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.It really is the end of the line.’‘Oh, you’ve said that before.We’ll continue on, we always do.I haven’t finished my biography yet.’‘For God’s sake, Bryant, be realistic for once in your life,’ Land shouted, startling them both.‘We have no funding, no offices, nowhere to work, no support, nothing, you understand? It’s all gone.Everything you worked for all these years, it’s finished, over.’ He dropped his head into his hands, surreptitiously eyeing the aspirin bottle on his desk.‘Go home, I can’t talk to you any more.’‘Well, I’m very disappointed that you won’t go to bat for us,’ said Bryant.‘It can’t end here, you know.So long as we can prevent a single death, there’s cause to go on.’‘Really? Are you sure you’re not doing this for yourself, because you know that without the unit you have absolutely nothing left?’‘That was cruel, Raymond.’ Bryant did his best to look hurt.‘You’ve been hanging around with people from the Home Office for too long.It’s made you hard.There was a time when you cared about doing the right thing.’‘I have to be practical about this.I looked inside the envelope you put in my jacket at Oswald’s wake, Arthur.I know I wasn’t supposed to, but curiosity got the better of me.You’d reached the decision to resign, and I know how you feel.Out of step with the present day.Heaven knows I’ve felt that often enough.I have no idea what people are thinking any more, all I know is that I don’t like anyone very much.Some evenings I walk to the station and it seems as though every Londoner under forty is completely drunk.I’m getting to the point where I hate everyone.No wonder people shut themselves away.So you see, I understand your position.That’s why I have to accept your resignation.’‘But I don’t want to resign now.I have a reason for not doing so.’‘The case is closed.’‘No, it’s not.’‘You identified the murderer.’‘Yes, I did.’‘You caught him red-handed.’‘Yes, that’s true.’‘And now you’re saying he didn’t do it after all.’‘No, I’m saying he did.’‘Then how in God’s name can someone else have done it?’‘I.Don’t.Know.’ Bryant realized they were shouting at each other, and turned his hearing aid down a fraction.‘But.I.Am.Going.To.Find.Out.’He saw Land turning red and shouting something back, but had no idea what he was saying.‘Good,’ he said.‘I’m glad that’s settled.I’ll get back to work.’Land’s next sentence was more creatively constructed than anything he had said in the last five years, mainly because it was spectacularly obscene, but Bryant heard nothing at all as he left the room.‘I’ve got something for you,’ April told her grandfather, commandeering his laptop and flipping open a file before him.‘You’ll love this, it’s technology gone mad.In November 2005, Jocelyn Roquesby caught a flight to Ancona in Italy, returning from Rome five days later.Giles found a torn piece of the ticket stub in the bottom of her handbag.He gave it to Dan Banbury, who used the information to locate her British Airways frequent-flyer number.By buying an online ticket in her name, he was able to access the rest of her personal data.’‘You can do that?’ asked John May in surprise.‘We’re simply stealing the tricks of the identity thieves,’ said April.‘From that tiny row of digits Dan was able to get her passport number, her nationality and her date of birth.But better still, they led us to Roquesby’s home address, her academic qualifications, profession and current-account details.We can tell you what car she drives, how much she bought her house for – and where she was working.Dan reckons most machine-readable ID documents carry flaws that make them pretty easy to crack.Although the new RFID-chipped passports demanded by the US have military-standard data-encryption technology, they’re unlocked by supposedly “secret” keys that use readily available information.There are identity thieves who just work the airports, reading documents over travellers’ shoulders and entering data into mobile phones.’‘So who was Jocelyn Roquesby working for?’‘A company called Theseus Research, based in King’s Cross but registered out of Brussels.Dan cross-checked their employment records and came up with a total of seven names in the same London department, employed over roughly the same dates.Guess who they were?’‘Roquesby, Joanne Kellerman, Naomi Curtis, Carol Wynley and Jasmina Sherwin.’‘Close.You’re right about the first four.But it looks like Uncle Arthur was correct about Sherwin not being part of the canonical selection of victims, though, because we have new names in fifth, sixth and seventh places.’‘The ones we haven’t found.’ May leaned forward and read down the screen.‘My God, I recognize one of them.’‘You do?’May found himself looking at three further female names: Mary Sinclair, Jennifer Winslow and Jackie Quinten.‘Mrs Quinten has helped the unit out in the past.She’s the lady who keeps trying to get Arthur to come over for dinner.Have you tried calling them all?’‘I’ve spoken to Jennifer Winslow – she’s currently working at Ohio State University, and we can therefore assume her to be out of danger, at least until she returns next week.Mary Sinclair is at home in London, and we’re providing her with immediate police protection, although from what or whom I have absolutely no idea.Right now, Jackie Quinten is the problem.There’s no answer from her landline or her mobile.Meera is on her way to Mrs Quinten’s house in Kentish Town to see what’s happened.’‘Poor Arthur,’ said May.‘I think he has a bit of a soft spot for her.He knocked a drink over her at the Yorkshire Grey and had a moan about her harassing him for a dinner date, but I know he secretly loves being pampered.He’ll never forgive himself if something has happened to her.’38* * *DISAPPEARANCEMeera Mangeshkar peered in through the kitchen window and saw rows of polished copper pots, steel utensils, framed maps, memorabilia collected from canal barges, Victorian vases and jugs filled with dried flowers.But of Mrs Quinten, there was no sign.‘You’re wasting your time,’ said a gap-toothed pensioner who was unnecessarily clipping the front hedge next door.‘She’s gone out.’‘Do you know where?’ asked Mangeshkar.‘She’s got a sister in Hemel Hempsted, but I don’t know if that’s where she is.The lights have been off since this morning.’‘She could still be inside.She might have had an accident.Is there a side door?’‘You’re a copper, aren’t you?’Meera bristled.‘Is it that obvious?’‘We don’t get many coppers round here any more.You can come over my garden wall, it’s an easy climb.She always leaves the back window ajar.She knows it’s safe because I never go out, so I don’t miss anything.But you’re wasting your time, because I saw her go out over an hour ago.’‘Did she seem all right to you?’‘Fine, dressed for the shops, coat and boots, not like she was having a funny turn, if that’s what you’re implying.’‘Anything unusual about her?’‘I remember thinking she looked a bit worried.’‘You didn’t ask her what about?’‘Oh no, I mind my own business.’‘And you’re sure she didn’t come back?’‘Positive, because I was watching at the front window.’‘In that case,’ said Meera, ‘I think I will hop over your fence and take a look around [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]