James Patterson - Private London

And from where I was standing I could have picked up a stone and thrown it at the Middlesex Guildhall, which is home to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Like I said, I think Hannah Shapiro’s abductors were tweaking our noses a little. Still, you could understand why the area was so popular with tourists.

Especially on a Sunday.

There were four major roads into the square and a Tube station right by it.

I looked at my watch. A couple of minutes or so to go.

Sam Riddel was somewhere close by, but I couldn’t see him. Not that he was going to be able to do a great deal if something bad went down. In addition we had people stationed on each of the roads into the square and by the entrances to the Tube station.

It was the second hot day in a row. Certainly breaking records for the time of year. I looked at my watch again. Showtime.

My phone went. I checked the ID: Brad Dexter. ‘Yes, Brad?’

‘You got a big crowd marching down past me, Dan. Heading into the square. They just appeared from nowhere.’

The phone beeped again, another incoming call: Suzy this time – different street, same message. And again. And again. All four watch stations saying the same thing.

All hell broke loose.

First came the noise. Megaphones and chants. Then the people. Random groups seemed to join together as hundreds started pouring in from St Margaret Street, Broad Sanctuary, Great George Street and Bridge Street. Banners were unfurled as they all headed towards the green.

A group of black-faced Border-style Morris dancers were capering about in outlandish costumes, heading towards me as more and more banners were unfurled. The chanting grew louder.

Until the summer of last year there had been a permanent protest camp set up on the green. A ragbag assortment of tents, flags and slogan banners, with straw bales used for toilets. The camp called itself the Democracy Village.

Originally the protest consisted of just one man, Brian Haw. He set up the site in 2001 to protest against the suffering caused by the sanctions imposed on the Iraqis in the 1990s. However, as events unfolded in Iraq he stayed to protest against the invasion and occupation. The more recent self-styled Democracy Village was not aligned with him and when the people had been evicted a year ago they’d vowed they would be back.

A number of smaller demonstrations had already taken place but this looked like a large-scale organised one. As this kind of protest was illegal in the square they obviously hadn’t made any public announcements about it.

I looked at my watch again and my phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out, flicked the lock off and clicked on the incoming-message icon. It read: ‘Don’t forget to pay the piper.’

I looked across the square.

The black-faced dancers in black, yellow and green rags and with feathers in their hats were about fifty yards or so away now. People were milling around them. One of them was holding out a gaudy cap as if to collect money. But it was neither the time or place for that – unless they were looking to collect big, of course.

I could see why they had picked this time and place now. It was absolute chaos. The dancers didn’t seem to be in any hurry, mind. They were dancing and twirling, shouting and clattering sticks.

I’ve always hated Morris dancers. Now I wished I had packed some serious heat. Do the whole world a favour right there and then!

I looked at them. None of them was big enough to be Brendan Ferres. That was for sure. The guy with the collecting hat was tall but nowhere near as wide as Ferres and he was wearing black-rimmed glasses. One of the dancers in the middle didn’t seem too enthusiastic. Smaller-framed than the others. Hard to tell from this distance, but my guess was that it was Hannah. She was surrounded at all times. As one dancer twirled away another jigged in. They were corralling her.

Just as well I didn’t bring the shotgun. Like I said, I would have been sorely tempted to take them all down. Wasn’t my call, to make though, and the instructions from Harlan Shapiro through Jack Morgan had been explicit. No heroics. No improvisation. Just pay them the agreed amount and get Hannah home safe.

I put my hand in my pocket, putting it around the bag of diamonds, clasping it tight.

And then everything went to hell in a handcart.

A large group of uniformed policemen came running past the dancers, heading straight for me.

DI Kirsty Webb followed closely behind.

The crowd milled past the dancers who had stopped dancing and were watching me. The lead dancer pointed his finger at me like the barrel of a gun and mimed pulling the trigger. Then they were lost in the huge crowd that surged around them. I tried to give chase but at that moment the riot police arrived and a wall of perspex shields and raised batons blocked my way.

‘What the hell are you doing here, Kirsty?’

‘We got a call!’

‘What are you talking about? Got a call from who?’

Kirsty held her warrant card up and led me past the riot police who were attempting to ‘kettle’ the demonstrators behind us.

‘Division got an anonymous call. Telling us the missing package will be delivered at the Robert Peel statue here at ten o’clock. We got here as fast as we could.’

‘Yeah, well, you just might have served her a death sentence.’

She glared right back at me. ‘You got the same message, I take it? Seeing as you’re here.’

‘Something like that.’

She shook her head. ‘When, Dan? When did you get the message?’

I didn’t answer.

‘You already knew, didn’t you? Last night, all the time you were fucking me, you knew! And you didn’t tell me.’

Kirsty slapped me across the face. Hard.

Felt like old times.

‘They said they’d kill her if the police were involved.’ I had to shout to be heard above the noise. ‘What was I supposed to do?’ I said.

‘Maybe you could have trusted me.’

‘The person who called it in – man or woman?’

‘Man.’

‘Accent?’

‘I don’t know, Dan. The woodentop who took the call just wrote it down and stuck it on my desk. Didn’t think it was important.’

‘“Woodentop” was an expression the kidnappers used.’

‘What, you think it was me?’ she snapped sarcastically.

‘Of course not – just thinking out loud.’

‘Seems to me you’ve left it a little late for thinking. We had a chance here. You should have told me.’

‘I would have done if I could.’

‘Doing the right thing isn’t exactly your strong point, is it, Dan?’

‘You didn’t seem to have any complaints last night.’

Kirsty snorted angrily. ‘I wondered how long it would take you to bring that up. You got me drunk on cheap brandy, is all. Doesn’t change anything.’

‘You don’t have to tell me!’

‘And you have got more serious things to worry about.’

‘Yeah, I do know that.’

‘Do you, though?’

‘You got a point to make, Kirsty, how about you spit it out?’

‘Somebody told us where the exchange was going to take place.’ She looked across at Sam and Suzy as they forced their way towards us through the crowds. Brad Dexter was following behind with more of his security team trailing in their wake.

‘Yeah, so what’s your point?’ I had to shout again. Hundreds of the protesters had produced those vuvuzela horns from last year’s World Cup and were blasting away behind the perspex wall that the police had formed.

‘It wasn’t whoever took the girl who phoned us, was it?’

‘No.’

‘So who else knew?’

‘No one.’

‘Just you, Dan. You and your team of superheroes.’ Kirsty did practically spit the last couple of words out. I took in what she was saying but she spelled it out for me anyway.