Private London

Chapter 87

Adrian Tuttle rewound the video clip again.

I got him to pause it and enhance the image. It was the first video they had sent and I had to admit that Hannah did a pretty good acting job. I got Adrian to split the screen and then played the second clip. I freeze-framed it. Zoomed in on her arm.

‘See that, Adrian?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ he said. Like I said, he was good at spot-the-difference.

Wendy Lee was passing and leaned over. ‘Contusions on her arm in the second video. Not in the first.’

‘And what does that tell us?’

‘That she was faking being tied up the first time round and not the second.’

The memory of her rubbing her arm just a short while ago flicked into my mind. Her arm was definitely sore.

‘So what changed? What was it?’

‘Have you found the other girl yet?’

I shook my head. I had called Sam to meet me at the student accommodation block. Laura Skelton wasn’t there. Her wardrobe was empty, clothes hangers on the floor. Empty drawers left open. It looked as though she had packed a bag and left. Hurriedly. Sam was out trying to track her down. I didn’t hold out much hope.

I let the second tape play on.

Hannah looked at the camera, her voice trembling. ‘They want you to know,’ she said, ‘that this bomb I am wearing can be triggered remotely. Any attempt to do anything other than what you are instructed to do and it will be detonated. Likewise if you attempt to deliver fake diamonds. They will be examined and if they are not genuine the device will be detonated. If police are there again as they were this morning, the device will be detonated.’

She let the paper fall to the floor as tears welled in her large, terrified eyes.

‘Please help me,’ she added in a desperate whisper.

The screen faded to blackness again.

Hannah was begging for help – that was genuine. She believed that they had strapped explosives to her and would kill her if we didn’t comply with their instructions.

Something had happened between yesterday and today.

What?

My mobile phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and answered it.

‘What have you got for me, Suzy?’ I listened and nodded. ‘Sit on him,’ I said. ‘I’ll be right there.’

I clicked my phone shut and stood up, grabbing my jacket.

‘Something happening?’ asked Wendy Lee.

‘Laura Skelton just had a visitor. One of the rugby guys from Friday night.’

Adrian Tuttle stood up. ‘You want some backup?’ he said. He was being serious.

‘No, you’re all right,’ I answered. ‘Suzy and I should be able to handle it.’

‘What would you do if he turned nasty, Adrian?’ asked Wendy Lee. ‘Distract him with some origami?’

‘I’ve got some moves,’ he said. Striking a pose. He looked like an emaciated heron.

‘Just work the data,’ I said. ‘Something’s there. Something’s not right.’