Gallery Whispers

27

'How much longer will this operation run, Mario?' asked Karen Neville.

'Until the last head of government's plane takes off for home,' the inspector replied. 'Or until Mr Hawkins resurfaces in South Africa fresh from a winter holiday in Europe. Or until we catch the bugger.'

'You don't think there's a chance he really is on holiday do you?'

'Sure, there's a chance of that. He could be sliding down mountains in Switzerland while every secret policeman in Europe is combing the airports, the ferry terminals, aye, even the bloody streets, looking for him.

'This search is based on information from the spooks, you see, Karen: the MI6 crowd. They're all too clever by half, and most of them are panic merchants; the sort to have the world chasing its tail on the back of the faintest hint. I remember once, not so long ago, they started a panic hunt for a terrorist suspect who, as it turned out, was in fact in the south of Spain on holiday with his best friend's wife.'

He grimaced. 'However, there always is that five per cent chance that their information is accurate, so it has to be checked out. In this case, the boss seems convinced that it's a lot stronger than the usual twenty to one shot.

'So tell me, sergeant, what have you got planned for today?'

'Checking more male landing cards, Inspector, looking for a limping guy with a false beard and moustache.'

'Funny,' chuckled McGuire, 'that's exactly what I'm going to be doing. We've got a fair few to work our way through this week, though.' He picked up a pile of cards from a tray at the side of his desk. 'There's a conference of international economists up at the conference centre this week, sponsored by Edinburgh University.

'How about this for a title? "The development of sub-national economies within supra-national structures". The opening session is this afternoon; there's an address by Bruce Anderson.'

'The Secretary of State?'

'That's the boy.'

'Aren't you involved in the security?' asked Neville.

'Not on this one. I've been kept informed, and I've allocated our two SB colleagues to assist, but the Protection Squad are in charge.

Anderson isn't regarded as a prime target, so the view is that you and I are better employed on Hawkins surveillance.' He tapped the pile of cards. 'This is where we're involved. This is an attractive event for economists; it's attracted over two hundred and forty delegates, two thirds of them from outside the European Union. They've been pouring into Edinburgh all weekend.

'So, after filtering out the female delegates, we're left with one hundred and fifty-two of these things to go through. When Sergeant Brown and DC McNee are finished with the Secretary of State, they can get on with checking the individual cards which come in on a daily basis, so for the purpose of this exercise, you and I are on our own.' He split the cards into two lots, then folded them. 'There you are,' he said, brightly. 'There's the best part of a week's work there.

'Henry Wills, the Secretary of the University, is our main contact at the conference. He'll tell us which people are in which hotels, so that we can give them the once-over.'

'You don't think for a minute that Hawkins would show up at an economists' conference do you?'

McGuire shook his head. 'No, I don't; but he could try to sneak in among them. Conceivably he could even register. Once we've checked all the delegates, if one of these cards isn't accounted for, or if one of the holders checked in but isn't actually taking part in the event, that could be interesting.'