dare I say it? Hidden? If for some
reason our way is blocked, can I call on you for some
help?’
‘ Don’t hesitate. Our
computers are at your disposal, on this case anyway! We’ve got till
noon right?’
‘ Right.’ She glanced at her
watch. 4.30 am.
‘ Let me consult with a
couple of my colleagues, see what we can come up with. I’ll get
back to you soon, okay!’
‘ Okay, speak to you soon.’
Not wanting to be cut off she withdrew the phone from her ear, but
not before she heard him say:
‘ Hey, Lorne, keep your chin
up!’
She couldn’t answer him. His unexpected
compassion had hit a nerve. She slammed the phone down.
Chapter Twenty-Six.
Lorne strode down to the Chief’s office. The
brisk walk, though not far, did the trick. She felt in control
again.
With no secretary on guard at this ungodly
hour she rapped her knuckles on the door and walked in.
DCI Robert’s usual healthy colour had drained
from his face. His head shook in disagreement, ‘No, sir, no he
didn’t, look, you’ll be the first person I contact, sir.’
Lorne hesitated by the door unsure whether to
intrude or not but Roberts beckoned her in to take a seat.
‘ Yes, actually she’s coping
pretty damn well, far better than I would if I was in her
situation. Yes, sir…’ he threw the phone back in its
cradle.
‘ That bad, huh?’
‘ Forgive me for what I’m
about to say, but that man can be such an arsehole at
times.’
‘ Go on surprise me, what has
our dear leader said now?’
‘ Apparently, we’ve, to put
it nicely, messed up. He asked if we could’ve made a mistake along
the way. He even suggested The Unicorn informed us his intended
target was the building next door instead of the Houses of
Parliament itself.’
‘ He’s a dipshit. What did he
say about the party guest list?’
The Chief took on the pose of Rodin’s
Thinker.
‘ You did tell him, didn’t
you?’
‘ Do you know what? What with
the bomb and everything, it completely slipped my mind.’
‘ That’s shameful. You
hypocrite! God, there’d be hell to pay if I ever kept you out of
the loop like that Sean Roberts!’
‘ That’s right, there would,
so don’t ever consider it. But, on this occasion, I believe I’m
doing the right thing. I’d rather go to him with the full picture
in place. This is a case of do as I say and not as I do, Inspector,
right?’
‘ As far as I know you’ve
told the Superintendent everything…’
‘ Good. So what did Tony
Warner have to say?’
‘ Nothing really, he was as
surprised as we were about the bombing. I’ve told him our
intentions and he’s volunteered to help if we come unstuck with
anything flagging up "classified information". I can’t help feeling
a little blessed to have him on our side.’
‘ Yes, he is an
asset…’
‘ Well, what happens, now?
Should we head over to the bomb site?’
'To be honest we are caught between a rock
and a hard place at the moment. We could go over there, look,
there’s something else. You probably won’t be surprised, but the
Unicorns new terms are being given no consideration at all. We are
expected to track him down before the deadline.’
‘ And just how do they expect
us to do that? We don’t even know who this bloody character is for
fuck’s sake.’
‘ I know, I know. There’s got
to be something obvious we’re missing.’
‘ Like what?’
‘ I don’t know, Lorne, but
there has to be something, let’s do some more
brainstorming.’
More brainstorming, like we haven’t done
enough already! Lorne arranged for a couple of coffees to be sent
in while they set about re-evaluating every tiny piece of
information they’d collected on the case so far.
‘ What about the plastic
surgeon? Do you think we missed something in his files?’
‘ I don’t think, so, but we
could get one of the officers to go through everything again. It’s
all still archived. Nothing has been released back to the family or
his partners as yet …
reason our way is blocked, can I call on you for some
help?’
‘ Don’t hesitate. Our
computers are at your disposal, on this case anyway! We’ve got till
noon right?’
‘ Right.’ She glanced at her
watch. 4.30 am.
‘ Let me consult with a
couple of my colleagues, see what we can come up with. I’ll get
back to you soon, okay!’
‘ Okay, speak to you soon.’
Not wanting to be cut off she withdrew the phone from her ear, but
not before she heard him say:
‘ Hey, Lorne, keep your chin
up!’
She couldn’t answer him. His unexpected
compassion had hit a nerve. She slammed the phone down.
Chapter Twenty-Six.
Lorne strode down to the Chief’s office. The
brisk walk, though not far, did the trick. She felt in control
again.
With no secretary on guard at this ungodly
hour she rapped her knuckles on the door and walked in.
DCI Robert’s usual healthy colour had drained
from his face. His head shook in disagreement, ‘No, sir, no he
didn’t, look, you’ll be the first person I contact, sir.’
Lorne hesitated by the door unsure whether to
intrude or not but Roberts beckoned her in to take a seat.
‘ Yes, actually she’s coping
pretty damn well, far better than I would if I was in her
situation. Yes, sir…’ he threw the phone back in its
cradle.
‘ That bad, huh?’
‘ Forgive me for what I’m
about to say, but that man can be such an arsehole at
times.’
‘ Go on surprise me, what has
our dear leader said now?’
‘ Apparently, we’ve, to put
it nicely, messed up. He asked if we could’ve made a mistake along
the way. He even suggested The Unicorn informed us his intended
target was the building next door instead of the Houses of
Parliament itself.’
‘ He’s a dipshit. What did he
say about the party guest list?’
The Chief took on the pose of Rodin’s
Thinker.
‘ You did tell him, didn’t
you?’
‘ Do you know what? What with
the bomb and everything, it completely slipped my mind.’
‘ That’s shameful. You
hypocrite! God, there’d be hell to pay if I ever kept you out of
the loop like that Sean Roberts!’
‘ That’s right, there would,
so don’t ever consider it. But, on this occasion, I believe I’m
doing the right thing. I’d rather go to him with the full picture
in place. This is a case of do as I say and not as I do, Inspector,
right?’
‘ As far as I know you’ve
told the Superintendent everything…’
‘ Good. So what did Tony
Warner have to say?’
‘ Nothing really, he was as
surprised as we were about the bombing. I’ve told him our
intentions and he’s volunteered to help if we come unstuck with
anything flagging up "classified information". I can’t help feeling
a little blessed to have him on our side.’
‘ Yes, he is an
asset…’
‘ Well, what happens, now?
Should we head over to the bomb site?’
'To be honest we are caught between a rock
and a hard place at the moment. We could go over there, look,
there’s something else. You probably won’t be surprised, but the
Unicorns new terms are being given no consideration at all. We are
expected to track him down before the deadline.’
‘ And just how do they expect
us to do that? We don’t even know who this bloody character is for
fuck’s sake.’
‘ I know, I know. There’s got
to be something obvious we’re missing.’
‘ Like what?’
‘ I don’t know, Lorne, but
there has to be something, let’s do some more
brainstorming.’
More brainstorming, like we haven’t done
enough already! Lorne arranged for a couple of coffees to be sent
in while they set about re-evaluating every tiny piece of
information they’d collected on the case so far.
‘ What about the plastic
surgeon? Do you think we missed something in his files?’
‘ I don’t think, so, but we
could get one of the officers to go through everything again. It’s
all still archived. Nothing has been released back to the family or
his partners as yet …
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