Present Danger

32

By nine-thirty the next morning Binding had changed his tune. His dismissive cool of the night before had gone and he seemed to be operating in a kind of frenzied overdrive, constantly on the phone, making increasingly tense calls.

By eleven, when there was still no sign of Dave, he strode into Liz’s office, his face a map of panic, his suit of thick grey pinstripes making him look heavy and sombre.

‘I’ve spoken to DG. He’s very concerned. As am I,’ he added, conveniently wiping the slate clean of the previous evening’s conversation. ‘I’m going to ask DG to send an investigative team over asap,’ he announced.

Liz nodded. She was glad to see that Binding was taking the situation seriously but was alarmed by how far he’d now swung the other way. What she would give for the calm command of Charles Wetherby…

‘I wonder if it might be better to wait a little for that?’ Liz kept her own voice mild, knowing how much Binding disliked dissent – he could go ballistic at the slightest demurral.

‘Don’t you realise time is of the essence? We need all the help we can get. DG will be informing the home secretary shortly.’

That was more than Liz could take. ‘If you remember,’ she replied icily, ‘I wanted to inform the police last night. It was you who told me I was overreacting and should wait. In my opinion an investigative team getting involved now would just complicate things. There’s nothing they can do at the moment that we can’t – except get in our way. Even twenty-four hours should make things a bit clearer.’

Binding had gone red in the face, but Liz could see he was considering what she’d said. Whatever his faults – and to Liz they were legion – he was good at seeing where his best interests lay. He knew he needed to get this right. He said slowly, ‘We can’t be sure Dave’s absence has anything to do with this Frenchman Milraud, can we?’

‘Are you saying you think Dave’s gone AWOL?’ she asked, worried that he was going to flip-flop all over again.

‘I don’t know what to think. A4 went to his flat – no sign that he’s been there since yesterday morning.’

‘We should check at Milraud’s shop,’ said Liz, looking at her watch impatiently. ‘Our source at the airport is looking to see if he caught his flight to France yesterday, but we need to confirm that Dave did actually meet the man.’

‘The CCTV in the area will show if he went to the shop.’

‘There’s no camera on the street where Milraud has his place. We’ve got someone going through all the CCTV in the area, but that’s going to take some time.’ She stood up to go, already thinking of what she’d say at the Milraud shop.

But Binding had other ideas. ‘Send someone else,’ he said sharply. ‘I need you close by. Things are getting tense.’ You mean you are, thought Liz.