Andrew Grant - Even

“Why?” Weston said.

“Because he didn’t take anyone else’s,” I said. “So there’s something special about Mansell’s phone. And if he was after Mansell’s money, why not take his ID, or something with his bank details?”

“He probably did,” Weston said. “We won’t know till we search his place and his work. He’ll have them stashed, somewhere. That’s why we need the warrant.”

“No,” I said. “We need to pull in Taylor. The boss we saw at Tungsten. He blanched when he saw the photos of his dead employees. We should show him the pictures from Mansell’s phone. We know he was hiding something. That might loosen him up.”

“Chat to him about holiday photos?” Weston said. “Sure. The dam will really bust open.”

“We don’t have cause to pull him in,” Varley said. “Not yet. So here’s the plan. Kyle-fast-track that paperwork. I want a team all over Tungsten, first thing in the morning. Bartman-get onto the NYPD. I want Mansell top of their missing persons list as of five minutes ago. David and Tanya-contact the cell phone providers. See if they’ve got any GPS data on either of those phones. Any questions?”

No one spoke.

“OK then. That’s it. Reconvene at noon. And Mr. Trevellyan-last night you took a gamble. It paid off, in a sense. You were lucky. But I don’t want you going off on your own again. Are we clear?”

I shrugged.

“Are we clear?”

“Depends on them,” I said, nodding toward Weston and Lavine. “I tried to get them involved yesterday, but they had forms to fill in.”

Weston and Lavine trotted away to start on their tasks, trailing out of the room behind Varley like a pair of obedient schoolboys. I stayed behind and started on the leftover coffees. Tanya watched me for a moment then excused herself and left the room. She was looking a little flustered about something.

“You OK?” I said, when she returned a couple of minutes later.

“I’m feeling a little paranoid, to be honest,” she said. “I thought I saw a couple of guys watching my place last night. And again this morning.”

“Really? What did they look like?”

“Well, they were male. Early twenties. Nothing really distinctive about them.”

“What about their clothes?” How were they dressed?”

“I don’t really remember.”

“Their height? Build?”

“I’m not sure. I got more of an impression than anything.”

“OK, well, I’ll stop by later, if you like. See what’s what.”

“No. Don’t worry. I’m probably just tired. I didn’t get much sleep.”

“Because of Mansell?”

“Partly. And I was a little freaked out, with Hamad getting shot. That kept me awake for a while. How about you?”

“I slept like a log. Nearly missed breakfast.”

“How could you eat breakfast, after what happened? A guy died, right in front of our eyes. We watched his lifeblood literally drain out onto the pavement. I was so close it nearly went on my shoes.”

“Tanya, he wanted to die. You saw him smile. He knew they’d shoot him if he went for his pocket. Suicide by police, they call it. Not the way I’d do things, but it was his choice. You’ve got to respect that.”

“Respect it? You’re warped. Anyway, let’s stop talking about it. I don’t want that picture in my head all day. And we should be getting on with this phone company GPS thing.”

“Why?”

“Because Varley told us to.”

“And?”

“David, why do you always go looking for trouble?”

“It’s hardly trouble. Being told off by Varley’s like being savaged by a piece of lettuce.”

“You’re so awkward. Why can’t we just do the job we’ve been given? Do you want to be the only one with nothing to say?”

“I’d rather have something useful to say. The whole GPS thing is nonsense. Varley just wants us out of the picture while he tries to wrap things up his own way.”

“Even if that’s true, is it a problem?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Because he doesn’t do things the same way as you?”

“No. Because he’s got a different agenda. He’s soft-soaping you, Tanya. He’s only bothered about his railroad case. Making sure nothing comes back to bite him. Finding Mansell is on the back burner. And he’ll leave it there, if we let him.”

“Maybe. But how do we change that?”

“Go after Taylor.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s only one link between everything that stinks in this whole affair-the teams that were fired, the people who were killed, the hospital where they worked, and Hamad who pulled the trigger. It all points straight back at Tungsten. Nothing else ties it together.”

“I agree. But to arrest him, we need evidence. That’s why they’re also working on the warrant.”

“Which won’t be here until tomorrow. That’s too late. Taylor will have buried everything by then. Tanya, you need to ask yourself something. About Mansell. Are you really serious about this whole thing?”

“Of course. Absolutely. I know you think it’s silly but-”

“Then we need to lift Taylor today. This morning. Right now. And you know what? That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

“How? We can’t force him.”

“We don’t need to,” I said, taking out my phone.

“What are you going to do?”

“Call and ask him to meet us.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

Taylor answered on the first ring.

“Yes?” he said. “What?”

“Good morning, Mr. Taylor,” I said. “This is David Trevellyan. We met at your office yesterday.”

“Yeah, I remember. What can I do for you?”

“Thing is, I’ve got a bit of a problem. Turns out we both do. I was hoping we could get together, and see if we could find a way around it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember I’m working with the FBI at the moment? Well, they’re a pretty suspicious bunch. And they’ve got the idea you weren’t quite straight with us when we met.”

“That’s baloney. I told you everything I know.”

“I believe you, Mr. Taylor. Really, I do. Trouble is, the feds are also pretty stubborn. I’m struggling to convince them. It’s me against them. And right now they’re drawing up warrants for your phone records, computers, premises, vehicles, the whole nine yards.”

“Are we on tape? Why are you telling me this?”

“Because if they go down that road, it’ll take weeks to wrap it up. Months, maybe. I’ve seen your place. And the fed’s comb is pretty fine.”

“Tell them to go ahead. Knock themselves out. They won’t find anything.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But here’s my problem. I don’t want to hang around for months making sure. My day job’s back in London. The longer I’m out of the loop, the harder it’ll be to get back in.”

“Like you said. Your problem.”

“Yours, too.”

“How so?”

“Hard to imagine a business surviving, these days, without computers. Or phones. Not having any vehicles could be problem. And what about your clients? They could get jumpy, with all those crime lab people wandering around, in and out of meeting rooms…”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No. Just giving you a heads-up about what’s on the cards, unless we figure out a way to stop it.”

“So how do we do that?”

“We meet. You and me. Off the books. I’ll talk you through what’s eating the feds. Then, if you can give me something to work with, I’ll feed in the right answers. Save you a lot of hassle. Save me a lot of time.”

“And if the investigation closes quicker, you’ll take the glory.”

“If things work out that way, who am I to demur?”

“Now I see what you’re doing. OK then. I’ll meet you. When?”