from memory.
“I’m back in Exeter,” he said when his call was answered.
“Okay. Good. Stay put. Just be ready to move as soon as we’ve triangulated Jessop’s location. That shouldn’t take too long.”
Marsh ended the call with a slight smile on his face.The other man didn’t know it yet, but he had a feeling that tracking down Robin Jessop was just about to get a whole lot harder.
He took a notebook out of his pocket, flicked through it until he found the page he needed, read a mobile phone number from it, and dialed.
11
Outskirts of Okehampton, Devon
As Mallory turned his attention back to the printed photographs, Robin’s phone rang. She glanced at the mobile before answering it.
“It’s a private number,” she said, then swiped her finger across the screen. “Hullo?”
She listened for a few seconds, the expression on her face changing; then she interrupted the caller. “Wait. I’m putting you on speaker. He’s right here with me.”
Mallory gave her a quizzical glance as she placed her finger over the microphone. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know and I don’t recognize his voice. But he says he knows who we are, and he’s got something important to tell us.”
Robin selected the speaker option, took her finger off the microphone, and nodded. “Right, you’re on speaker and we’re listening. First of all, what’s your name?”
The caller gave a short chuckle before he replied, “My name really isn’t of the slightest importance, but you can call me John. What matters is the message, not the messenger.”
“Okay,
John
,” Robin replied, her voice emphasizing the obviously false name he had given. “So what’s the message?”
“It’s not so much a message as a warning. As I said, you don’t need to know who I am, but you do need to know what I do. My job is surveillance, and at this precise moment that actually means surveillance of you two. Somebody hired me to keep an eye on you, Robin. I don’t know who the man is and I don’t know his reason for wanting you followed, because that’s not the way this business works. I don’t need to know. I’m just a watcher. That’s what I do.”
The anonymous caller’s frank admission came as a surprise to both Robin and Mallory.
“So you’re not a part of the police force or one of the security services?” Mallory asked.
“No chance. I’m strictly freelance. It pays better and there’s an almost total absence of bullshit and form filling. But all that’s irrelevant. The important thing is that I picked up your trail in Exeter, where I thought you might have done rather better than the café that you chose, and then I trundled down to Dartmouth after you. Swapping cars was probably a good idea, because that Porsche really does stand out. Now, have I got your attention?”
Robin’s face was clouded with fury, and she opened her mouth with the apparent intention of telling the callerprecisely what she thought of him and his job, but Mallory held up a restraining hand and then replied.
“Okay,” he said. “You’ve convinced me that you’ve been following us, but what I still don’t understand is why you’re talking to us. I presume you haven’t just called us to gloat about how clever you are.”
“No. I’m calling you because of something that happened while I was at Dartmouth. I’d already called my employer to tell him that you’d left the town, but before I left the place myself I saw someone break into your flat, Robin, using a jemmy to force the door. At the very least you’re going to need someone to go round and secure it. Otherwise I have no doubt any valuables you keep in there will vanish.”
If anything, Robin looked even more irritated than she had a few seconds earlier, but again Mallory replied before she had the chance.
“That’s very public-spirited of you,” he said. “Leaving aside the possibility that it was actually you who forced the door of Robin’s apartment—assuming that
“I’m back in Exeter,” he said when his call was answered.
“Okay. Good. Stay put. Just be ready to move as soon as we’ve triangulated Jessop’s location. That shouldn’t take too long.”
Marsh ended the call with a slight smile on his face.The other man didn’t know it yet, but he had a feeling that tracking down Robin Jessop was just about to get a whole lot harder.
He took a notebook out of his pocket, flicked through it until he found the page he needed, read a mobile phone number from it, and dialed.
11
Outskirts of Okehampton, Devon
As Mallory turned his attention back to the printed photographs, Robin’s phone rang. She glanced at the mobile before answering it.
“It’s a private number,” she said, then swiped her finger across the screen. “Hullo?”
She listened for a few seconds, the expression on her face changing; then she interrupted the caller. “Wait. I’m putting you on speaker. He’s right here with me.”
Mallory gave her a quizzical glance as she placed her finger over the microphone. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know and I don’t recognize his voice. But he says he knows who we are, and he’s got something important to tell us.”
Robin selected the speaker option, took her finger off the microphone, and nodded. “Right, you’re on speaker and we’re listening. First of all, what’s your name?”
The caller gave a short chuckle before he replied, “My name really isn’t of the slightest importance, but you can call me John. What matters is the message, not the messenger.”
“Okay,
John
,” Robin replied, her voice emphasizing the obviously false name he had given. “So what’s the message?”
“It’s not so much a message as a warning. As I said, you don’t need to know who I am, but you do need to know what I do. My job is surveillance, and at this precise moment that actually means surveillance of you two. Somebody hired me to keep an eye on you, Robin. I don’t know who the man is and I don’t know his reason for wanting you followed, because that’s not the way this business works. I don’t need to know. I’m just a watcher. That’s what I do.”
The anonymous caller’s frank admission came as a surprise to both Robin and Mallory.
“So you’re not a part of the police force or one of the security services?” Mallory asked.
“No chance. I’m strictly freelance. It pays better and there’s an almost total absence of bullshit and form filling. But all that’s irrelevant. The important thing is that I picked up your trail in Exeter, where I thought you might have done rather better than the café that you chose, and then I trundled down to Dartmouth after you. Swapping cars was probably a good idea, because that Porsche really does stand out. Now, have I got your attention?”
Robin’s face was clouded with fury, and she opened her mouth with the apparent intention of telling the callerprecisely what she thought of him and his job, but Mallory held up a restraining hand and then replied.
“Okay,” he said. “You’ve convinced me that you’ve been following us, but what I still don’t understand is why you’re talking to us. I presume you haven’t just called us to gloat about how clever you are.”
“No. I’m calling you because of something that happened while I was at Dartmouth. I’d already called my employer to tell him that you’d left the town, but before I left the place myself I saw someone break into your flat, Robin, using a jemmy to force the door. At the very least you’re going to need someone to go round and secure it. Otherwise I have no doubt any valuables you keep in there will vanish.”
If anything, Robin looked even more irritated than she had a few seconds earlier, but again Mallory replied before she had the chance.
“That’s very public-spirited of you,” he said. “Leaving aside the possibility that it was actually you who forced the door of Robin’s apartment—assuming that
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