The Secret

‘Not quite,’ said Steven. ‘I’m not sure where Bill Andrews and the CIA fit into all of this unless Andrews has gone rogue too and the pair of them are planning on selling to the highest bidder.’

‘There would probably be a considerable demand,’ conceded Macmillan. ‘And I take it you still believe Andrews was working with Khan over the murder of your friend?’

‘Everything points to it. He lied when he pretended not to know Khan when they knew each other very well from way back. Then he told me Khan had gone back to Afghanistan when, in fact, he was on his way to Paris.’

‘A couple of bad apples,’ said Macmillan.

‘And they’re both in London,’ said Steven.

‘Where is the memory card?’

‘In my desk drawer.’

‘Here or at home?’

‘Here,’ said Steven with a slight smile at Macmillan’s obvious priority.

‘We’d better ensure its security if you’re agreeable?’

‘Agreed,’ said Steven.

‘Good,’ said Macmillan, exchanging a glance that acknowledged both of them were ensuring that the location of the card would remain secret even if either or both of them were to be taken and subjected to coercion. If they didn’t know, they couldn’t tell. It was a bonding moment that few would experience. ‘I’ll ask Jean to put it in the system.’

As if on cue, Jean Roberts knocked and entered. ‘Sir John, the computer people you requested are here.’ She turned to Steven. ‘Steven, the new mobile phone you asked for is on my desk.’

Steven thanked her. He was destroying that particular link between himself and Khan, especially any chance of GPS tracking it might be possible to instigate on the old phone. He got up to go through to his own office.

Macmillan said, ‘I’ll brief our consultants in broad terms, remind them they’ve signed the Official Secrets act etc. and then pass them over to you. Let’s hope Charlie phones soon with details of where the stuff is and we can get started.’

‘I’ll go get that card.’

Macmillan had barely finished briefing the two computer experts retained on Sci-Med’s consultancy list and handed them over to Jean to take through to the guest room for coffee when the phone call from Charlie Malloy came.

‘John, I’ve really gone out on a limb over this,’ said Malloy.

‘I know Charlie and I really appreciate it.’

‘I’m doing the usual police thing of resenting any outside interference in what we see as a straightforward case of murder... even when the “outside interference” is coming from HMG’s spooks, if you get my meaning.’

‘I can imagine, Charlie.’

‘There’s a limit to how long I can play the bloody-minded copper before they flush me and my pension down the toilet. I don’t really have a good reason for removing all that computer stuff.’

‘We’ll be as quick as we can, Charlie. Our computer people are waiting here and Steven is briefing them as we speak.’

‘Good, the gear is in a police warehouse at thirty-four Crompton Street Lane: the entry key is eight-seven-four-one.’

‘Got that. We’ll be as quick as we can and Charlie?’ Macmillan had a sudden thought.

‘Yes?’

Did you get Steven’s request about ballistics on the bullets?’

‘Yes, it’s being dealt with.’

‘It occurs to me that if you were the one to forward the info and request to Inspector Le Grice in Paris and get confirmation, you would have your valid reason for removing computer equipment... you suspected an international element to the crime?’

‘Christ, John, you’re not as dumb as I thought.’

‘Good to know, Charlie,’ said Macmillan urbanely. ‘I’ll let Steven know what’s happening.’

Steven had almost finished his briefing when Macmillan came in with the news that everything was ready. He waited until Steven had finished.

‘To conclude, we have very limited time on site. Anything that can be copied should be copied and brought back here for analysis. We are looking for any kind of correspondence — incoming or outgoing — from Professor Thomas North and Dr Daniel Hausman with special emphasis on anything emanating from Fort Detrick in the USA and Porton Down in England. We suspect the primary versions of these messages will have been wiped but back-ups on the servers might still be there. Any questions?

The two consultants, one a woman in her thirties and the other a male around the same age, both academics, one with expertise in distance learning techniques and the other in communications security, shook their heads.

‘Good,’ said Macmillan. He turned to Steven and said, ‘I’ve arranged with Lukas Neubauer to meet you there. He’ll remain with these good people and deal with any requests they might make for services and equipment.

‘Good,’ said Steven. ‘Let’s go.’

Twenty five