Deception

SIXTEEN

On his way back to London, Harry rang Ballatyne to arrange a meeting. There were things he needed doing which he hadn’t got the clout for, but which Ballatyne had. The MI6 man agreed to a rendezvous at the Italian restaurant off Wigmore Street later that evening.

Next he rang Rik Ferris, who already had news about the Eurostar ticket.

‘It was bought through a ticket office in Scheveningen, near The Hague, in the name of Fraser,’ said Rik. ‘I checked his background; it was Pike’s mother’s maiden name.’ He gave Harry the address of the ticket office. ‘Still no other hits on his or any of the other names, and Tan’s so common it’s like wading through seaweed.’ He yawned. ‘Can I come out to play? I’m getting bunker fever here.’

‘Sorry,’ Harry told him. ‘I might need your back-up later, though.’ It was a small lie; he couldn’t see any scenario arising where he would need that kind of help, and Rik was in no shape to go around being physical. But he didn’t want to depress him further.

This time when he arrived at the restaurant, there was no coffee on offer and the suited hard-case stayed with the car.

‘Sorry about the rush,’ Ballatyne explained. ‘I can’t spare much time — we’ve got some rockets going up. Nothing to do with our business, though. What’ve you got?’

‘I’ve drawn a blank so far on Lieutenant Tan. No family, no background to speak of and nothing yet to show even a sign of where she might be.’

Ballatyne looked unconcerned. ‘So she’s gone to ground. I’m sure she’ll surface sooner or later. I think you should forget about her for the time being. Weapons technology and systems are the hot topics right now; personnel with that kind of saleable knowledge are the ones being sought.’

Harry was surprised. It was such a change of emphasis that he got the uneasy feeling Ballatyne was stonewalling him. Or maybe he had developed a new set of priorities.

‘You mean who’s got the biggest gun?’

‘Exactly. Boys’ toys, Harry. Boys’ toys.’ He looked pleased at the analogy.

‘I still think Tan’s worth looking at, that’s all. You can be sure the Protectory will, too.’

‘What are you looking for, specifically?’

‘I haven’t got the punch to gain access to Cambridge University graduate files or unlock the MOD’s records. You do. Did something happen while she was at university which could have had a delayed reaction — made her vulnerable? Did she meet someone after joining up who could have influenced her in some way? Anything like that could be a lead to help track her down. There’s certainly nothing else out there.’

Ballatyne looked unconvinced, but appeared to relent. ‘Very well. I’ll see what I can find.’ Then he changed the subject. ‘On my way here, I got word from the security boys at London City airport. Two supposed German males boarded the scheduled Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt at seven fifteen, the same evening Pike and Wallace were killed. The timing fits; it wouldn’t have taken them long to get from the A12 to the airport. They could have lost the Merc anywhere along the way; left the keys in the ignition on a side street in east London and the local bangers would have done the rest. It’s probably gathering a thin layer of desert sand on a dock in Dubai even as we speak.’

‘Sounds like it was planned,’ Harry agreed, ‘if it was the same two men. Do we have pictures?’

‘Not good ones — and nothing from the hospital cameras. They were offline. Highways Agency computer problems made their pictures grainy. Both men were heavily built, one medium height with dark hair, the other tall, but bald, possibly shaven.’

‘What made them stand out, then?’

‘One of the girls on the desk is German. She said their German wasn’t that good and believed they were either Czech or Bosnian. She thought it odd enough to mention it to her supervisor who called it in.’ He shrugged. ‘We got lucky: the supervisor used to be in Immigration and thought it worth passing on.’ He checked his watch. ‘Got to go. What are you doing next?’

Harry explained about his intention of following Pike’s trail back to Holland. ‘Wherever Pike started his return journey, he must have had a meeting prior to that, presumably to sell what he knew, which generated the payment through Grand Cayman. Getting a line on where he came from right before he used the cash machine in The Hague will help me backtrack him from there.’

‘We know he was in Thailand,’ Ballatyne pointed out. ‘Long way to go.’

‘It’s also too big and crowded. You could hide an entire regiment out there and nobody would know.’

‘Fair comment. But why travel anywhere? We’ve got people who can do the research online and on the ground. Ferris could do it, given the right equipment. How is our wounded soldier, by the way?’

‘He’s fine. He’ll be all right when he’s rested up and got something to concentrate on.’ He paused, then said, ‘I want to rattle a few cages over there, to see what I turn up. If I cross the Protectory’s trail along the way, they might get to hear about it. That won’t happen working online.’

Ballatyne pursed his lips. ‘It’s a risky strategy, rattling cages. You never know who or what you might wake up.’

‘I know. But I’m short of ideas at the moment.’

‘Fair enough.’ Ballatyne nodded. ‘Just watch your back.’

He walked out, leaving Harry to shut the door.