“You misunderstand me, Oliver. Like I’ve just said, we’re not going to do anything. However, there will be a fatal accident involving, Levenson-Jones, Dillon, Chapman, and that overweight computer geek they have with them. That’s all you need to know, Oliver. The Cunningham girl is flying back to Jersey late this afternoon, and apparently she knows where the U-boat is located. I will send Kurt and my first officer to the airport. Once they have the information, she’ll be of no further use to us.”
“Good God, Hugo. You can’t be serious, it’s simply not right you know?” Asquith implored, and felt a shiver run up and down his spine. “Hugo, I’ve just had a dreadful thought. I conduct all of my banking affairs on-line these days. What if, one of his computer chaps were to hack into my account, he’ll see the regular payments coming into the account from you?”
“What do mean? Please explain yourself?”
“Well, I had to be able to keep track of the payments that you make to me, Hugo. So I placed your initials next to the payments. I know it was foolish of me, but I didn’t know all of this was going to flare up.”
“You really are an extremely stupid fellow, aren’t you Oliver? Do you have any idea, how much trouble I went to in order to conceal the originating source of those payments? One look at your account, will inextricably link me to you.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“What’s done is done, Oliver. Have your bank run a check on every computer that has accessed the account within the last seventy-two hours. Tell them that it’s urgent, because you suspect that someone has been attempting to hack into the accounts. Once you have this information, email it, immediately, to me on board the Solitaire. I’ll then have my people in Paris run a check through our system. Oh, and please ensure that the computer you use personally, is switched on, and on-line. I’ll also have them run a check through this machine at the same time. If someone has gained access, it’ll show up.”
“Can you really do that, Hugo?”
“Oliver, as I’ve told you. I can do anything, to whoever and whatever, I like.” Malakoff, broke the connection, and walked to the side rail. He stood looking out across the bay, thinking how it was becoming a habit, the frequency with which he became involved with such stupid people.
By the time LJ, Dillon and Vince had walked down to the harbour, Chapman had already arrived. He’d driven down the cobbled slipway, and had parked his twin-cab pickup down on the beach. There were five other men with him, some were local fishermen, helping to winch the Wave Dancer up onto the white sand. They’d righted the dive boat, so that it could be dragged up on its hull out of the water and, from where Dillon and the others were standing high up on the sea wall, they could clearly see the jagged hole that had been caused by the explosion, and where the engine block should have been.
There were two other men standing on deck, one in red overalls and a white hard hat, the other in denim jeans and a short-sleeved blue check shirt. Chapman shut off the power to the winch, and walked back up the slipway to where Dillon and the others were standing. A moment later, the man in the red overalls came up and joined them.
Chapman introduced them. “So what’s the verdict, Chris?”
“Well, I’ve only taken a brief look at her, you understand, Rob. And of course, I’ll know more once I’ve been able to conduct a through inspection back at the workshops. But, from the look of the engine bay, and the size of the hole that’s been blown clean through the hull. I’d say that someone had most definitely tampered with it, for sure.”
“Could it have been explosives?” Dillon asked.
“Until I’ve taken a closer look, I can’t be sure. But, in twenty-five years of inspecting marine wreckage, I’ve only ever seen such precise damage, maybe once or twice. On both occasions it was caused by plastic explosives. But, that’s only speculation at this stage. We’ll haul her back to St. Helier, and I’ll arrange the repairs, Rob, and keep you posted.”
As he walked back down the slipway he was shaking his head, and looking back said, “You chaps really were very lucky.” and he went back down onto the beach to supervise the lifting of the dive boat onto a long flat bed lorry.
Dillon and Vince rowed the dingy out into the middle of the small harbour. The power cruiser gently tugged at its mooring rope as it rolled on the afternoon swell. Once aboard, Dillon went immediately to the stern and started his visual search for anything out of the ordinary. While Vince plugged his computer into the boats on-board system, to allow him to run a full diagnostic check of the engine power management, and electrical circuits. This would show up any tampering with, or changes made.
Dillon came out onto the dive deck, his shirt sleeves rolled up, holding something in his hand. He shouted up to Vince, who appeared a moment later out of the wheelhouse.
“Our old friend Semtex, Vince.” Dillon held up the plastic explosive, “I found this pressed onto the hull inside the forward locker.”
“Bloody hell, mate.” Vince exclaimed, “That’s enough to blow up this boat and twenty others. What about the detonator?”
“Short range remote type. I’d say about five hundred metres would have done the job. Did your box of tricks find anything?” “Clean as a whistle.”
“In that case, let’s batten down the hatches and go join the others.”
LJ and Chapman were sitting at a table overlooking the beach at Annabelle’s Café when Dillon and Vince arrived. Kate Jackson was fussing around the bar area, making sure that everything was in its place, in readiness for when Annabelle returned. When she spotted Dillon, she came over, and asked them if there was anything she could get them, and generally made polite small talk.
“I saw them pulling your dive boat out of the water, Rob. That must have been a pretty big explosion to have caused so much damage; I’d say you were all very lucky to have got off without even a scratch. I mean, anyone of you could so easily have been stood by that engine canopy, couldn’t you?” And with that, she picked up her tray, and walked away.
Dillon watched her disappear into the kitchen, before he pulled out a small package that was wrapped in a white plastic bag.
“What’s that, old son?” LJ asked, looking over the top of his wire framed spectacles.
“Our old friend Semtex.” Dillon handed the bag to LJ.
“So you were right, Jake, Malakoff does want us out of the way. But why, and what will he gain from having us killed?”
“Perhaps it has something to do with that old chap, Albert Bishop.” Vince put in.
“I’m almost certain that has a part to play in this, and of course Lord Asquith, will by now, know that we know about his father’s involvement with Himmler. That, Gentlemen, will send him into a complete spin, of that you can be assured.” LJ said, and then added absentmindedly. “But, I would have thought, that we still had our uses.”
“I’m convinced, that Annabelle will be our ‘Ace-upthe-sleeve’, once she arrives back on the island.” Chapman told him.
“Well, let’s hope you’re right, old son.” LJ mused sipping his tea.
Kate Jackson, arrived back a moment later with a fresh pot of tea, cups and saucers, and an array of delicious looking cakes.
When Malakoff called Asquith it was just before five o’clock in the afternoon. “I’m afraid that I’ve got some disturbing news.”
“After the day I’ve had, Hugo, what can possibly be so bad?” Asquith was sitting in his private office at the British Museum.
“It’s not the what, Oliver. It’s the who. And, I’m afraid that your day is about to become much darker. You see, I’ve just received confirmation from my people in Paris. It appears, that the computer used to hack into your bank account is located at the head office of, Ferran & Cardini International.” “You’re right, it couldn’t be worse,” Asquith said.