‘Have you bought anything else in dollars recently? This goes back five weeks.’
‘I swear to God, Malcolm…’ Breck was wide-eyed. He broke off from staring at the sheet of paper and got back to his feet. ‘Come on, there’s something I want to show you.’ He left the room, Fox following him. They entered what would have been the home’s second bedroom. This was Breck’s office. The computer was switched on, the screen-saver active. Breck nudged the mouse. His chosen wallpaper was a head-and-shoulders photo of Annabel.
‘Sit down,’ he was commanding Fox, indicating the swivel chair. ‘Take a look for yourself. I doubt I’ve browsed online porn more than half a dozen times in my life – and never anything… I mean, just the normal stuff.’
‘Look, Jamie…’
Breck spun around to face him. ‘I don’t know anything about this!’ he shouted.
‘I believe you,’ Fox said quietly.
Breck stared at him. ‘Right, because you had that van parked outside…’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘You were tapped into my system somehow… No, not you, not you personally… you were with me at the Oliver that night. Some of your guys, right? And someone from CEOP, too.’
‘His name’s Gilchrist. He’s got his feet under my desk at the Complaints.’
Breck’s eyes narrowed as he digested this. ‘We’ve got to talk to him, find out how this could have happened.’
Fox nodded slowly. ‘I had a word with him earlier on, but he wasn’t exactly cooperating.’
‘I need to talk to someone about this,’ Breck was saying. Then, eyes boring into Fox: ‘All the time we’ve been… and I let you… and you thought I was a paedophile?’
Fox couldn’t think of anything to say to this. Breck had taken a couple of steps towards the window and was peering around the edge of the blind.
‘It was just the one night,’ Fox explained. ‘We were planning another, but it got pulled – CEOP’s decision.’
Breck turned to look at him. ‘Why?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘They realised it was a mistake?’
Fox offered a shrug. Breck ran his hand through his hair again. ‘This is a fucking nightmare,’ he said. ‘You’ve met Annabel – I’ve got a girlfriend.’
‘Sometimes they do.’
‘Paedophiles, you mean?’ Fox could see that Breck’s mind was racing. ‘You had a van watching me! It’s like the Gestapo or something. ’
‘One thing the equipment in the van picked up…’
Breck looked at him. ‘What?’
‘You did some online digging into me.’
Breck thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. ‘That’s true,’ he said. Then he fell silent, staring at the computer screen. ‘What’s the site called?’ he eventually asked. ‘We’ve got to contact them, find out how it happened.’
‘That’s the last thing you want to do,’ Fox cautioned.
‘They got my credit card number – how is that possible?’
‘It’s possible,’ Fox argued. ‘You’ve said it yourself – you buy stuff online. Do you pay a subscription to Quidnunc? Because if you do, your card details are out there…’
‘This is a nightmare,’ Breck repeated, staring blindly at the walls around him. ‘I need a drink…’ He fled the room, leaving Fox standing there. Fox waited a moment, then scrutinised the icons on the computer screen. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. Quidnunc had been minimised, and he put it back on to full screen. Breck’s avatar seemed to be a muscular blond warrior toting a complicated-looking handgun. He was standing in a valley surrounded by mountains, beyond which explosions were going off, fighter jets or spaceships occasionally flying over. His hair fluttered in the breeze, but otherwise he would stand there until Breck came back to the game. Fox hit the ‘minimise’ icon again and left the room.
Jamie Breck was in his kitchen. It was spotless, but Fox had the feeling the place got used. There was a fruit bowl filled with oranges and plums, and a breadboard with half a wholemeal loaf sitting on it. Breck had brought ice cubes from the freezer and was pouring whisky over them.
‘There are occasions,’ he said, voice trembling slightly, ‘when only local remedies will do.’ He waved the bottle in Fox’s direction, but Fox shook his head. It was Highland Park: he’d tried it plenty of times in the past. Soft peat and sea spray… Breck downed half the drink without pausing. He squeezed shut his eyes and opened his mouth in a loud exhalation. Fox’s nostrils flared. Yes, that was the tang he remembered…
‘This isn’t happening,’ Breck said. ‘I’m being fast-tracked, everybody knows it. Another year and I’ll be a DI.’
‘That’s what your file seemed to say.’
Breck nodded. ‘And that’s how you knew all about me – you’d seen it in my personnel file.’ His eyes fixed on Fox. ‘So why own up now, Malcolm?’
Fox poured himself another glass of tap water. ‘You said it yourself, Jamie – I need somebody I can trust.’
‘And you think that’s me?’ Breck waited until Fox had nodded. ‘Well, thanks for that at least – or does it just mean I’m your very last hope?’
‘Thing is, Jamie, there’s a lot going on that I’m not even close to understanding. I think maybe you can help.’
‘What you’re saying is, me being a suspected paedophile is the least of your worries? And my girlfriend could come in useful along the way?’
Fox managed a smile. ‘Something like that, yes.’
Breck gave a snort as he smiled into his drink. ‘Well, at least we know where we stand. Is there any point in me contacting my credit card company? They must be able to trace the transaction back.’
Fox offered a shrug. ‘Worth a try,’ he said.
‘Meantime I can run a check on SEIL Ents.’
‘A word of caution – the guy behind the site is a cop in Australia. They’re on to him but they definitely don’t want him to know that. If he finds out and shuts everything down…’
‘There’ll be some who might think I’d warned him off?’ Breck nodded slowly. ‘How near are they to nailing him?’
‘I don’t really know.’
‘Can you find out?’
Fox nodded.
‘And I’ll make sure Annabel keeps in touch with Billy Giles and all his doings – does that sound fair?’
Fox gave another nod and watched Breck hold up a finger.
‘But I don’t want Annabel to know about this.’
‘She won’t hear it from me,’ Fox promised.
‘Does Stoddart know?’ Breck asked.
‘Yes.’
‘But I don’t want to let her know that I know?’
‘That’s up to you, Jamie.’
‘They’d realise it was you who told me. And that would look even worse for us.’
‘True.’
Breck had turned round, so that the small of his back rested against the edge of the black marble work surface. The glass was still in his hand, half an inch of liquid left in it.
‘Look at the pair of us,’ he said with another tired smile. And then, raising his glass in a toast: ‘But thanks for taking me into your trust, Malcolm – better late than never.’ He tipped the glass to his mouth, finishing the whisky and tossing the ice into the sink. ‘So,’ he said, smacking his lips, ‘do you have a particular plan of action in mind?’
‘I’m the one who thinks stuff just happens to us, remember? It’s you that thinks we control our destinies.’
‘Seems to me you’re in the process of changing.’
‘Speaking of changing…’ Fox lifted a card from his pocket and handed it over. ‘I’ve bought myself a new mobile phone.’
‘You think I should do the same?’ Breck studied the card. Fox’s old mobile number had been scored out and the new one written in biro. He looked up at Fox. ‘The Complaints can tap my phone?’
‘Not easily. But they can grab the records of any calls in or out.’
‘You said “they” rather than “we”…’ Fox didn’t say anything to this, and Breck was thoughtful for a further few seconds. ‘Why am I being set up, Malcolm?’ he asked quietly. ‘Who’d do something like that? An Australian porn site?’ He shook his head slowly. ‘It doesn’t make any sense.’