Three Faces of West (2013) Read online

  “Sorry for not getting here sooner but it’s chaos outside. The whole city’s in pandemonium. All regular investigations have been put on hold while we try and sort out what happened over at the train station. We are only here because of who the victim of this crime is.”

  Jack looked on knowing that what the inspector said was right,

  “Yes I know.” He continued, “May I introduce my partner John Hudson.”

  The two men nodded to each other in mutual respect. As soon as the customary introductions were complete, the inspector unambiguously shuffled the two men off to the side of the room. It was a body language gesture saying that he was taking charge.

  He continued, “Have you found anything indicating a security threat.”

  “No” Replied Jack

  “OK then, it looks like a high profile crime scene. No need for your attention. I’ll bet you guys from MI5 would rather be looking into the big show over in north London.” Said Inspector Waterson,

  “As intelligence officers it’s our duty to investigate high profile events and determine any potential security threats to national security.” Replied Jack sounding official. Deep down he knew the inspector was right, he would rather be over at King’s Cross but he had to follow this assignment.

  Continuing to probe the inspector, Jack tentatively tried to get any clues as to what happened here for his own sake, and sanity,

  “So do you have any theories as to what happened yet?” He asked,

  “Not yet, give it time.” Was the reply.

  Using his police background as intuition he gathered the clues to cobble together a working theory,

  “There’s been some activity over there in the cupboard; there’s been no sign of a break in, any forced door or window. I’ll bet the person you have been looking for was already here for some reason, waiting in that cupboard for the right time to strike.”

  Waterson was interested in this, it sounded quite plausible,

  “Perhaps, go on.”

  Jack continued, “Whoever was here, tried to get hold of the necklace, and used some kind of diamond, cutter or something similar-‘

  “Just like in the old movies.” Waterson remarked,

  “Yes, look this cabinet is alarmed but somehow it was triggered, by tilt or motion perhaps.”

  Waterson instantly looked for some kind of objection to validate the theory,

  “I’ve been speaking to some of the detectives outside. Apparently they received the first call earlier at around 07:40 this morning. They reported an alarm, from the staff here. Apparently it is silent so a perpetrator could not be aware he is detected until it is too late.”

  Jack though about this. He knew he was interfering in police matters, but he had to be sure of any possible security implications of the robbery,

  “OK so it’s a silent alarm, perhaps he panicked when he heard staff arrive to investigate.” Suddenly John interrupted,

  “If that fireplace is disturbed the robber panicked and tried to escape, knocking off objects onto the floor.”

  Jack took over, “Looks like he tried to get out of the window by cutting it through to get to the latch, but there was no time. So he panicked to hide, the cupboard was the only place.”

  Waterson began to quickly catch on to the theory,

  “In doing so, knocking off those books, the table ornament and into the cupboard.” He said finishing off Jacks working theory with an enlightened spring in his voice.

  It seemed very plausible, but there was still one gap to fill,

  “What about the escape Mr West, any ideas?”

  “That Mr Waterson, I don’t know. I’m not the police, that’s up to you to prove or disprove what I’ve said.”

  “Forensics will confirm details.” Said Waterson.

  Both John and Jack looked around, “So I don’t think there’s any other need for the security services to get involved. We’ll leave this in your hands.”

  “Goodbye” Said Waterson in a gesture of manners while shaking the two men’s hands.

  Both John and Jack left the room, as they went down the staircase there was a niggling feeling that something was not right. There appeared to be no security risk whatsoever here at least. They were not instructed to head off to the incident site so they both had no choice but to report back at Thames House, the headquarters of MI5. About halfway down the flights there was a sudden shouting and commotion. Both men looking at each other mutually decided to investigate, heading back to the room the first site they were greeted with was nearly all the officers gathered around a central figure near a far wall. Waterson situated in the central congregation right in the thick of the action,

  “A new development inspector?” Said Jack,

  “You could say that.” Replied Waterson, dragging one of his officers into view, he produced the one item they were not expecting to see. The supposedly Cullinan brooch right in front of him.

  “It was found in the pot plant, looks like he dropped it in panic.” Said Waterson triumphantly,

  “It’s no security threat, only an attempted robbery.” He continued,

  “Looks like we are not needed after all.” Said Jack, “Once again, goodbye.”

  This time they left for a second time. Down the stairs and out of the hallway and into the street. Outside the traffic was horrific, clearly the explosion at King’s Cross had caused intolerable havoc throughout the city. Most of the roads were gridlocked but they had to get back.

  “You know John,” Said Jack in a raised voice. The air was still filled with the sound of sirens and pandemonium resulting from the confusion of the mornings events,

  “When did Waterson say they received a call from the staff here?”

  “About 07:40 this morning.” John responded, “Why?”

  “Nothing, something is bugging me that’s all. Something isn’t right about the time. Anyway its one for them, not us, come on, let get back.”

  They got in their silver Lexus IS250, and with John at the wheel, drove off down the street to join the maelstrom that was the chaotic London traffic.

  Chapter 2:

  Thames House, headquarters of MI5 in the banks of the Thames was at present the hive of activity dealing with the latest incident. Both John and Jack arrived in record time after taking a few backstreet shortcuts to minimise the journey time. As they entered the building the whole place was understandably a focus for controlled pandemonium.

  Making their way up to their offices, passing through the corridors seemed like an intolerable effort in itself. Like the streets outside, everyone was trying to get somewhere fast, always coming and going against the direction both men were taking. It felt like more were coming rather than going against the direction the two men were taking thus creating the illusion that they were somehow being prevented from their destination.

  Reaching the office was a bit of a temporary relief, until Jack opened the door. What greeted both him and John was a chaotic scene similar to the theft at the Duke of Westminster, but with the ferocity of the incident at King’s Cross. Proceeding to their office which both John and Jack shared could not protect them from the general discussions mainly about the morning’s events. Even though everyone in the building was on the same side, this did not stop them from barging into one another in a frantic dance for which the two men could not escape from. As a result it took a good few minutes longer to reach their office than it ordinarily would do.

  Once they reached their little corner of the department both men quickly entered to get out of the melodrama shutting the door behind them. Instantly the noise from outside became a muffled blur signalling they had both found a little piece of sanctuary from the hectic outside,

  “Well,” Said Jack,

  John replied in a typical fashion, “Did you hear some of those comments? Some of them are saying that we know think it was not accident.” He said with an unsurprising tone,

  “Clearly it is. Some kind of bombing, perhaps suicide, or placed somewh
ere?” Was the reply.

  Sitting down to fill out the report was what the two intelligence officers did. This was the administrative side of secret work; someone had to fill out the paperwork. With the sounds of the distressed city in the background accompanied by a longing to get back out there, minutes seemed like hours and hours seemed like an intolerable age. Report sheet after report sheet had to be filled in for superior eyes to gaze over to determine any possible future security threat. Boring work, but someone had to do it.

  Filling out the paperwork was taking forever, yet Jack was not fully engaged in it. The one thing he had on his mind was the one detail ironically that was vital to the report he was filling out, the timings. John picked up on this too,

  “These times you were on about in the car, any ideas?” He asked,

  “No, not really” Was the reply, John could tell that Jack was slightly frustrated at the mental block. He was a man who liked to get all the facts right before moving on.

  John wanted to deliver a suitable reply but was a little afraid of the response. It did not matter; they had to finish these reports before a debriefing session. This one of all days was going to be far from normal, in light of what had happened this morning, it just made their case pale in insignificance.

  The two men finished the report and Jack as the senior of the two was tasked with delivering the document to the section leader,

  “Here we go.” Said Jack, “Time to deliver the results.”

  “I’ll stay here and monitor what’s going on.” Replied John.

  As Jack went out of the room John logged into his account on the computer. Inputting his password gave him specific clearance and therefore access only to very specific intelligence to what he was privy to.

  Ten minutes passed before Jack returned to the office. John waiting for his cue, held off until Jack had closed the door firmly. Once he had done so het let himself speak,

  “Have you seen this?”

  “Seen what?”

  “Views all over the internet like social media and other places. They are all saying that the incident at King’s Cross was a terrorist event. Even the media outlets are saying it.”

  Jack replied in an unfazed tone,

  “That’s not surprising; news spreads like wildfire these days.”

  It seemed like a suitable reply, but John had another bit of news, the act up his sleeve,

  “They are also saying the Cullinan brooch robbery was a setup. Rumours are that it is actually a fake.”

  This revelation instantly pricked into Jack’s consciousness, making him react like a dog with pointed ears. Quickly he rebuffed the internet arguments in a vain attempt to quash any potential fallout,

  “They are exactly that, just rumours.” He snapped.

  This made John rather defensive but he knew his partner was right, these were internet rumours, but he had to go further,

  “There are also comments questioning the role of the security services, in both incidents.” He said tentatively.

  Jack wanted to find out who was saying these things, inside he knew that if they came from official news outlets then this would be harder to dispel. Of course there were going to be questions and criticism but nothing on the scale at the moment. Knowing that if he could take action, nothing could be sanctioned without authority from those with higher clearance, so as much as he did not like it, Jack was stuck with the helpless feeling of frustration.

  A knock came at the door, grabbing the attention of both John and Jack a young dark haired assistant popped his head round the door,

  “Jack,” He said, “Someone wants to see you.”

  “Who is it?”

  “Section chief.” Was the reply, “Wants to see you now.”

  Jack being puzzled gave John a blank look as if to say “what now?” Getting out of his heat he left John in the office once more to scour for additional comments in the digital world.

  Five minutes later Jack returned rather excitedly. Clearly to John, Jack had been injected with some kind of enthusiasm that pepped him up once again,

  “What this time?” He asked,

  “Come on,” He said grabbing his coat while simultaneously throwing John his,

  “Where are we going?” Asked John, stomped through the offices like a pair of wild animals,

  “New Scotland Yard.” Said Jack excitedly, “They have something they wants to share with us; apparently it’s about that brooch.”

  “Oh right,” Said John.

  The two men proceeded to the exit with double haste wondering what the new information could be.

  New Scotland Yard, Broadway, Westminster, time 10:35 am. The arrival of both intelligence officers was not wholly unexpected at the headquarters of the metropolitan police force. The shining building stood tall like a silver beacon, outside the famous triangular sign rotating continuously whatever the crisis. Jack and John entering the building and announcing themselves in the front reception triggered the special branch into action.

  Waiting in the foyer did not seem very long for the two men, Jack spent his moments observing his surroundings, the floor, the ceiling, the walls, the decor,

  “Hello again,” Said a familiar voice. Looking across he was greeted by the face of Inspector Waterson. West immediately jumped into action,

  “Inspector,” He said while shaking his hand, “What can we do for you?”

  “Well I think it is better you come up and follow me.” The inspector responded promptly.

  Waterson led both men toward one of the lifts, which upon entering imputed the floor number 9 cueing the lift doors to shut. One could feel the motion of the lift as it transported the three men upwards. When it opened the corridors and offices that greeted them was one similar to those at Thames House. With Waterson taking the lead West and Hudson followed him into a less busy office staffed by only a few select individuals.

  Waterson dispensed with the formal greetings, they were already well acquainted with each other during past operations. A large table in the centre of a room was the defining feature and it was here that the inspector gestured for both Jack and John to sit with him for the discussion,

  “Now I’m guessing you are wondering why you have been called here.” Said Waterson,

  “Of course,” Replied John, “Jack said you had something important to divulge.”

  The inspector looked at both men with a hesitant look on his face, absolutely there was additional information and by the look of it, had to imply security concerns,

  “Why else would we be here.” Jack thought to himself.

  The inspector continued, “We’ve had forensics sniffing round King’s Cross as well as your people. We have found something significant.”

  “What’s that?” Asked Jack. Reaching down Waterson pulled out from beneath the table a small bag. Looking closer both Jack and John could easily tell that it was an evidence bag, but the packaging was not important, it was the contents that caught their eyes. Jack could clearly see inside a small thin black rod. At first glance he could not distinguish it, until John suddenly made the breakthrough,

  “That’s a clock hand,” He said out loud quite suddenly, “Look at the length, it’s too long and thin, looks like a minute hand.”

  Waterson replied, “That’s correct, we found it in the train wreckage, there’s other bits as well that indicates this came off an alarm clock. One of those old fashioned ones.”

  This immediately aroused West’s suspicions. He knew that with modern technology why would there be an old fashioned alarm clock on board a train?

  “Unless it was used as a timer” He said out loud carrying on from his train of thought.

  “That’s what we think.” Replied the inspector. By now the men were on the same wavelength,

  “We have found two sets of these, which is consistent with the number of explosions this morning.” Concluded Waterson.

  Jack thought about this for a second. Deciding to probe further he asked,

&
nbsp; “You say there were other pieces, like what?”

  “Wires and connections perhaps for radio components. All highly charred and damaged of course.”

  Both West and Hudson looked on attentively,

  “We think these are components of explosive devices. If they are, then someone planted those bombs on the train to perpetrate an incident. This is no accident; we’re looking at a coordinated terrorist attack.”

  John instantly jumped in,

  “Then that makes it a security issue.” He said turning to Jack. “I’ll have to see if there’s anything on file regarding this. Internet, phone taps, the lot.”

  Jack looking at the table, absorbing everything just said, decided to ask the inspector for

  more information,

  “But why call us? Surely there are other teams down there that your lot must be liaising with. What have we got to do with the investigation at King’s Cross?”

  Jack wanted an answer, but before he could put the question again the inspector interrupts,

  “There’s another thing as well, we think this morning’s terrorist attack and the robbery you two attended are connected.”

  “What?” Asked John,

  “Uniform got a call from the duke’s apartment at 07:40 this morning like I said earlier,”

  Both men remembered, they were eager for Waterson to finish his sentence,

  “Witness statements and many other accounts we’ve taken so far all show one thing.”

  “What’s that?” Asked Jack,

  “The first explosion on the train, and possibly the second one straight after occurred at 07:30am, a full ten minutes before the first call at the duke’s robbery.”

  Suddenly the niggling feeling in Jack’s head lifted in an enlightened rush,

  “Of course, the timings!” He thought to himself. His slight facial expression betrayed his thought to any other observant enough to notice.

  “So we think that this bombing is some kind of distraction? To deter the police away from the robbery crime scene?”

  “Yes,” Replied Waterson, “Uniform gets a call at 07:40am, leaving the perpetrators free to carry out the robbery. Ten minutes earlier the bomb went off, pulling all available resources to King’s Cross. Meanwhile our thief takes the opportunity and tries for the brooch. How? We don’t know for sure yet. We’re working on your theory.”