Cam shook his head, but the Colonel had something to say.
‘It beggars belief the men we’re looking for would openly discuss their plans in a cafe — and the stuff about the envelope, and what might or might not be in it, that’s all conjecture. Rachel Wilson could be making the whole thing up.’
Jane suspected he’d only skimmed her report.
‘She could, but I don’t believe she is. Rachel’s deaf, so can’t hear what’s being said or going on around her, but the cafe was busy on both the Monday and Friday, so it would have been noisy — the perfect cover for discussing the robbery.’
‘But the fact is you can’t be sure it was a robbery they were talking about — even more so as your star witness couldn’t actually hear them,’ the Colonel retorted.
Jane just shook her head.
‘That’s enough, Colonel, I don’t want to hear any more negative talk. Let me make it clear: we will be taking further action based on what Tennison has uncovered so far. Firstly, do any of the suspects’ names or descriptions mentioned in the report ring a bell with any of you?’
There was a brief silence in the room, until Stanley spoke up.
‘We could run it by our informants now we have some names and descriptions.’
Murphy shook his head. ‘I don’t want to risk our suspects being tipped off.’
Kingston thought differently. ‘The Colonel’s informant knows a lot of old school blaggers and he’s given us some good tip-offs in the past.’
‘I was going to see him first thing Sunday morning, Guv,’ the Colonel added.
Murphy thought about it. ‘OK, don’t be up front with any names. Just see what you can tease out of him. And take Tennison with you.’
The Colonel frowned. ‘Do I have to, Guv?’
Here we go again, Jane thought to herself.
‘Yes. She’s never dealt with any informants on these types of investigations. She needs to watch, listen and learn from someone as experienced as you.’
The Colonel wasn’t happy, but knew it was pointless arguing with Murphy.
‘Anyone else got anything positive to add?’ Murphy asked.
Baxter put his hand up.
‘Jane’s report mentions M1 might be a car dealer. Frank Braun, who me and the Colonel interviewed this morning, owns the Cortina that was used as the getaway car in the robbery, but he also has a 3 series BMW injection and a nice three-bedroom semi in Tottenham.’
Murphy and the others exchanged puzzled looks.
‘Forgive me for not being on the same wavelength as you, Bax — but what’s all that got to do with anything?’ Stanley asked.
Baxter sighed. ‘I thought it was obvious. Braun’s a fireman and seems to be living well above his means. If M1 is a car dealer maybe he gave Braun the BMW, or sold it to him cheap for letting them use his Cortina and reporting it stolen.’
Stanley nodded. ‘OK. Good point, Bax.’
The Colonel had more to add.
‘The PNC check we ran on Braun turned up negative and the crime report at Tottenham tied up with what he told us, but I still think there’s more to him than meets the eye. He said he knew Paul Lawrence, the lab liaison DS, and was working a fire scene with him when the car was stolen.’
‘Check it out with Lawrence, then revisit Braun and ask him where he bought the BMW and the Cortina—’
‘I know DS Lawrence. I can call him and ask about Braun,’ Jane suggested.
He looked at the office clock. It was nearly ten o’clock.
‘OK. It’s late but give him a call and tell him it’s urgent.’
As the meeting continued Jane rummaged in her bag for her address book, then used the phone on Katie’s desk. Lawrence answered after a couple of rings.
Murphy looked at Dabs. ‘How are we doing on the forensics?’
‘Ballistics confirmed the rifling on the bullet and firing pin marks on the cartridge cases showed they were all fired from the same handgun, which they reckon was probably a nine-millimeter Luger. Also, the blood we recovered at the crash scene and on the burnt-out Cortina was B negative, which is only found in about one point five percent of the population.’
‘What was the origin of the bullets from the casing stamp?’ the Colonel asked.
‘Germany, World War Two issue — like you said.’
Jane finished her conversation with Lawrence and returned to the group.
‘Sergeant Lawrence has known Frank Braun for about five years, and he’s socialized with him on a number of occasions. In his opinion Braun is honest and trustworthy, and he knows he isn’t living beyond his means. He won nearly thirty thousand on the pools a couple of years ago.’
‘That doesn’t mean he’s straight — even people with plenty of money get greedy for more.’ The Colonel shrugged.
‘As I said, go back and ask about the cars. Anything else to add, Colonel?’ Murphy asked.
‘There’s something in Tennison’s report that might be wrong, or possibly misconstrued—’
Murphy frowned. ‘I said I didn’t want any negative input.’
‘It’s not negative, sir, it’s just a thought.’ He looked at the report. ‘When M1 said, “You cover the front with Webley,” it might not be another man he’s referring to. Webley and Scott make handguns and shotguns — weapons that are commonly referred to as a Webley. It could be that M1 was telling M2, or Tommy as we think he’s called, to cover the front with a shotgun. If Webley isn’t a person, that means one man was at the front of the van with a shotgun — as all our witnesses reported.’
‘That’s a reasonable assumption,’ Kingston replied, and Murphy nodded.
Jane was surprised the Colonel had read her report, but knew he liked to show off when it came to his knowledge of firearms.
‘On that basis, she may have been wrong with other names,’ Cam suggested.
‘Rachel was adamant about Tommy but said she could be wrong about Judge,’ Jane admitted.
Murphy nodded. ‘You’ll all be working the weekend to see what else we can find out about these people. To that end I’ve paired you up where necessary and allocated the further enquiries I want made, which Sergeant Tennison will now brief you on.’
Jane lifted back the front cover of the flip chart, revealing the pairings and bullet points outlining their tasks.
‘Tomorrow morning Teflon and I will visit Nick, the Bluebird cafe owner, to see what he can tell us, and we’ll also look for a suitable single observation point that overlooks the cafe and snooker hall. The Colonel and Bax, apart from revisiting Braun, will also identify the car dealerships on Tottenham’s division and check the keyholders’ cards and Companies House to see if they can identify the owners or persons connected to the premises.’
‘If you reckon Braun is kosher, show him the artist’s impression of the getaway driver and the description the pub landlady gave us,’ Kingston added. ‘Same with the cafe owner.’
‘Have you arranged for the landlady to look through mugshots at the Yard?’ Murphy asked him.
‘They’re making an album up of convicted robbers matching the impression and description. She can only do Monday morning, but I’m in court, so maybe Jane could go with her as they’ve already met.’
‘Fine, but I want it done and not put off to another day,’ Murphy added.
Jane flicked over to the next page.
‘Stanley and Dabs will be visiting the Bruce Grove snooker club on the pretext of joining—’
‘What have they done to get the cushy job?’ Bax asked.
‘Dabs doesn’t look like Old Bill and Stanley has a lot of previous experience in undercover work,’ Jane replied.
‘Is that a polite way of saying Dabs is a short-arse and Stanley’s nondescript?’ the Colonel asked, raising a few laughs.
Murphy looked at Stanley. ‘I suggest you get rid of that moustache before you go there.’