warned. “What did I say?” he asked.
“You used the word 'Hope'.”
“Sorry, let me expand... On a purely professional level, I'm looking forwards to seeing you set the lawyers quaking in their boots, and watching the detainees lose control of their sphincters at the thought of the charges which might be brought against them.”
Eliza stifled a laugh; that would never do. “O.K. Just don't go selling seats to watch the video.”
She cut the connection. “So, Pris tells me it's your fault that we're going to a rustic get-away. Can you fill me in on any details?”
“Me?”
“She said that you and George had been talking about it to another couple, and so suddenly Dirk, Pris and I are going there next week to check for any issues.”
“Oh. OK. Urm, heating is by a wood burning stove, there should be an ample supply. Drinking water gets processed by a filter system but otherwise water comes up from a well. I'd guess that you'll need to fill up the filter. There's some electricity, but only low current things like for the filter, lights and charging stuff. So, it's not all the way back to the nineteenth century, but it's pretty basic.”
“Wood burning stove makes me think that we stay up all night feeding the fire because if it goes out, we freeze. Is that right?”
“Not according to the blurb I saw. It was talking about how efficiently the heat was captured and stored, actually, and how you just needed to light it once or twice a day.”
“Ok, that sounds like fun. I just hope they have fire extinguishers, then.”
“Oh, they do.”
“What about hot water?”
“Same wood-burning thing. Pour the water through the right pipe and get a lovely warm bucket-full out.”
“So, no showers?”
“There is one, I checked. I'm not sure how it works, though. But don't bother to take a hair dryer, it'd blow the circuit breaker.”
“I can cope with that. OK, so it's not a top class hotel, but it sounds far better than what we lived in during basic training. Thanks.”
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“Hilda, let me introduce my friend, Agent Eliza Smythe.” Karen said.
“Hello, Mrs Brown, please call me Eliza.”
“Pleased to meet you, Eliza. You thought my I.D. might have been stolen?”
“It seems rather likely. I've got too many things to do right now, so I'm going to need to run away quickly. But I really really hope it's OK if I come back here and take you to meet May in one of our nice bullet proof vehicles.”
“I think I can cope with that.”
“Great. Could you check this list of events? We've excluded things which fit your normal pattern.”
Hilda scanned the list. “What's this about pairing a wrist unit?”
“That was one that worried us, yes. You haven't swapped wrist units, or got yourself a spare one, have you?”
“No. I haven't.”
“And I presume you didn't override its theft detection alert either.”
“Whatever is that?”
“It's the function in wrist units which notices if you've taken it off, and makes you re-verify yourself when you put it back on.”
“Oh. No. I wouldn't want to do that. So does this mean they've been able to listen to my calls?”
“No. But they will have read all your text messages, and been able to do whatever else you might want to do with your wrist unit. Banking, for instance.”
“They could take money out?”
“They could have emptied your account and bought a luxury yacht on credit in your name.”
“All because he checked my I.D?” Hilda asked, shocked.
“Because he got you to give them a biometric scan while he had your I.D. Yes. Could you identify him?”
“He was a big man, his uniform was too tight. I think I could. All that access, just from one check? It doesn't seem right!”
“That's all it takes. That's why you get warned not to use your I.D. in someone else's wrist unit. It's a huge flaw in the system, but no one's come up with a good solution except what Karen has. Your I.D. needs to know you're you, and once it does, then that's that.” Eliza explained.
“What's Karen got?”
“The summary is that Security look after my I.D. and act as gatekeepers to it. I'd need to convince them that I'm me and I'm not in trouble before they approve any check. In something like a police check, they'll verify the policeman too.” Karen said.
“Is that much of a pain?”
“Not too bad. I mean, I don't go signing legal papers and so on very often. But it makes what would be a ten second operation into one which takes at least a few minutes.”
“Oh. O.K. I recognise most of these, Miss Smythe.”
“Do call me Eliza, please.” Eliza said. “Which ones don't you recognise?”
“This payment, on the first day, looks odd; and all of these under the line which say 'on hold'.”
“OK. I'll just call that in.”
Eliza called HQ. “Hi, me again.”
“Hi, any news on the potential I.D. theft?”
“Yes, I have, it's confirmed. There's a false wrist unit out there, cloning her messages. Hopefully we can locate them from that. Plus there's one payment for... urm.. what was it, two sandwiches and four drinks, and then all the things that are on hold, so congratulations all round that we got it held on time.”
“Right. We'll send the police in after that wrist unit.”
“Oh, a message to Pris. Police ask us to talk to the boyfriend.”
“I'm sure she'll be in touch.”
“Me too.” Eliza agreed, as she hung up.
“Mrs Brown, are you in contact with Tim's parents?”
“Yes, you'll need to talk to them too?”
“Yes. Does Tim go to the same school as May?”
“No. They live pretty close, but in another school's area. He goes to Freedom Road school.”
“OK. I'll need to tell someone else to meet him then. Can you give me their name and address? And then introduce me?”
“Of course.”
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2.50, POLICE INTERVIEW ROOM.
Eliza got the two minute summary from Darren on the way to the interview room, where the interview had been put on hold, pending her arrival. The false policeman was there.
“Hello. I hear you've been a very naughty boy, I'm here to listen to you tell all your little secrets.”
The lawyer got off on entirely the wrong foot as far as Eliza was concerned. “I am representing all the people you're holding, gassed together as they went about their lawful business. My clients wish to declare their innocence and exercise their legal right to silence in the face of these trumped up charges.”
“I see. Trumped up is not the descriptive phrase I would use. Have you explained to your clients what charges they are being held for?”
“They are being held for impersonating a policeman, or aiding and abetting such. Other charges may follow.”
“And they claim that this man has a right to wear the uniform he's wearing?”
“They have not instructed me on this matter.”
“Well, perhaps you should let them speak, then. But first you and he should listen. My time is limited, and so I release this speech to the others too. You, clearly, will be charged with impersonating an officer of the law, and your colleagues with aiding and abetting. There will also be charges of attempted identity theft, attempted kidnapping, and invasion of privacy. You will also be charged under various sections of the protected places act. Depending on further evidence there may be charges of actual identity theft, aggravated identity theft, and illegal interception. Those are, of course the more minor charges. If you do not cooperate fully, then there is no question that we will be forced to assume this entire terrorist operation has been planned and carried out by you.”
“Terrorist operation?” queried the lawyer.
“We are regarding this arrest as a thwarted terrorist attack, yes. We believe we have sufficient evidence to convince the judge of this already and of course more evidence is piling up. Do you understand the seriousness of the charge of planning a terrorist attack?” Eliza asked the prisoner.
“I've got rights. I don't need to answer you.”
“Until we satisfy the judge that this a terrorist case, that is true.”
“The anti-terror laws have not been invoked in five decades.” protested the lawyer.
“Incorrect, but since the main case wasn't going to come to court and all the secondary cases had already been tried by the time the judge made his decision, he didn't formally make his ruling. We just got him to sign some intercept orders instead. But he agreed with us that it had been a terrorist plot. The evidence we have collected so far links this case to that, so it would be easy to convince him that we should have gone ahead with the ruling. Your clients were armed, and had in their possession secretly taken photographs of people that we suspect to be on a hit list. This is not a random hit for extortion, or an opportunistic gang punishment attack. I presume you understand what charges under those laws would mean?”
He answered in monotone. “Yes. My clients would lose the right to privacy, retroactively. Video and communication logs would be unlocked to establish their patterns of movement and network of contacts, even what they said, to whom. Their entire lives will be minutely examined, along with everyone else they have had contact with. Including me. I would also have my every word and movement tracked, I would have to drop all my other cases, because of the suspension of client-lawyer privilege. I would have the right to withdraw my services, but I would not regain my privacy until the case is over. The investigation could take up to a year, in which time my clients would be held in solitary confinement except during interviews with law enforcement agencies or myself. There may be multiple charges in a terrorist case. Once the case is started under the anti-terrorism laws, it is not sufficient to obtain a not-guilty verdict on all offenses that are normally capital offences to prevent the death penalty from being applied. Any guilty verdicts which would normally carry a sentence of five years or more carry the death penalty in a terrorist case, as there is already an established intent of the group to murder. The court would have to be convinced that there was no evidence that the crimes were not in fact related to terrorist activities.”
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Does the prisoner understand this summary?” Eliza asked.
“Sort of.” he answered.
“OK, Let me be more specific. You know that attempted kidnapping means five years, yes?”
“Urm, yeah.” he agreed.
“Attempt a kidnapping as part of a terrorist plot, you're a terrorist, you're dead. Beat up a policeman badly as part of a terror plot? You're a terrorist — you're dead. Rob a bank as part of a terrorist plot? You're a terrorist — you're dead. Get the picture? Terrorist means dead. You don't even get a grave, because your ashes get a one way ticket into the sun with the radioactive waste. Do you want to cooperate? We don't need to invoke the anti-terror laws to find out who you know and who set this job if you'll just tell us. And, of course I'm sure you'd rather not be tried as a terrorist.”
“I strongly advise you to cooperate fully.” the lawyer said.
“Oh, by the way.” Eliza said, playing her ace card. “Those photos in the van, combined with that surveillance gear? Clear evidence that you've been reporting on staff at the Institute. We'd almost certainly get a conviction, and U.N. law says we must charge you, no exceptions, and that's a minimum of five years in prison. I can't negotiate that away at all. Understand what that means?”
“You charge us under them terrorist laws, we're good as dead, no matter what else we done?” he asked, worried. “And us keeping quiet doesn't protect anyone?”
“Got it in one.” Eliza said.
“And you need us all to cooperate?”
“It makes things easier. If any of you make things too hard, then we go talk to the judge.”
“And what about the boss?”
“Who's that?” Eliza asked.
“Nice try. What if we grass up the boss and then he won't play dice?”
“Did he commission the pictures?”
“'Course he did. Told us where to park and who to snap.”
“Then, assuming you've got evidence against him, we can have this same little chat with him and we can all hope he'll cooperate. Otherwise, well, we'll need someone to tell us about everyone in the organization, and verifyable evidence against them, or we're going to need to do it the hard way, aren't we? That's why we want you to cooperate fully.”
He glanced at the lawyer, and asked “She's got us, hasn't she?”
He nodded. "She was telling the truth.”
“All right! I'll cooperate.”
“Thank you.” the lawyer said.
“So, let's start with clearing up some little details. What did your colleagues shout to you to get you into the van?”
“What?” he asked, surprised at the choice of the first question, “Urm, probably 'Dispatched.' That's what they normally say.”
“And what does that mean?”
“The cops are on the way.”
“How do you know?”
“It comes up on the info site, if you know how. Really useful discovery by the boss, that. It got the gangs eating out of our hands.”
“So the gangs work for you?”
“We collaborate. They do the dumb stuff, we sometimes do them a favour, if it doesn't interfere with our own stuff.”
“And what you were doing today, was that a favour to the gangs or your own stuff?”
“Bit of both. Would have been two birds with one stone, that one. Grabbing her, I mean.”
“Keep going.”
“OK, well, that girl I tried to grab, she's been in the boss's scope for a long time. But she's well protected. Hey — you're often with her — you know that.”
“I know I've been with her on occasions. How long have you been watching?”
“Since the Boss got her I.D., in the summer. He'd been after her for years, he tol' me, but he di'n't have no idea what she looked like 'til then, see.”
“I see. You guys were patient.”
“Yeah. That's the boss, real patient.”
“So your boss was after her. And the gangs too?”
“Naah. Kray just wanted to find out what his sister and his goodie two-shoes cousin were up to. Then, when we found out that Kray's cousin had helped put the boss behind bars, well, we were only too pleased to help. And we couldn't believe our luck when the little witch turned out to be goodie two shoe's bit of fluff. Stupid of me to try to grab her. Them witches are supposed to have real good reactions. She must've done some self defence training too, more fool me. Otherwise I'd have got her, witch or no witch.”
“So, your boss is behind bars?”
“Oh yeah. He acted insane of course. One way of ensuring no one throws the terrorist thing at you.”
“Now, just who is your boss? I don't want to guess.” Eliza said.
“Well, now, he's got a few different names, depends who he's dealing with. You probably know him as Roland Underwood.”
“Oh, come on, just because he's in the press, you can't go and blame it all on him.” Detective Dewhurst said, disparagingly, adding. “You're claiming he gives you direct instructions?”
“Hey, the lady wants full cooperation. I'm cooperating! The big boss is Underwood. All right, I'm not second in command, but then Underwood doesn't have one.”
“So, how does his organization work?”
“You get a job, you see it through, doesn't matter how long, normally. So, take the little witch, the boss worked out how to grab her and set up a little routine to do that. Of course university systems are locked down real tight, so he waited until there was an upgrade cycle due, and then we grabbed one of the programmers, to have a little chat with him. We just showed him some pictures of his girlfriend, and pointed out she'd be even easier to grab than he had been, then he got real cooperative. So, he added our little package to the upgrade, and when it went out with our package on we delivered a big bunch of roses to his girlfriend.”
“What do you mean by 'a big bunch of roses'?” Detective Dewhurst asked.
The prisoner replied, his voice dripping scorn: “Well, there's this flower, see, it's kind of pretty and has thorns on the stem. Probably a metaphor. That's called a rose. You put some of them together and that's a bunch of roses, a big bunch means you put lots there, geddit?”
Managing not to laugh, Eliza asked “Why did you give her the roses?”
“Reward for a job well done, and a bit of a warning too, of course, the way we put them inside her bedroom.”
“I see. And how did you put them inside her bedroom? Breaking down the door?”
“No, we just got the building supervisor to let us in, told him we were from the programmer and he wanted to propose to the girl. Nothing like a bit of romance to make people drop their guard. Programmer got the hint, too. He hasn't said a word to anyone, married her and they've got a real cracker of a security system. Must have cost them a packet. Boss was real pleased about that.”
“When did this happen?”
“Oh, a few years ago. Boss's little package came good in the end. He was right miffed when the foreigners never showed up to collect. We were going to, but when the army showed up and rescued the little witch we got out of there.”
“Why do you keep calling her a little witch?” Darren asked.
“Boss passed on that gem. She's one of them mind readers. Must be. She saw right through me.”
“Is that why Underwood is after her?” Eliza asked.
“No! He only worked that out after the army guy started blabbing. I think it's something more personal.” Eliza's wrist unit chimed, time to meet May.
“Detective Dewhurst, I need to leave you now. Do please keep me informed. Oh, a word outside, please.”
Outside the room, Eliza said “I can't confirm or deny what he said about my protected victim having the thought-hearing power, but it's not something she's ever mentioned to me. And therefore either he's wrong or she's just not said. But obviously it's not public knowledge. I also state that her name and connections are an official secret, and not something you should be discussing with the prisoner without prior discussion. Do either of you have any level of clearance?”
“No.” Darren said.
“Urm... Maybe.” Victor answered. “I needed it when I was the sergeant here's age. Does it lapse?”
“Sort of. OK, expect some forms to fill in. It wouldn't be useful to have the investigation team in trouble for learning things they shouldn't. Please answer truthfully and as completely as you can, then there shouldn't be any need to get back to you.”
“I seem to remember there was a question about regular contact with known or suspected criminals. What should we put?” Victor asked. “Only when arresting them?”
“Not bad, but you're interviewing prisoners too, so I'd recommend you mention that as well, along with any other contact you might have. Some of the people processing these things are obsessively picky about details. You write 'only when arresting' and they'll understand you to mean that once that's done you never meet them again, and flag it as a dishonest answer if they find out otherwise.”
“That's craz....” Darren started, then corrected himself. “that's very careful.”
“Yes. Right, see you sometime soon. It probably won't be today, though. I need to be in about six more places today. Do keep me posted.”
----------------------------------------
Eliza called Pris, once she was in the Security transport. “I'm in transit to pick up May Kray's mum. May I submit a verbal report?”
“Yes, that's fine.”
“One lawyer happy to help convince them they don't want to be tried as potential terrorists. And so far one prisoner is singing like a canary. He's one of Underwood's men. There's apparently some backdoor to the police dispatch system which gives them the warning, I'd guess they're keeping the code to themselves, because he says it keeps the gangs eating out of their hands. He knew all about Karen's kidnapping and how the university systems got compromised for Karen's kidnap attempt, but according to him it was set up years ago — they grabbed a programmer and pressured him to put some code into the regular update system.”
“Threat to himself or a relative as the lever?”
“Then girlfriend, now wife, according to the prisoner. Sounds like they've been keeping tabs on him.”
“That's organized. Anything else?”
“Yes. They've been watching May and George at the request of May's brother, and were very pleased with themselves to identify Karen who they recognised from when her I.D. was stolen and to discover that she and George, who they know was a witness against Underwood, are in a relationship. The prisoner of course now knows May is due to be a bridesmaid. He says Underwood's insanity is feigned to avoid the terrorist charges, by the way.”
“That'll please some people. Is that it?”
“One more thing. He'd been passed what he called a 'little gem' of information about Karen, having certain ah, abilities that I'm not able to confirm, and was kicking himself over forgetting it when he'd tried to grab her. He's of the opinion that he would have succeeded in grabbing her otherwise. Should I ask her about it?”
“You're talking about her having good reaction times?”
“That's part of it, yes.”
“You're free to as far as I'm concerned. The policemen heard too?”
“Yes. As I was leaving I said it was news to me and maybe he was wrong, but in any case keep their noses out of it. Oh, I promised them clearance forms.”
“Within the prisoner's hearing?”
“No, all that was after I called them out of the room. I also told them not to ask about what else he knew about her.”
“Well done. You handled that exactly right. Any news on next week?”
“Yes. More civilised than basic training, but it's going to involve fetching water from the well and occasionally feeding some kind of wood burning stove which keeps warm overnight. Some way of having a warm shower is apparently possible too, and there's enough power to do things like charge wrist units, but the circuits won't cope with a hairdryer.”
“Sounds like we'll survive then.”
“Yes. Of course we survived basic training too.”
“You never know, the boys might be out to impress us.”
“As long as no one lets Dirk near the cooking, they can impress us all they like. Do you know who 'us' is?”
“Entire compliment is you, me, Bella, Dirk, Nigel, Trevor and Fido.”
“I don't think I know Nigel or Trevor. But Fido? Are you sure? Sounds like a dog's name.”
“It is. Fido is of the canine persuasion, belongs to Trevor. Apparently thus adding to our cover as a group of friends out for a well earned break after working too many weekends, while giving us the perfect motive for not lounging round the nice warm stove whatever the weather. Trevor's in analysis, Nigel is royal protection.”
“Any idea how big the dog is? I mean, you don't exactly need to walk a chihuahua very far.”
“I'm not very sure. I'd guess normal sized.”
“OK, well, I presume we'll get fully briefed eventually. Oops, I'm arriving.”
“We'd better get fully briefed. 'Bye.”
“'Bye.”
----------------------------------------
“Hello, you're supposed to be someone I know's friend?” May asked, suspiciously.
“Yes. I'm Eliza, and Karen introduced me to your Mum in person. My brother's going to help find the... pieces of your little collection that might have gone missing later on. Your bullet-proof vehicle's this way, with you foster mother inside.”
“Oh, wow! Hi, Mum. This is what they call personalised service, isn't it?” May said, getting into the vehicle.
“Well, Karen getting almost kidnapped again does make people a bit worried. My job right now is keep you safe while everyone considers the options.”
“You've got the bad guys, though?”
“Some of them.” Eliza said.
“And they're not saying anything, I suppose?” Hilda asked.
“Actually, they've decided they don't want to be tried as terrorists, so they're being quite talkative.”
“Are they? Terrorists, I mean? Not just gangs?” Hilda was worried.
“I'd rather only say it all once, maam. Do you know when your husband will get home?”
“He's just told me he's on the way. Praise God for flexible hours!”
“That's good.” was all Eliza said.
May noticed, and bluntly asked “Do you believe in God?”
“Not really.” Eliza said, after a little hesitation.
“Why not? You don't seem stupid.”
“May!” Hilda exclaimed, shocked at her rudeness. “You can't say things like that!”
“It's OK.” Eliza replied with a laugh. “Only a few hours ago I was telling Karen she was only slightly crazy for believing any particular version of God was better than another.”
“I'm sorry, I withdraw my statement.” May said, with an apologetic tone, but Eliza noticed a little sparkle in her eyes.
Hilda noticed it too. “May Kray! Eliza's here to protect us, not be insulted.”
“But Karen's practically a walking miracle! How can you be Karen's friend and not realise that there's only one real God?”
“Because, as Karen pointed out, a miracle gets you thinking but then is usually fairly easy to explain away. And I'm glad she considers me her friend, but I don't really know her very well. Plus, I was working on some dodgy assumptions which Karen's just knocked some holes in.” Eliza said.
“Sorry.” May apologised — genuinely, this time.
“So, tell me three things about your God. Why should I believe in him?” Eliza challenged her.
“Seriously?”
“It passes the time, and yes, I'm interested.”
“Urm.. only three things? Mum, help!”
“Eliza asked you, May. You brought up the subject. 'Always be ready to give an answer', remember.”
“Can I quote three Bible verses?” May asked.
“That's fine by me.” Eliza replied.
“OK. Number one goes something like 'God is light and in him there is no darkness.' Number two: 'the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.' Three: 'God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life' I don't think I've given exact quotes though, I'm sorry “.
Hilda added “I think you quoted well enough, May. If you'll permit me, I'd like to quote another one. “If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.'”
“There goes my first argument then,” Eliza said.
“Why did you choose your fist one, May?”
“Well, I guessed you knew that God created everything, but it's important that God's good. Some people don't know that, they keep on thinking they can't trust God. But he's good. There's no darkness in him at all. Not like people. People, well, if I'm allowed to quote another verse, 'all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory'.”
“You make it sound very simple and obvious.”
“Well, isn't it?”
“It can't be.” Eliza complained.
“Well, it's logically simple.” Hilda said “But that doesn't mean it's easy to put aside your pride enough to let God rescue you and decide to follow him in everything, even when it costs you friendships, social standing, things like that. We're almost there, by the way.”
“So. I think I've heard people saying I shouldn't start reading the Bible at the beginning. Where should I start reading, then?”
“What do you know? Do you know who God is? Abraham, Isaac, Moses?” Hilda asked.
“I've heard those names. I don't know much about them though. Wasn't there something about one of them with a big fish?”
“That was Jonah. I think you probably should start at the beginning. I think I've got a Bible overview somewhere. It's just a few pages, but it might help you understand what's going on. The Bible, especially the Old Testament, doesn't give you a point by point theology. It's really a whole set of biographies, excerpts from people's lives, warts and all. Sometimes there's more warts than good points, in fact. I've heard it said that it's not meant to be taken apart, it's meant to be remembered, even without people being able to read. I find it hard to think that anyone would really memorise the lists of names, in some of the books, but I'm sure there are some cultures where those are really key. Anyway, I'd suggest you read Genesis chapters one to twenty five or so. There's themes and promises made there which come back over and over again. After that, maybe skim the first half of Exodus, then with that and the overview, you might be able to make sense of quite a lot of the New Testament. May quoted bits from that.”
“What's this about old and new testaments? Did someone die?”
“Good question. Sorry, ancient terminology and yes, someone did die. Lots of people in fact. OK.. urm backing up a bit, Christianity started out as a sect of Judaism. We still accept the Jewish Bible as part of our Bible, and we call that the Old Testament, meaning the old formal contract or covenant between God and man. Where we disagree with the Jews is about a person born in Bethlehem and brought up in Nazareth, a relatively insignificant village a few days' walk from Jerusalem. Jews say Christians have made up a load of blasphemous lies about him, we say that in some unimaginable way God managed to get himself born as a human being, lived a life without sin, and died so that we don't have to. If the early Christians had made it up, then I don't really know why anyone would have given up their lives for a lie, but plenty did die. I don't think any of the first leaders of the Church died a natural death, but they were killed for refusing to denounce their belief in Jesus.”
“That's not really very likely if they knew it was a lie, I agree. So, the New Testament is about Jesus?”
“The first four books in that section are eye-witness accounts of his life, work and teaching. Then there's a sort of history of the church growing, and then there are a lot of letters written by the early church leaders to encourage and educate the new believers. And then there's the book of Revelation which is in a strange genre called apocalyptic, which is full of imagery.”
“I've heard of it. What's it about?”
“Oh, who knows! Depending on who you listen to, it's either about the end of the world, or about what is going on behind the scenes now, or it's in that style of language because saying that the Roman empire was going to be judged and would fall apart to the sound of much rejoicing wasn't exactly going to get you a pat on the back from the government of the day. There have been so many different interpretations and heated arguments about it in the past that it's a bit of a favourite topic for youth group discussions, and adults who've grown up in the church will shake their heads and ask if the younger generation will ever learn.”
“What should we learn, Mum? I like those discussions!” May asked.
“You could learn not to spend so much time in rehashing old arguments and accept that there's just the possibility that in God's view it's probably all of the above, and probably more too.”
“Oh. You mean 'everyone's right, let's not argue'? Where's the fun in that?”
“See what I mean?” Hilda asked Eliza.
----------------------------------------
“Mr Brown, thank you for coming so quickly. My name's Eliza Smythe, my brother Dirk's in Security too and is more of a computer expert than I am. He should be along in about ten minutes.”
“Call me Ray, please. Is Karen all right?”
“Yes. She spotted the man was a fraud from the moment he asked for her I.D. Unfortunately, your wife fell for a very similar scam.”
“So any system she has access to is compromised?”
“Almost. Anything which her wrist unit would give access to without her needing to use her I.D. could be affected. It seems they stuck with doing things that way, so I presume they didn't want to do too much out of the ordinary, and so attract too much attention. But we're going to need to check the house computer, for instance. Fortunately, we blocked the I.D. before they managed to drain your bank account. They did try, once they realised that their ruse had failed on Karen.”
“Well, thank you for thinking of it. There isn't much in the bank, but still...”
“You'd like it to stay there, I'm sure. Now, we know that they managed to make a clone of your wife's wrist unit, and we know how they did that. The question is whether that's all they were capable of, or if that was just all they wanted to do. Do you remember if you just gave a fingerprint scan or was it an eye scan as well?”
“I think it was just fingerprint.”
“That's good. A fingerprint would be enough to unlock the outer part of the I.D., which would be enough for cloning a wrist unit. You'll need to generate a new I.D. of course, and you'll need to get used to using another finger, but if they'd done an eye scan then we'd need to alter that for you. It stings something rotten, and of course altering the bloodflow in your eyes is not something you want to happen too often.”
“No. No it's not.” Hilda agreed.
“Now, moving on to the next issue on the agenda. The people who did this are being quite cooperative, and as I explained on the way here, that's because they don't want to be charged under the terrorism laws. It would make a lot of extra work if we did that, but we could do it, I'm pretty sure.”
“So they are terrorists?” Hilda asked.
“I don't actually think so. They are part of a very patient, organised criminal network, who collaborate with the gangs. I quote, 'they do the dumb stuff, we sometimes help them out.' We knew we hadn't got all of Roland Underwood's syndicate. It seems that this is part of it. They have multiple reasons to be interested in your family, and unfortunately Karen gave them another one by telling the false policeman that May was going to be her bridesmaid when he first stopped her. We don't know yet whether they passed that on.”
“Why does that make them more interested in May?” Ray asked.
“Because Roland Underwood has been plotting against Karen for a long time, George testified against him, and they know that Karen and George are engaged. They were previously only checking up on May because of a request from her brother to find out what she and George were up to. It appears that they hadn't linked George the reformed Kray cousin to George the informer against their boss, but obviously they made that link very quickly once they'd seen him. We don't know what their plans were, I'm afraid. But we know they can be very very stealthy and brutal. I would expect that if we hadn't caught them then they'd be planning an 'accidental' death for Karen and George. Underwood's syndicate had a way of dealing with people who crossed him.”
“What's he got against Karen?” May asked “You make it sound like he's been after her for years.”
“He has. I'm afraid the exact motive is an official secret, but it's to do with her parents.”
“Oh. He wanted to get at them through her?”
“Yes. And he might want to get at her and George through May.”
“But he's gone mad, hasn't he?”
“Well, since the way he gave orders to the gangs amounted to a large-scale attack on random members of the community, then he's an even better fit for the classic definition of a terrorist than the fake policeman you talked to. He's never been stupid, so he'd know that. His madness could be part of a complicated plan to stay alive.”
“What would happen if he did regain his sanity?”
“There are other things we could charge him with. It might be difficult to make a death sentence stick because I'm sure his lawyer would be saying it had been part of his madness. Otherwise, he'd be released into the general prison population to serve the rest of his sentence.”
“So it's not instant release?”
“No. But if he's mixing with other prisoners then he can probably send messages to his syndicate, at least occasionally. If there's any of it left, that is. We are trying to get them all, I assure you.”
“Is there a problem? I'd have thought it would be fairly easy to get the computers to find everyone he'd talked to.”
“Civil liberties, unfortunately, mean that we can't do that. Unless we've got a judge's decision saying we're investigating a terrorist plot.”
“But I don't understand. If invoking the terror laws would let you catch them all, why do you use it as a bargaining chip?”
“Several reasons. We don't have infinite resources. If we invoked the terror laws, then lots of important things Security does wouldn't happen. Other crimes where we'd normally be able to help would fall to the police, and they don't really have the training or quite the right resources to deal with the things we do. That works both ways, by the way. We don't have the training or right resources to everything they do, either. We're working together on this case though, and they'll be making plenty more arrests, I'm sure.”
“But you don't think you'll get everyone?”
“It's one of those hard to know things. We can't assume that we will, but we're trying.”
Dirk arrived at that moment. Once introductions were over, it only took him a few moments to locate one of May's missing bugs, in a light fitting.
“All clear in here, now.” he reported and moved towards the kitchen.
“You spoke of options?” Ray asked.
“Yes. Option one, we to keep you informed, but you decide you'll take your chances without any changes. Option two, you accept some level of protective presence, for example watching over your house and escorting May to and from School. At some level of protection it might make sense to consider option three, which is that you move into a safe-house and lay low for a few months. You work remotely and May attends school remotely.”
“I don't want option three, Dad, please!” May protested.
“You'd rather be kidnapped or killed?” Ray asked.
“I don't think any Kray would want to kill me, dad. I might not be on their side, but I'm still family. If they decide to beat me up, or kidnap me, then I press my panic button, and either the police can find me, or Eliza's colleagues. If I'm wrong, then.... I'm sure God will use it for good. I don't see Karen living in fear of her shadow, or George. I don't want to.”
“Rather a martyr than a slave to fear? It's healthier, I guess.” Hilda asked.
“I'm not sure how taking needless risks is healthier.”
“Life is about balancing risks, Dad — you've said that. It's not about taking needless risks, only avoiding unhealthy precautions. About putting God first, not fear. I'm not going to stop going to church because of some vague, possible, unspecified threats.”
“Articulate youngster, isn't she?” Ray asked Eliza. “I actually tend to agree with May. But I wonder what you'd recommend?”
“I'm not supposed to recommend, sir, but most people would find a certain level of risk acceptable.” Eliza said.
“Any chance of a bigger hint?” May asked
“Or more precisely, how big the risks are?”
“I don't know. I'm sorry. In fact, May's thought about her being safe from her relatives isn't something I've been briefed on. So your guesses are probably better than mine. One thing I've heard about Underwood, is that he plans long and acts discretely, and often surprisingly.”
“Could you expand on 'discretely' I mean, the gang's going mad wasn't exactly discrete.”
“No, but that was the gangs. Normally his rule has been no witnesses.”
“You mean that assuming his operation is still under his control, they're not going to go after us in public?”
“Unless they can be sure the public die too.” Eliza agreed, grimly.
“So, just someone from the police visibly hanging around is almost as good as a safe house?” May asked.
“Well, they'd probably be Security, but, yes, that's pretty much the case. And of course, they'd be doing more than 'hanging around.'”
“I think we'd appreciate something like that, at least for a few days until the rest of them are caught.” Hilda said, looking to her husband for his confirmation. “If that's all right.” Ray agreed.
“Yes. That's fine.” Eliza said, and got down to the details.
----------------------------------------
“Three extra bugs?” Pris asked Dirk.
“Yes. May confirmed which ones she had an access code for. The three extras are long-term recorders, not transmitters, so they were definitely not from her inventory. It fits with the logs from the house computer. It let someone in with the cloned wrist unit last week. One bug in May's room, one in her foster parents' and one in the living room. They've not been accessed since they were placed, which reassured the family a lot.”
“You broke the access codes, then?”
“I had physical access, maam. It wasn't very hard to get at the data.”
“It's beyond what I could do without sending it to the lab. Well done for finding that out, and very well done for letting them know.”
“Thank you, maam.”
“Are you still there?” Pris asked.
“Yes. Well, in the van outside.”
“Great. Has Eliza told you about next week's assignment?”
“Assignment? She told me to make sure my waking boots were well oiled.”
“Assignment. You, me, Eliza, Bella I think you know, guy called Nigel in royal protection, and his brother Trevor who's analysis. We're on an advance perimeter check at a potential honeymoon spot for the royal couple. Low profile, of course. Not a whisper to anyone about why we're really there. We're going to be pretending to be a group of friends who have been given time off for working weekends, so we're well-rested for the approaching chaos of weddings, meteorite impacts, and the like. Four nights, departure early on Monday, debrief on Friday afternoon. It's apparently a rustic holiday resort, but there should be enough electricity for chargers.”
“Rustic as in, we try to ride horses and watch the sheep and goats out of the hotel window?”
“No horses, no hotel, no idea about the quadrupeds, but probably not. Rustic as in: cabin in the hills; fetch the water from the well; cut up wood to feed the stove; and keep your body parts away from the business end of the axe because we'll be about an hour from the hospital unless they can send a helicopter.”
“Oh, I think I've heard of that place. So, what'll we be doing? Checking to see if any of the wildlife are republicans?”
“You'll be primarily checking that there's no sign of the owners or anyone else for that matter planting secret cameras around, or anything else which would turn it into a nightmare for the newly-weds. We're all apparently going to be taking long walks to maintain our cover and check out if there are any gotcha's in the vicinity. You're not allergic to dogs, are you?”
“No.”
“That's good, there'll be one, by the name of Fido.”
“Sounds like a fun trip. Except that Eliza's allergic to not getting warm showers.”
“Warm showers are on the cards, and to me it sounds like Eliza's more worried about your cooking.”
“With good reason. I managed to burn what was supposed to be a soft-boiled egg last month.” Dirk said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I'll stick to fetching, chopping and carrying if that's OK.”
“I'm not the organiser, but that's OK by me.”
“Am I allowed to ask why me? I mean, people pay good money to go on a walking holiday in the hills.”
“Your bug hunting skills, I believe. Plus, and not a word of this to anyone, but Maria wants me to watch Eliza in action.”
“As in 'assessment prior to reassignment'?” Dirk asked, his mind whirling. That sort of assessment must mean that his little sister was being considered for a major role. Courier, maybe, or royal protection. She didn't reply immediately. He guessed that she was wondering if he could be trusted not to pass on that exciting news to someone. It was going to be hard not to. Smash that habit, Dirk. he said to himself.
“Exactly.” Pris answered, eventually.
“Well, well. I always said my sis'd go far.”
“Not a word, to anyone, remember.”
“Of course not, Maam. I've taken on board the warning. It's a hard urge to resist, but it'd hurt her and me both if my tongue wagged, wouldn't it?”
“Probably.” Pris agreed.
“Maam, should I go and talk to a psych computer? It's a struggle not to pass on news.”
“Of course it's a struggle. Talking to a psych computer might help work out the root of the habit, but as to whether that'd help you kick it, you tell me.”
“Oh, I'm pretty sure I know the root, Maam. Any thoughts on what might help?”
“Well, you're trying to keep a lid on it, which is good. There's one school of thought which says just keep on trying. But I'd expect you to fail. Murphy's law says you'll fail at the moment it does maximum damage. As for a permanent solution, that probably takes divine intervention. Keep well clear of hypnosis, by the way, if you want to keep any clearance.”
“Oh. Yeah, I knew about that one. So, you think I'm going to blab myself out of promotion every time?”
“I've no idea, Dirk. I don't know if this counts as a bright side, but you've only got a couple more chances to blow it, before you get assigned to training staff.”
“Training?”
“You're great with the bug hunting and stuff, Dirk, but if you can't control your mouth then we're going to need to find you a place where it won't get you in trouble. That probably means the academy.”
“I think I'd really really hate that.”
“So, why don't you ask for some divine help then?”
“So, can you introduce me to any divinities?” Dirk asked, tongue in cheek. “I've never met any.”
“One.” Pris replied, “I promised Him that if He got me out of my freezer, then I'd stop making up excuses to not follow Him. Stupid reason for making the best bargain I ever made. We can talk more about Him next week if you like. I'm sure there'll be time.”
“You're serious?” Dirk asked, he'd always assumed that people who believed in gods were mentally unstable, but he knew Pris was a high-level courier: very very trustworthy.
“About making time to talk about God? Certainly. Would you mind if I prayed for you?”
“What does that involve?” Dirk asked, alarm bells ringing in his head.
“I say something like 'Dear God, please help Dirk not let on about Eliza being assessed as to whether she's courier material, and help him know that you're real and answer prayers.' and if you agree then you say 'Yes please, God.' or you can say 'amen' which is an ancient Hebrew word which means roughly the same thing.”
“That's it? No contract written in blood or anything like that?” Dirk asked, reassured.
“Interesting question.... Probably for discussion later. The short answer is that God became human, suffered, shed blood, died and rose to life again so that I can be a Christian and you can maybe have an answer to that prayer.”
Dirk pondered. A Christian; Pris was a Christian. So, she believed in God and that was some sort of part of her being a Christian. He'd never knowingly met a Christian who believed in God. Or maybe they all did and he hadn't been paying attention? Maybe believing in gods plural was wacko, but not in God singular? After all, the Queen was Christian, he knew. Maybe he should have paid more attention to the course-book in his R.E. lessons at school, and less to the interesting gossip the teacher had filled the lessons with. Next week could be full of interesting discussions.
“Then, yes please, Maam. I think I'm looking forward to discussions next week.” Dirk said.
In response, Pris prayed and Dirk agreed.
----------------------------------------
While her parents were working out more and more details with Eliza about how intrusive or otherwise the protection should be for the next few days, May sent Tim a message.
“Hi, you. Negotiations ongoing, but it looks like I'm going to have someone from S. hovering around me when I'm out, and camping outside the house just in case. You?”
“Mum almost in a panic.” Tim replied, almost immediately. “Dad not home yet. Any chance your mum could talk to mine?”
May showed her wrist unit to Hilda, who nodded. She wasn't really adding much to the conversation.
“I've got to call Tim's mum.” she said. “Do we know the house phone is safe to use?”
“Yes. Dirk checked it all out.” Eliza replied.
“Thanks.” Going to the kitchen she called Tim's mother on the phone there.
“Julia? Hilda Brown here.”
“Hello Hilda, is this safe?”
“Yes, Julia. At least, you didn't give your ID to someone posing as a policeman, in the past few weeks, did you?”
“No. No. Did you?”
“Yes. More fool me. But our house is now bug free, and they've caught the man who did it too. And I'm happy to say that the young man who found the bugs told me that they weren't the sort that would transmit anyway — they were just hidden recorders, so that's a big relief.”
“Your home got bugged?”
“Yes, but like I said, the bugs have all been found, and they didn't transmit anything.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the bugs they planted couldn't transmit, Julia. I said that.”
“Oh yes. So you're going to go into hiding?”
“What? No! They offered, but what's the point?”
“You're not hiding? Why not?”
“Julia, get Tim to make you a cup of tea and do try to calm down a little.”
“Oh, yes, a cup of tea would be good. Please, Tim.” she said to her son, who was hovering nearby, concerned.
“Now, Julia, I've been listening to what the nice Security people have been telling me, and it sounds to me like the criminals they've arrested were very professional about their job. Not slap-dash at all. They got asked to find out what they could about May and who she's been talking to, and since their boss was in jail and they didn't have anything else to do, that's what they did. It doesn't sound like they were planning to kidnap anyone until she put their operation in danger by smelling a rat. But they're under arrest now, like their boss, and they're telling the authorities all about everything.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Apparently someone from Security convinced their lawyer that that there was no point trying to keep secrets, and he convinced them. So we're expecting that in a week or two the whole lot of them will be behind bars, and right now they're almost certainly running scared, not thinking about what our kids are talking about.”
“Oh. So you don't think there's a risk?”
“Not much of one. Less than there was last week and getting smaller every day.”
“But if this was all at someone's request, then what about them?”
“That was the gangs again, Julia. You didn't go into hiding when Tim got chased by the gang, did you?”
“No, but I'm wondering if we should have.”
“I don't think so. I get the impression that that threat is getting smaller and smaller every day too. We're accepting some Security people outside our house for a while, but we'll still be going to church on Sunday.”
“Of course.”
“You can't go to church and stay in hiding, Julia, it doesn't make sense.”
“Oh, oh, you're right. No, we don't want to miss church. Oh, thank you, Tim.”
“Your cup of tea arrived?”
“Yes, the biggest cup in the house!”
“He's a thoughtful lad, your Tim.”
“He is. Thank you for calling, Hilda.”
“No problem, Julia. I'll see you on Sunday.”
“Yes. Yes, that'd be good.”
“Actually, why don't you all come over for Sunday lunch? We've been meaning to do it for a long time, haven't we?”
“Yes, we have. Thank you, Hilda, that's a lovely idea. Shall I bring desert?”
“Yes, please! That'd be wonderful. See you on Sunday, then. God be with you!”
“And with you.”
Hilda breathed a sigh of relief as she put the phone down. Julia was a natural worrier, hopefully that little conversation had put a stop to a worse panic attack.