Dan Abnett - Border Princes

‘Ooooh,’ said Owen. ‘Sorry. Well, because it turned out to be the cylinder block from a Hyundai.’

‘A Hyundai?’

‘Or a Subaru. Definitely a cylinder block, though.’

‘You’re remarkably happy today,’ Jack said to Owen.

‘I am. I really am,’ Owen grinned. ‘I feel great.’

Jack looked at the others. ‘Good. So, summing up, everyone feels great, the sun’s out, the day has nothing for us but false alarms, it’s a wonderful time to be alive, and Owen’s gone all geek on us. Anything else?’

‘Costings,’ said Gwen half an hour later, dumping a stack of files on Jack’s desk. ‘As requested.’

He looked up. ‘Thanks. And the viability reports and evaluations?’

‘Just getting to those.’ She hovered, dawdling.

‘Anything else?’

‘No.’

Jack looked up at her again. ‘You look bored.’

‘That’s very perceptive.’

‘You might as well have been wearing a Chairman of the Bored T-shirt,’ said Jack. ‘Come on, the week we’ve had and you’re complaining about a slow day?’

‘No, just the bloody paperwork. I was thinking…’

Jack pulled an overly dramatic face and gripped the sides of his desk with both hands. ‘OK,’ he said, ‘I’m braced. Go on.’

‘You’re so droll. I was thinking about that thing you showed us.’

‘The trick with the paper clips?’

‘No, that thing… the thing in your pocket.’

‘I’m just as God made me, Gwen.’

‘Oh, stop playing! The tile thing. The flashing thing. The secret you decided to share with us.’

‘What about it?’ Jack asked.

‘Well, it’s obviously bugging you that we don’t know anything about it, not properly. I was wondering if I should go up to that Cosley Hall place and see if I could find anything out.’

‘This wouldn’t have anything to do with paperwork, would it?’ Jack asked.

‘No. Yes. But it’s a cause for concern, isn’t it? You’re worried about it and you want to know what it is.’

‘I do,’ said Jack. He got up and removed the flashing black tile from his coat. ‘But I’ve been up to the Hall on dozens of occasions. Been over the whole place with a fine-tooth comb. I don’t know what you’d find that I didn’t.’

She shrugged. ‘Neither do I unless I look. Fresh pair of eyes and all that?’

‘Torchwood’s been studying this ever since it got hold of it,’ Jack said, staring at the small black tile. ‘Thanks for the offer, but I think there are more useful things you could do today.’

Gwen sighed.

‘Hey!’ Toshiko called from her work station below. ‘This is potentially a live one.’

They quickly gathered around her station.

‘I’ve been noting this for a fortnight now,’ she said, tapping on her keyboard and calling up a spreadsheet. ‘Llandaff/Pontcanna area. Complaints to the police and to the Chamber of Commerce about a bloke going door-to-door selling double glazing and loft insulation.’

‘Oh my God, that’s inhuman!’ said Owen.

‘Listen,’ Toshiko said, ignoring him. ‘Eighteen complaints, and six more came through today. The man is very nice, very polite, very credible. Comes cold calling, lovely chat, cup of tea. Then the homeowner signs up on the spot and forks out money. Cash.’

‘How much cash?’ asked James.

‘As much as he can get. Sometimes he drives the homeowner to a nearby bank or cashpoint to get his payout. No cheques. He’s making a killing.’

Jack shook his head. ‘Look, I know everyone is anxious to find something to do, anything to get them out of here on a sunny day, but that’s just fraud. A consumer protection issue. Goes on all the time.’

‘Except,’ said Toshiko.

‘Except?’

‘The police are unwilling to take action because they can’t even get a partial description of the man. He spends hours at a time in the company of his victims, and afterwards they’re at a loss to say what his hair colour is. Total blank. And he’s not just praying on vulnerable people, pensioners or whatever, but affluent homes, people who should know better than fork over cash without a cooling-off period. People who already have double glazing and loft insulation.’

‘Really?’ said Jack.

‘Really. This guy’s getting money out of people who don’t even want what he’s selling. People who tell the police afterwards they have no idea why they did what they did. No idea at all.’

‘Maybe that is a live one,’ said Jack admitted. ‘Print me out what you’ve got.’

‘I’ll go have a nose around,’ offered Gwen. ‘I’ve only got paperwork.’

‘No, thanks,’ said Jack.

‘Why?’

‘Because you’ve got paperwork. I’ll go check it.’

‘Why?’ asked Gwen.

‘Because I haven’t got paperwork.’

The SUV whispered up Cathedral Road into Pontcanna. The day was crisp and autumnal. Street cleaners were scooping up the carpet of fallen leaves into barrows. They drove past an ice-cream van tinkling along.

‘So, what do you think? Hypnotic suggestion?’ asked James.

‘Got to be something of that order,’ said Jack, at the wheel. ‘A suggestion or perception technique. Maybe a piece of found tech.’

‘Someone using something they shouldn’t, you mean?’ asked James.

‘Usually the way in this town,’ said Jack.

James peered out at the residential streets flickering by. ‘Any suggestions how we look for a man without a description to go on?’

‘Well,’ Jack replied, ‘I’m thinking he’s going to look like exactly what he pretends to be. A salesman. Smart, suit, well-groomed, going door-to-door.’

‘Because?’

‘Because he’s got to look the part to get inside in the first place, to walk down the street even. Whatever he pulls, he pulls it once he’s in. Like close magic. If what he’s using had a more powerful scope or range, there’s a good chance we’d have picked it up already. No, I’m betting he looks exactly like a salesman.’

James nodded. ‘And if anyone, like the police, did stop him in the street, he’d pull his trick on them too, and walk away?’

‘Right. You’ll notice from Tosh’s printout that he’s confident. He’s not afraid of hitting the same street several times, on the same day if he feels like it. He’s not afraid of being approached.’

‘What’s going to prevent him doing that to us?’ asked James.

‘We’re Torchwood,’ said Jack.

‘Right.’

They drove on.

‘Any particular reason you asked me to ride along with you?’ asked James. ‘Gwen was busting for an excuse to get outside.’

‘No reason,’ said Jack. ‘Except… there was something I wanted to ask you.’

‘What?’

‘Everyone seems full of beans today. After yesterday, I was worried, but everyone has bounced back. Except you.’

‘Me?’ James asked. ‘I’m fine.’

‘You don’t seem as fine as everybody else. Any headache? After-effects?’

‘God, no,’ said James. ‘I’m bright as a button. Like Tosh and Owen both said, once the Amok stopped playing with us, everything felt so much better. We hadn’t realised how it had been crippling us. You too, right?’

‘Sure.’

‘My ribs ache a little,’ said James. ‘And I had some weird old dreams last night. But that’s all it is, I think.’

‘Weird dreams? What about?’

‘No idea. Can’t bring them back to mind. But they were just weird dreams, that’s all. Not alien mind-twisting crap.’

‘All right, if that’s all it is.’

‘Yeah. I was telling Gwen about it when we-’

James paused.

‘What?’

‘I was telling Gwen about it, earlier.’

Jack smiled. He pulled the SUV over to the kerbside. ‘You know I know, right?’