He took his time munching the sandwiches, feeling more guilty with every bite. Fearing he would fall asleep, he tried various ways of staying awake, including reciting Tennyson’s Morte d’Arthur, singing ‘Nessun Dorma’ out of tune, and recalling the top ten Test batting averages of all time — Bradman 99.94, Pollock 60.97, Headley...
At midnight, he drove back to the hotel to find Jackie already up and ready to take his place.
‘Anything of interest?’ she asked.
‘He watched television, had supper, watched some more TV, and went upstairs to bed just after eleven. Twenty minutes later the lights went out.’
‘It doesn’t get much better than that,’ said Jackie. ‘And the midnight shift is by far the worst one. It’s so easy to fall asleep, and if you do, you can be sure that Volvo won’t be in the drive when you wake up.’
‘Doing nothing is exhausting,’ said William as he handed over the car keys.
‘You’ll be on the midnight shift tomorrow, so make sure you get a good night’s sleep,’ were Jackie’s final words before leaving.
William got undressed, took a shower, and climbed into a warm bed. It made him think about Beth. Hell, he hadn’t called her, and now it was too late. Moments later he was fast asleep.
15
William woke just after seven the next morning, took a shower, shaved, and was dressed by the time Jackie returned following her night vigil. They sat in the bay window enjoying a large breakfast of bacon and eggs, while still keeping an eye on the house. Carter didn’t come downstairs until after nine, and they had no way of knowing what he had for breakfast, as his kitchen was at the back of the house.
‘So what now?’
‘We’ll return to Mulberry Avenue and hope he leaves the house at some point. If it’s by car, we’ll follow him. If it’s on foot, I’ll stay in the car while you try to find out what he’s been up to in that shed. Perhaps it’s totally innocent, but Lamont will still want to know.’
Twenty minutes later they were parked on the other side of the road from Carter’s house, some thirty yards from his front gate, their eyes never leaving the front door.
‘This is pointless,’ said William after another futile hour spent discussing everything from Princess Diana’s proposed visit to Scotland Yard, to who would be the next commissioner.
‘Is the Hawk in with a chance?’ asked William.
‘Not this time around,’ said Jackie. ‘But possibly at some time in the future, although he has his enemies.’
Another hour slunk by, before William said, ‘What happened to that guy who was with you when I first saw the copy of—’
‘Ross Hogan.’ Jackie paused before adding, ‘The Hawk sent him back to Peckham.’
‘Where I was meant to go!’
‘And you still may if we don’t find the Rembrandt. Because Ross has disappeared off the face of the earth.’
‘Probably resigned after being sent to Peckham.’
‘Or working undercover.’
‘I thought about going undercover.’
‘You’d be useless,’ said Jackie. ‘You look, sound and smell like a choirboy.’
‘No, Ross would be perfect for undercover work. Even criminals think he’s a criminal.’
‘And keep concentrating, because you can never tell when everything will change in a split second.’
‘But when’s that second ever going to happen?’ asked William at the end of the third hour. Then the front door opened and they both fell silent.
Carter appeared carrying an empty shopping bag. He walked down the path, opened the gate, and headed off in the opposite direction.
‘Right, now’s our chance,’ said Jackie. ‘Take the camera and see if you can get some pictures of what’s inside that shed.’
‘Can we justify that?’
‘Just about. We’d plead reason to suspect.’ Jackie didn’t sound at all convincing. ‘The moment he reappears, I’ll honk the horn once. Just be sure to stay hidden behind the shed until well after he’s gone back into the house. And don’t forget the three-minute rule.’
‘What about Angie?’
‘If she comes out, I’ll honk twice. Three times if she spots you, in which case start running, because we’ll have to get out of town sharpish. Sometimes you only get one chance.’
‘No pressure,’ said William as he grabbed the camera from the back seat, got out of the car, and crossed the road, eyes darting in every direction. He walked cautiously toward number 91. No sign of anyone, and Carter had left the gate open. He nipped in behind the Volvo, and moved deftly toward the shed. He couldn’t have been visible from the front window for more than a few seconds. He tried the door but it was locked, then he heard a car coming down the road and ducked behind the shed until it had turned the corner.
Looking through the small window of the shed, he could make out a wooden bench and a chair. Some silver filings were scattered over the surface of the bench but it was so dark he could hardly make out anything else. Could he risk using the flash? He pressed the camera up against the window and fired off a whole roll of film, but he couldn’t be sure if any of the pictures would come out.
He removed the film and was reloading the camera when he heard a car horn honk once. Carter, not Angie. He looked up to see Jackie driving past, and quickly dropped down behind the shed just as Carter reached the gate clutching a Sainsbury’s bag. William heard the front door open and close. A man returning home almost always goes straight to the lavatory, a process that takes at least three minutes. William waited for thirty seconds before making his move: twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty. He stood up, moved swiftly across the lawn, around the far side of the Volvo, and out of the front gate. He didn’t run, and he didn’t look back.
A hundred yards down the road he could see Jackie waiting for him in the car, engine running. No sooner had he closed the passenger door than she drove off.
‘Do you think he saw me?’ asked William, as they headed back to the hotel.
‘No. I kept an eye on the front door, and there was no sign of either of them. So, did you find out what he gets up to in that shed?’
‘It was so dark in there I could hardly see anything, but I took a roll of photos, so we’ll just have to wait and see how they come out.’
‘We’ll have to move out of here tomorrow,’ William reminded her as they drove into the hotel car park.
‘I haven’t forgotten,’ said Jackie. ‘I’ve spotted a B and B that’s quite nearby, but unfortunately it has no view of the house so we’ll be spending most of our time in the car.’
Once they were back in their room, Jackie called Lamont and brought him up to date. William sat by the window, peering through the binoculars while munching the latest supply of ginger biscuits. Carter had returned to the shed, where William could just see an arm moving up and down, working on something... but what?
‘What did Lamont have to say?’ he asked when Jackie eventually came off the phone.
‘To stay put for now. Meanwhile, you keep an eye on the house while I go and get the film developed.’
William waited for her to leave before he sat down on the end of the bed and rang Beth’s flat. No reply. She couldn’t be back from work. He wondered if he should risk calling her at the gallery, but decided against it.
He returned to the window and once again focused in on the shed. Carter was bent over the table, arm still pumping away. He didn’t return to the house until it was dark, when William lost sight of him. It was almost six o’clock before Jackie bounced in, a look of triumph on her face.