‘OK, so the terrorists will want to give the market a fright,’ started Rafi. He was about to say something more, but was interrupted by a series of large yawns.
‘You look dead on your feet,’ said Emma.
Kate looked across at Rafi. ‘Time for you to take a nap I reckon.’
Rafi stifled another yawn and nodded.
‘Follow me.’ She led him down to the basement cells, with a blanket over his head. When they reached their destination, she picked up a second blanket and a pillow and ushered him into a cell.
‘Not five-star accommodation, but at least it’s quiet. I’ll come back and get you in a couple of hours. I’m sorry but I need to lock you in, otherwise the duty policeman might investigate.’ The door swung shut behind her.
Rafi climbed onto the hard bed and pulled the blankets over him – a few seconds later he was sound asleep.
The next thing Rafi knew, Kate was standing over him.
‘Come on sleepyhead, time to get up.’
He followed her back to the office. On his desk was a cup of steaming hot black coffee; next to it was a large pile of papers.
‘I thought you might like to get your teeth into the accounts of the companies financed by the venture capital business. Let me know if you spot anything out of the ordinary,’ said Kate.
‘Will do,’ replied Rafi, picking up the first set of accounts.
A couple of hours later Rafi was hunched over his desk hard at work – the clock on the wall showed WED 21:15.
‘Anyone else found an Estonian connection?’ called out Rafi. ‘The security business has an activity there. It’s in the fine print in their accounts, under currency exchange rates.’
Emma rifled through a stack of papers. ‘Hold on a minute… Yup… The fish processing business has the same!’
‘Good work, you two.’ Kate picked up her phone. ‘Let’s see if David has any Estonian contacts… Good evening David… How do I find a police or security services contact who we can trust in Estonia? There’s some digging that we need done and quickly.’
‘That’s a good one,’ came the reply. The speakerphone went quiet for a moment. ‘If you go to my office… You know where the keys to my filing cabinet are, don’t you…? Go to the second drawer down; near the back is a folder marked EU Money Laundering and Illegal Trade Conference. At the front you’ll find a business card stapled to a sheet of paper – Colonel Hendrik Matlik. He is one of their top dogs in their Security Police. Give him a ring and say that you’re working with me and that you could do with some help. On first impressions he comes across as very severe, but underneath he’s a huge teddy bear. He’s a real five-star compatriot, very proud of his country joining the EU and is determined to keep organised crime out. Oh yes, and remember to send my love to his daughter, Kristina. She must be at university now… Also ask him to ring you back on a secure line – he’ll appreciate that! Good luck.’
A couple of minutes later, Kate returned with the business card – “Colonel Hendrik Matlik, Kaitsepolitseiamet”. On the reverse was the English translation – “Estonian Security Police”. ‘There’s a direct line number. Excellent!’
It was 9.40 p.m. in the UK and 10.40 p.m. in Tallinn. As Kate dialled the number, she wondered whether there would be anyone in the office.
‘Halloo, tere ohtust.’
Kate raised her eyebrows. ‘Do you speak English?’
‘Of course.’
Kate breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Could I please speak to Colonel Hendrik Matlik?’
‘Do you know what time it is?’ came the reply.
‘Yes, I must apologise, but it’s important that I speak to him.’
‘Can I say who is calling?’
‘Detective Inspector Kate Adams, I’m a colleague of Chief Superintendent David Pryke, City of London Police.’
‘Thank you.’
The phone went silent. The wait seemed to go on for ages. Then a deep voice came on the line.
‘Hello, Matlik here.’
‘Good evening,’ said Kate, ‘My boss, David Pryke, suggested I called you as he believes you might be able to help us. Oh, and he sends his kind regards to Kristina.’
‘Is it essential that I should help… Now?’
‘Yes, please,’ replied Kate. ‘We’re investigating the Bishopsgate police station bombing and a follow-up terrorist attack.’
‘I read of that atrocity; please pass my condolences to David,’ said the colonel.
‘Could you ring me back on a secure line?’ requested Kate.
There was a loud chuckle from the other end of the phone, which turned into a laugh. ‘I’m going to like working with you.’
Kate looked blankly at the phone and wondered how David knew her comment would tickle the colonel’s sense of humour.
‘No need to worry about the phone line. As one of the bosses of the KAPO my line is secure and before you were put through my office traced your call back to Wood Street police station. Isn’t technology wonderful? How can I be of assistance?’
Kate told the colonel of her pressing need for information on two UK companies with operations in Tallinn and gave him the name and Tallinn address of a former director, Pinja Koit. ‘We sense time is against us. At the moment we’ve identified a network of companies that seem to be involved.’
‘I’ll see what I can do to help and get back to you first thing in the morning. If you want to reach me, I’ll be on the number you phoned.’
‘Thank you,’ said Kate, hanging up.
‘While you were on the other line, the commissioner phoned,’ said Emma. ‘John’s now formally on our team. He said we could do with his experience and low cunning.’
John smiled and nodded. ‘Pleased to help.’
‘And we’ve also co-opted Peter Ashby from Traffic. He’s to be our gofer.’
The phone rang – it was reception for Jeremy. ‘OK,’ he said, ‘I’ll be down straight away.’
He was soon back, clutching bags filled with steaming cups of coffee and delicious-looking Italian cakes. ‘With Luigi’s compliments,’ he smiled as he passed the coffee around.
Emma looked across at Jeremy. ‘But we only had our supper a few hours ago. When will your obsession with food calm down?’
‘This is the afters! Who was it that said: An army marches on its stomach?’
‘Napoleon?’ ventured Emma, pleased to have answered before Kate.
‘Precisely. I asked Luigi to prepare us something to keep us going, in case we begin to flag. It’s going to be a very long night. And you try living off crap for two months and see if you can keep away from good food.’
‘Point taken,’ said Kate. ‘Now we have Rafi back with us, it would be a good moment to pull together all we’ve been doing over the past four or five hours, so that we can keep an eye on the big picture and make sure we aren’t going off on a wild goose chase. OK, who wants to start?’
‘I will,’ said John. ‘My team downstairs has been helping me with the terrorists’ public sector services businesses. They are investigating exactly what they do and who they employ. Thankfully, as incorporated limited partnerships, their businesses have to be registered at Companies House.’John paused and looked at his notes. ‘The scale of these activities is downright impressive or, from our perspective, very scary! Their empire comprises numerous operations: security for police cells -and includes Paddington Green. They also operate prisons, schools and hospitals. They have a number of soft facilities management contracts for the Home Office and the Foreign Office. And through a spider’s web of connected limited partnerships they employ over 200,000 people!’
‘Wow, that is impressive.’ exclaimed Kate. ‘What are their finances like?’
‘They’re sailing very close to the wind. They’ve got massive debts, and carry unlimited liability if things go wrong,’ replied John.
‘So if we take Jeremy’s line that the terrorists will be in destruction mode, this public sector business of theirs is a house of cards?’ asked Kate.