As far as he could tell, this was from a local news programme in France — recorded in English but carrying French subtitles. Despite the poor quality of the clip, Van Der Vaal’s gruff personality came through loud and clear:
“Formula One is unashamedly a masculine sport,” he was heard to say. “It’s all about speed, machines, danger, courage and raw competitiveness. Any softening of these elements can only damage the sport’s appeal.”
In another article, headed: SPONSORSHIP REVENUES TO BE DAMAGED BY EFFEMINACY, Van Der Vaal attacked the presence of Sabatino on the grounds that male and masculine brands were being diminished by a woman driver.
His attacks intensified after Sabatino first made it onto the podium.
Then there seemed to be a dramatic key change.
The first major counter to Van Der Vaal’s attacks came from within the sport and from a highly respected source:
VAN DER VAAL TOLD TO BUTTON IT BY F1
““Mr Van Der Vaal’s repeated outbursts and attacks on the presence of a female driver are unwarranted and unsporting,” says Lord Lambourn, 61, the dashing aristocratic boss of the Lambourn Grand Prix Team. “Remy Sabatino’s appointment, and Ptarmigan’s brilliance in marketing her and the team’s new-found competitiveness, are what this sport should be celebrating. Eugene is not speaking for the mainstream of this sport with his out-of-date gender politics. Prideaux Champagnes, Lambourn’s superb sponsors, have reported a twenty per cent increase in sales this year — which they attribute entirely to their female consumers. Women — since Remy Sabatino started driving for Ptarmigan — are finding a whole new reason to watch, follow, and get excited by Formula One.””
Straker found the following headlines and supporting articles:
QUARTECH SHOWS F1 HOW TO MARKET ITSELF.
PTARMIGAN TEACHES VAN DER VAAL A LESSON.
THE TSAR-ELECT IS DEAD — LONG LIVE QUARTANO.
One thing was becoming abundantly clear. While Straker believed he had been accurate in deducing Massarella’s involvement in the sabotage incidents on the track, he was now convinced he had unearthed a clear motivation for causing Ptarmigan harm.
An emotional starting point.
Van Der Vaal’s vaulting ego had clearly got the better of him. He had raised the stakes — having held himself out as the next Bernie Ecclestone — and clearly overreached himself. He’d been completely outshone by Quartech. Van Der Vaal, it seemed, had been humbled — even humiliated, some might have said. That meant Avel Obrenovich might not be the prime mover behind the sabotage attacks on Ptarmigan.
With this re-evaluation, another related thought came to him.
What about that bizarre reaction from Joss MacRae in Spa? Was that MacRae just being MacRae, or was there something else behind his behaviour, too? MacRae’s total dismissal of Massarella’s alleged wrongdoing had been mighty peculiar. Straker was prompted to check him out.
Walking back into the office, Straker said to Karen: ‘What you’ve found is superb,’ he said. ‘Thank you. Could you have a further look and see if you can find any connection, this time, between Van Der Vaal and Joss MacRae?’
‘Just those two?’
‘Good point, the other names involved might be Massarella, Avel Obrenovich, Obrenovich Oil & Gas and Motor Racing Promotions.’
Karen wrote down the names and an outline of the task.
‘Righto.’
‘How’s Charlie’s phone coming?’
‘I’ve just heard. Should be finished soon after lunch.’
Having spent three hours cocooned in the quiet room, Straker left the office for some fresh air. He bought a sandwich, walked up to Regent’s Park, and sat down on the grass to eat his lunch. The park’s trees, planting and manicured lawns helped calm his thoughts. Even so, it didn’t stop his mind eventually drifting back to his divorce, the causes of it — and the other stresses stemming from the effects of his rendition and torture by the Americans. Not even the tranquillity of Regent’s Park could save him from those thoughts.
Straker walked back to the office, desperate to be distracted again.
‘Oh, Matt,’ said Karen. ‘I’ve just got the research back on Charlie’s phone — the directory numbers and some of the names.’
Glad to be occupied again so quickly, Straker took the latest batch of research and returned to the quiet room to sift through what they had found.
Now with a fuller name attributed to each number, he hoped to cross-reference these with the itemized phone log. It might enable him to build a picture of the people and organizations with whom Charlie Grant had been in contact. Straker set to work. From the list of calls in and out he found high volumes between her and Adi Barrantes, Lord Lambourn and Andy Backhouse.
Straker ran his eye down the length of the call logs.
What leapt out from the whole list was the extraordinary volume of traffic Charlie had engaged in with one particular number. She had been in contact with it at least twenty times a week over the last two months. This had obviously attracted the attention of the research team, too.
A detailed note — in with the bundle of findings — declared they had been unable to identify its owner, though. It was clearly an Italian mobile phone. They had made numerous calls to it, but none of them had been picked up. They had found no voicemail, either — except on several occasions the ring had been cut short, as if the call was being actively rejected.
This number sparked Straker’s curiosity.
Then something else — from that same Italian mobile — also grabbed his attention. Charlie Grant had received an SMS from it which used an unrecognized term and, intriguingly, did so in an active voice. It read:
Hope the ASD idea is going over well…
What on earth did that — let alone “going over well” — mean? Straker had become familiar with a number of the terms the team used, or had learned to work them out from their context. But he was sure he hadn’t heard of ASD. Picking up his own phone, he rang Oliver Treadwell at the Ptarmigan factory. ‘Ollie, what does ASD mean?’
‘ASD?’ repeated the Strategy Director quizzically. ‘No idea. Never heard of it.’
‘Not a racing term, then?’
‘Not one of ours, at any rate.’
‘Very strange.’
Discovering the frequency of Charlie’s contact with that Italian mobile number, the anonymity surrounding it — and its mysterious use of an unfamiliar term — all served to pique Straker’s interest. He had no idea whether any of this was important, but immediately felt he was unable to ignore it.
THIRTY-ONE
At the end of the day, heading home, Straker was walking down Regent Street — still mulling his inconclusive findings — when his phone went.
It was someone he wasn’t expecting to hear from at all.
‘Remy? How are you? I’m really sorry about the whole Backhouse defection thing.’
‘I’m sad, more than annoyed. I’m fond of Andy. He’s been amazing to get me this far. But I like Oliver. The rest of my team’s still there. So I’m okay. I have faith in them all.’
‘Good,’ said Straker genuinely. ‘I was worried this might’ve knocked us all off our game.’
‘I think Massarella’s far more likely to do that,’ she said without levity. ‘Talking of which, can you update me on the sabotage issues?’