‘What about covering the wedding?’ the Colonel asked.
‘Is there anywhere on the grounds of the church we can use as a static OP?’ Kingston asked, knowing the Colonel had been to the church.
‘No, and it’s right by a country lane, so an OBO van would stick out like a sore thumb.’
Murphy looked at Kingston, who shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, ‘It’s up to you.’
‘Tennison will be going undercover at the wedding.’
Jane looked up, wide-eyed.
‘That could be a bit dangerous, Guv,’ Stanley remarked.
‘It’s a risk I’m prepared to take. We still haven’t identified the man in the camel hair coat and there may be other people attending who could be of interest. She’ll be able to take photographs of the guests and their cars without it looking suspicious.’
‘There’ll be a load of criminals there. If she’s nicked one of them before and he recognizes her, it could blow the whole operation,’ the Colonel argued.
Jane wasn’t worried. ‘I last worked north of the river over four years ago, and never arrested anyone who I’d consider to be involved with the likes of the Ripley brothers. It doesn’t appear they’ve sussed who I am, and they’re expecting me to be there. Carl Winter invited me while I was working in the cafe.’
‘Well, that makes it all hunky-dory then,’ the Colonel said, clearly unconvinced.
Murphy looked at Jane. ‘Wear a wedding hat and keep the brim down, consider sunglasses if it’s a bright day. If at any time you feel your cover might be blown, pull out.’
‘If she leaves it will look suspicious,’ the Colonel said.
‘There’s two hundred people going to the reception and more coming in the evening, so I doubt they’ll miss one person leaving. If I need to, I’ll tell Carl Winter that I’m not feeling well and leave.’
‘Anything else anyone wants to add?’ Murphy asked.
‘The banks usually take in extra cash before a bank holiday weekend. It seems strange that none of our suspects have been out plotting up their place for a hit.’
‘They could have done a recce before we started our surveillance or have been given the details by Camel Hair Coat Man,’ Murphy said. ‘Apart from that, George Ripley may actually have a heart and not want to risk another robbery going pear-shaped and getting nicked before his daughter’s wedding.’
‘Hmm, we’ll see about that,’ the Colonel said darkly.
‘Right, we resume at six a.m. tomorrow,’ Murphy said, dismissing them.
Thursday was another uneventful day, and some on the team began to wonder if the Ripleys knew they were being followed. Murphy’s experience told him otherwise, and his thoughts were confirmed on the Friday at midday when Teflon spoke on the radio from his OP overlooking GR motors.
‘All units... all units... Targets 1 and 4 leaving garages in gold Mercedes.’
‘Central 888 has eyeball and will follow,’ Kingston replied, and continued with a running commentary. ‘Vehicle turning right into Bruce Grove and maintaining thirty miles per hour.’
‘Received by Gold,’ Jane said from the office with Murphy standing beside her.
There were a few minutes of silence before Kingston spoke again.
‘Target 1 has turned left and is entering rear of hall.’
Bax came on the air.
‘OP1 has eyeball and holding.’ Several seconds later he spoke again. ‘Targets 1 and 4 entering hall.’
‘Looks like they’re having a meeting.’
Bax came back on the radio, sounding excited.
‘All units from OP1... Male in camel hair coat wearing brown snap brim trilby has just got out of a cab and entered hall. Unable to give description as eyeball on his back.’
‘Christ, I wish we had a listening device in there,’ Murphy said.
‘You could send Dabs in again,’ Jane suggested.
Murphy took the radio from her.
‘OP1 from Gold... receiving, over...?’
‘Yes, go ahead.’
‘Have you access to a phone?’
‘Yes, there’s one right next to us.’
‘Call me in the office.’
A few seconds later the phone rang, Murphy answered it and asked Bax if there were many punters in the club. He told him there were about six unidentified men who had entered the club since it opened, and some were carrying snooker cues. Murphy asked to speak to Dabs.
‘Yes, Guv, what’s up?’
‘I want you to go in the snooker hall, make out you want to join or practice on a table and see what’s happening — then phone me back later.’
‘On my way, Guv,’ Dabs replied enthusiastically.
‘That was a good shout about Dabs, Jane.’
Murphy handed the radio back to her.
He’d called her by her Christian name for the first time.
I’m finally doing something right, she thought.
As Dabs entered the snooker hall he saw the Ripley brothers, Smith, O’Reilly and the man in the camel hair coat by a table at the far end of the room. Maria Fernandez was behind the bar. Dabs approached her with a smile and his checkbook in his hand.
‘I came in the other day and decided I’d like to join.’
She picked up a membership form and handed it to him.
‘Fill this in and make the check for twenty pounds payable to Bruce Grove Snooker Club.’
‘Is it all right if I do it here?’
‘Sure.’ She handed him a pen. ‘Do you want a drink?’
He asked for a half of lager and leaned on the counter to fill in the form. The suspects were too far away for him to hear what was being said, but he deliberately took his time so he could glance up occasionally and see what they were doing. After a few minutes he’d seen enough and returned to the OP, where he called the office. Jane answered and handed the phone to Murphy. She wanted to listen in, so pointed to the headset and Murphy nodded. He was concerned that Dabs hadn’t been in the snooker hall very long.
‘I thought it was best to leave as O’Reilly looked over, but I think it was because he’d met me the other day when I was in there with Stanley. Anyway, I said I wanted to join the club and Maria gave me a form and—’
‘For God’s sake, Dabs, I don’t care about that. Did you hear what they were talking about?’
‘No, but from what I saw they were clearly planning something. While I was filling in the form, I—’
‘Just tell me what they were bloody well doing!’ Murphy barked.
‘They were all stood around a snooker table. George Ripley was moving some of the balls and talking to the others.’
Murphy sighed. ‘So, they were just playing snooker?’
‘No, none of them had a cue in their hands. George was picking up different colored balls and placing them in a pattern on the table, just like he did with the condiments and sugar cubes in the cafe last week. I think he was demonstrating how the robbery would be carried out.’
‘You little beauty, Dabs, well done.’ Murphy beamed.
‘Thank you, sir. The man in the camel hair coat does look like Bela Lugosi, by the way — he’s even got the greased-back hair.’
‘Make sure you get some good photos of him when he comes out.’
Murphy put the phone down.
‘You think they’re going to do the robbery this afternoon?’ Jane asked.
‘I doubt it, but what Dabs just said makes me feel even more confident that it will happen, and they obviously haven’t a clue we’re watching them,’ he said with a sly grin.
Bax spoke on the radio.
‘All units, all units, Camel Hair Coat Man leaving hall with Targets 1 and 4.’ He turned to Dabs. ‘Quick, get some pics of them.’
Dabs pointed the Nikon zoom lens camera at the targets and pulled the winder back to advance the film and take a picture, but there was no resistance.