The Hawk Is Dead

56

Sunday 26 November 2023

To accommodate Roy Grace’s expanded team, the briefings on Operation Asset were now being held in a screened-off section of the canteen at Sussex Police HQ that also doubled as the press conference room.

Although he had originally wanted Glenn Branson to take at least part of today off, what he had learned from Denton Scroope was of such significance he needed his Deputy SIO to be present to hear it.

Grace, addressing the fifty-one team members seated on the rows of chairs in front of him, opened the meeting by referring to the chart on one of the screens behind him. ‘OK, there’s an important reason I’m telling you this, so please bear with me and take careful note.’ He paused as everyone looked at him, and some nodded.

‘As you’ll see if you take a close look at the chart, the Royal Household comprises five departments. At the top is the Lord Chamberlain, who’s the head of the Royal Household. You could think of the Lord Chamberlain as a part-time non-executive chairman. The five departments comprise the Lord Chamberlain’s Office, which has overall responsibility for the Ceremonial, Military, the Royal Mews, Horses and Royal Carriages, Medical and Ecclesiastical.’ He paused again, as several of the team made notes.

‘Next is the Privy Purse and Treasurer’s Office, headed by the Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Jason Finch — he is effectively the Chief Financial Officer, responsible for all financial matters relating to The King and Queen and for the entire Royal Household. Then we have the Private Secretary’s Office, which is the conduit between Their Majesties and the outside world. This was the role carried out by the deceased, Sir Peregrine Greaves. He acted as an adviser on constitutional duties, briefing Their Majesties on any issue they needed to be aware of, managing their correspondence, their diaries, media, travel and of course crisis management whenever an issue has arisen. You may have noticed there have been a few in recent times...’ He paused for a ripple of laughter that was more enthusiastic than he had anticipated.

‘Then we have Master of the Royal Household’s Office, headed by Sir Tommy Magellan-Lacey, who is currently our principal contact within the Royal Household and is assisting us. His department’s role is the management of all staff as well as the many contractors working on the Buckingham Palace renovation.’ He paused to sip some bitter machine coffee from a paper cup.

‘And, lastly, the final department is the Royal Collection Trust. This is headed by a lady called Lorraine McKnight. The Trust, which employs seven hundred people, is different to the other Royal divisions in that it is a charity, responsible for looking after the Royal Collection — which I understand from Sir Tommy is one of the most important art collections in the world. It comprises paintings, sculptures, furniture and other decorative items that are housed in the royal residences across the UK.’

Grace then ran through the list of the current lines of enquiry. First was a report from the Digital Investigations Support Unit. The team of computer, phone and IT experts had carried out an exhaustive search of social media and online search engines, including the dark web, and using AI, to see if any connection could be made between the derailment of the train, the subsequent shooting and the Not-My-King protest movement. But all their findings to date indicated that beyond aggression during some protests the protestors were not fanatics, and so far no group or individual among them had been flagged up. In fact it was almost the reverse, with many social media posts from members of the movement condemning what had happened.

He had reports back from team members on the number of Royal Protection Officers who had motorbike licences — it was seventy-two and the names and whereabouts of each officer on last Monday was being checked.

The index of the motorbike, of which Sarah Stratten had remembered the first two digits, had thrown up a number of ANPR hits around the country, but so far none of the motorbikes matched her description of a motocross bike.

Another line of enquiry, a list of all members of the Royal Household staff who had not been at work last Monday — and their alibis — was still being worked through. Reports from the house-to-house enquiry team on all properties they had visited within a quarter of a mile of the crime scene had so far yielded nothing.

One development of potential significance was a report from the ballistics scientist that gunshot residue had been identified from scrapings taken from the grasses in front of the suspected shooter’s location. This was now being analysed to see if the type of bullet fired could be identified.

British Transport Police had so far not come up with anything beyond the discovery of the rope ladder down the air vent. Calls were being made to shops and garden centres that supplied this brand in the area, as well as to Amazon, but while a couple of leads had been followed up, there were currently no live ones. And there was no CCTV of anyone entering or leaving Clayton railway tunnel.

It seemed to Grace, at this moment, that the aggrieved footman, Geoffrey Bailey, was potentially their best lead, as well as working on the entries in the encrypted diary.

‘Some of you will remember retired DC Denton Scroope.’

‘Mr Pedantic himself,’ Norman Potting said.

‘Indeed, but Mr Pedantic has a particular skill — an ability to break codes. He worked until late last night and has made some progress but there is still a way to go on the encrypted pages of Greaves’ diary.’ He held up a sheaf of notes, all clipped together, then looked slowly around the room. Like a fine actor on a stage, he had them all gripped. A sea of attentive faces stared back.

‘What I have here,’ he said, ‘is potential dynamite for our investigation. I hope very soon we will have the complete picture of the diary, which I will then share. I don’t need to say this, but this information is politically sensitive. Everything you hear stays in this room and you will be asked to sign non-disclosure orders. Is that clearly understood?’

He scanned the faces in the room, letting them all know just how serious he was. And saw the acknowledgement on each of them.

‘Our next briefing will be here at 8.30 a.m. tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I want all those of you who don’t have specific actions to take a little downtime. Come back tomorrow morning ready to brainstorm ideas. OK?’

Taking on an even more serious demeanour, he then signalled to Glenn Branson and some of the team that he wanted to see them in his office.