‘Thank you for being so frank and direct,’ Hobart went on, maintaining his air of good-natured humility. ‘I’ll be equally candid and tell you that this case is connected to one of our most high-level and confidential operations regarding crime syndication in this country. We share equally your misgivings about publicity. The police are involved but in a manpower capacity only. As far as they’re concerned we’re looking for a crazed English guy who has some knowledge of explosives. If the media does become involved – which is probably inevitable since this began as a police case and leaks from that quarter are impossible to prevent – we shall have a credible explanation ready. I would appreciate any help from you in that area.’
Weighbridge nodded. He liked Hobart’s style and felt he could trust him. His attempts at sidestepping the bad blood between the two organisations were obvious but Weighbridge got the impression that on a personal level the man was sincere.
Hobart removed several printed sheets of paper from his briefcase and placed them on the desk, pushing one in front Weighbridge and the rest to the other men. ‘That’s a detailed history of events so far. Why don’t you go ahead and read through them, get up to speed and I’ll fill you in on the most recent information that we have.’
The men pulled the papers in front of them and began reading.
Seaton read quickly through the details of the two assassinations, the backfired retaliatory hit in the alleyway and Josh’s kidnapping. But what he was looking for in particular were any references to the origins of the explosives. As he reached the last sentence he was relieved to see that there were none. He breathed a little easier.
Hobart waited for Weighbridge to finish before handing out another page. ‘That’s a list of products which Stratton was known to be in possession of by yesterday evening. I understand that these chemicals could be used to produce a significantly powerful explosive device as well as detonators.’
‘And a helluva lot of “products” there are, too,’ Anderson said, studying the list.
‘How long would you estimate it would take him to put a device that big together?’ Hobart asked. He’d already had an answer to that question from Phil but he wanted to get these people involved.
‘That would depend on what he was making exactly,’ Anderson replied, suddenly taking an interest. ‘He could produce maybe eighty to ninety pounds of raw cyclonite or RDX crystals in a single day if he has any experience in production. That’s a lot of high explosives. Why’s there a question mark against the metal mercury?’
‘We know he was looking for some but we don’t know if he’s been able to get hold of any yet.’
‘If he does then he’s going for mercury fulminate as a detonator.’
‘Is that easy to manufacture?’ Hobart asked.
‘If he doesn’t blow himself up he could produce fulminate in, say, half a day,’ Anderson said. ‘Then he’d want to test it, of course.’
‘Test it?’ Hobart asked.
‘Sure. Detonators are usually made up of a primary and secondary explosive, the primary being the more powerful charge that’s initiated by a secondary, less volatile one. Fulminate is a primary explosive but if handled correctly it can be used without the secondary charge. Depending on how this guy constructs the detonator he’d want to be sure that it’s going to ignite the RDX.’
‘I’m assuming you have an idea what his target is?’ Weighbridge asked.
‘I want to stop him before he gets that far,’ Hobart said, avoiding the question. He wasn’t here to discuss every detail of his case with them, just Stratton and his threat potential. ‘What I’d like are some recent photos and a description of Stratton, if that’s possible?’
Weighbridge looked at Belling who nodded at him.
‘It’ll be in your office before you get back,’ Weighbridge said.
‘One other request,’ Hobart said. ‘I’d like one of your guys to assist us. Someone who would know how an operator like Stratton might think or react in a given situation. Better still, someone who actually knows him.’
Hobart didn’t look at Seaton. But Weighbridge threw a glance in the man’s direction and pondered the request for a moment.
‘You okay with that?’ Weighbridge asked Seaton.
Seaton could only wish that he had some hugely important high-priority task that would stop him going to California with Hobart but he didn’t. ‘Sure,’ he said.
Hobart looked at Seaton and nodded. Then he turned back to Weighbridge.
‘Anything else?’ Weighbridge asked, looking as if he needed to be somewhere else.
‘Not right now,’ Hobart said.
Weighbridge got to his feet and Hobart did the same.
‘Thanks,’ Hobart said, holding out his hand.
Weighbridge gripped it. ‘You need anything else, go through Seaton and we’ll see what we can do.’
‘I appreciate it,’ Hobart said.
The men filed out of the room, except for Seaton. Hobart repacked his briefcase and pulled his jacket off the back of his chair.
‘When are you heading back to California?’ Seaton asked.
‘I’ve got a charter waiting at Dulles.’
‘And you want me to go with you right now?’
Hobart paused to look at Seaton, picking up a feeling of deep reluctance radiating from the guy. ‘That was the idea,’ he said, being ever so nice. ‘But if you have things to do, maybe Weighbridge can get me someone else,’ he said, knowing what the reply to that would be.
‘No, that’s fine. I was just checking. I’m gonna need a few things. It’s a short detour to my house.’
‘Sure,’ Hobart said, pulling his jacket on and then extending an open palm towards the door. ‘Lead on.’
Half an hour later the two men were pulling away from Seaton’s house and heading for Dulles International Airport. Seaton and Hobart sat in the back seat of the sedan, staring out of their respective windows, both deep in thought. Then Hobart took his cellphone from a pocket, dialled a number, put the phone to his ear and waited for it to connect. ‘Hendrickson? Hobart. You should be receiving an ID on Stratton within the next few hours. It’ll probably come in on my private e-mail. Pull it up but do not distribute it. That’s for the team’s eyes only, you got that? Next. The sightings of Stratton in the Bakersfield area. It’s likely he’s holed up somewhere isolated. Somewhere he can test an explosive device without raising an alarm. It’s also possible that he could be done preparing the explosives by today. That means he could be heading back to Los Angeles any time. I’m on my way to the airport. I should arrive in Burbank by around six p.m. Okay.’
Hobart pocketed the phone and thought through all the information he had once again, checking that there was nothing he had overlooked. ‘When’s the last time you saw Stratton?’ he asked Seaton.
Seaton glanced at Hobart but saw nothing in his expression that gave anything away. ‘We were in Iraq together just over a month ago,’ he said.
‘Was that where Jack Penton died?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you know his wife and kid?’
‘Jack’s? I met ’em once.’
Hobart glanced at Seaton again as a thought struck him. ‘That was the last time you saw Stratton – in Iraq?’