
At 19.25 they were sitting in the restaurant, as they entered Dave had asked for a quiet table. They were shown to one away from anyone else. He explained that there may be a third person joining them. Ten minutes later, he saw a short, portly bald-headed man speaking to the head waiter. He was led over to their table, “your guest sir.” Dave stood up and shook the man’s hand, he introduced himself and Sally, “Cyrus Grantly, thank you for inviting me for dinner. I understand you have had a busy day.” “I have something for you which we can discuss after dinner,” he indicated towards a large A4 envelope. “Your file makes very interesting reading, you’re not the regular type of soldier I encounter.” Dave wanted to know who his employer was, “Uncle Sam,” there was a pause before he said in a very low voice that he was CIA. The waiter arrived carrying menus which he handed round. He asked if they wanted drinks before ordering. Cyrus wanted water, Sally had gin and tonic, Dave asked for lager. All through the meal, there was talk about the US and the UK, neither mentioned Roger Peterson or the events of the day. As they drank coffee, they were the only ones left in the restaurant. Dave called over the head waiter, “we won’t be needing anything else, if I sign the bill, may we stay here and talk.” He returned a few minutes later with the bill, Dave signed it and passed over another note, the head waiter thanked him and said they wouldn’t be disturbed. Cyrus looked at Sally and then Dave, “Sally is fine, she is fully aware of the operation and has security clearance. Without her, we wouldn’t be sitting here now.” Dave asked why they were following Roger Peterson. “We know him as Stuart Ogilvy, he’s been dealing with the Chinese, he goes there most months for instructions, but you probably know that already. He has also been to Africa several times.” Dave said he was aware of the visits but it didn’t appear to be relevant to his enquiries. “It doesn’t involve you directly, he has been trying to set up an arms deal with anyone who will buy them. They are Chinese made weapons he is hawking round, anything and everything. He must be doing it with their backing, he couldn’t finance it himself. China loves a conflict, they wait until it is over, then offer the winner untold amounts of money for rebuilding, however it comes with conditions, usually the country has to sign away their mineral rights to China. It’s not as blatant as that, it’s much more subtle but that will usually be the final outcome. We wanted to discover who his contacts were in the UK. We’ve been on it for more than a month with no success, he is either very good or hasn’t contacted anyone.” That’s my side, what about yours.”
“Stuart Ogilvy is not his name, he is Roger Peterson, he left the service at the end of 2018, the following January, he was reported as having been shot dead in Guangzhou, two days later, he sent an email. I only discovered this in the course of another job.” “But your file says you have also left the service and are working for Uber.” “I was recalled to look from the outside in. He was blackmailing a politician, China was his controller. I was told to find him and bring him in for interrogation. I found him, but it didn’t work out too well. He made a lunge for me and I shot him.” On hearing this, Sally turned to Dave, there wasn’t any sign of emotion on his face. Hopefully, that solves your case and mine.” “There’s a heck of a lot you aren’t telling me, but perhaps I don’t need to know. What about the envelope that’s sitting at the side of you.” Dave handed it over. “These might score you a few points.” Cyrus pulled out the pictures and looked at them, “Gee, this will cause some trouble back home, can I keep these?” “Yes, I can soon print more copies.” “Why do these people do it, not the sex, we all like what we like, why do they put themselves in compromising situations?” It was now after midnight, “guys, thank you for the dinner, I hope we might be able to help each other in the future, I’m here for another few months before flying back, if I can help you with anything, please contact me.” He passed Dave a business card, shook his hand and kissed Sally. “Thank you once again and goodnight.”
“Was he who he said he was?” “Yes, I have heard the name before, I will check him out tomorrow. Shall we stay here talking or do you want to try out that double bath?”
Sally stood up and pretended to pull Dave along. Later as she lay against him in the bath, she asked how he felt having shot someone dead less than twenty-four hours earlier. “No different, I did my job, he deserved to die, he killed someone I liked. You will understand tomorrow.”
The phone rang at 07.00 with their wake-up call. Dave boiled the kettle and made coffee for them both. “We will have a meeting today with the Brigadier, I will have to report everything from yesterday. I want you there with me.” As they ate breakfast, Dave checked the time, at 08.00 he excused himself, “I have to call the Brigadier,” on his return, he said they had to be in Whitehall at 11.30. “We will have a couple of hours, I’m sure we will find something to do.” Dave stopped at reception to ask for a large envelope and a roll of Sellotape. “Are you going to Sellotape me to the bed?” “You’ve spent too much time thinking about these photographs.” Sally hung the ‘Do not Disturb’ sign on the outside of the door. She tried to pull Dave towards the bed, “not now, I want to have everything ready for when we go.” He put the photographs and memory sticks in the envelope, he stuck down the flap and signed his name across it, turning it round he did the same across the smaller flap at the other end. The Sellotape was used to cover his signatures and secure the envelope. Next Dave put the money and the weapons in his backpack, He asked Sally for the envelope she had brought, that went in as well, only then, did he lay down on the bed. Sally wanted to be loved, Dave had been unemotional last night, although they spent time in the bath together, his thoughts had been somewhere else. This morning, he concentrated on Sally. “We need to get up and be going,” “Ten more minutes,” “no, we have to go now.” She slipped out of the bed and went for a shower, Dave joined her shortly afterwards. Down in reception he handed the envelope to one of the girls. He asked for it to be put in the safe until tomorrow, he was given a receipt which he put in his wallet. The smart business suit and tatty backpack didn’t go well together. Sally looked stunning and he told her. The doorman asked if they needed a taxi, “Where to sir?” “Whitehall, MOD.” A taxi pulled up, the doorman said where the driver was to go, then opened the door for Sally.
“I’m nervous, I haven’t been there for years,” “It will be OK, just stick close to me. There will be a little bit of trouble as we go in because of what is in the backpack.” Dave wasn’t wrong, he went directly to the reception desk, he produced his ID card, Sally did the same. “We are here to see Brigadier Storey, we have an appointment at 11.30, he should have advised you that I will need to be escorted.” He scanned a list on his screen and pressed a button under his desk. Within seconds two armed uniform soldiers were standing beside Dave and Sally. “Come this way, they were led through a door into what could be mistaken for a cell, there was no handle on the inside, two chairs were bolted to the floor, a counter, with bullet proof glass separated them from the other side of the room. The door closed, they were on their own, Dave was still holding the backpack. An officer entered the other side of the room, “Good morning Sargeant Stretton, good morning Miss Fellowes, sorry you have been brought in here, but I understand you may be armed.” “Not armed sir, I have weapons recovered from an investigation yesterday.” “Are they live?” “Yes sir, they are as I recovered them.” “Please put them one at a time into the space in the counter.” Dave did as requested with the two hand guns, a metal plate was slid across denying him access while the Lieutenant took each one and examined it. He did the same with the smaller one, it was still in the cigarette packet. “Careful with that one I’ve not taken it out the packet, I don’t know if it is booby trapped.” All three were put into a steel box, “these will be made safe and brought up to the Brigadier. The door behind you will open and you will have to pass through a metal detector arch before you can proceed.” The lock was released by the Lieutenant, the two same guards were waiting for them. “This way please, Sally went through the arch first with no problem, Dave lit it up like a Christmas tree. He was searched by one guard while the other held a Glock pointing directly at his chest. It was the change in his pocket which set it off, once it was removed, he tried again, this time with no lights. His money was returned to him and they were allowed to go on their way. Outside the Brigadiers office, Dave asked Sally if she was ready, she nodded, he squeezed her hand and pressed the buzzer. He heard the lock click and they entered. “The Brigadier is waiting for you, please go straight in.” Dave knocked and opened the door. “Good morning sir, sorry if we are a few minutes late, we were held upon the ground floor. This is Sally Fellowes, my assistant.” “Sit down,” he picked up a phone and asked for coffee and biscuits for three. “Well lad, how did it go?” “Very successful sir. I will give you all the details shortly. Before we start, I have a problem to resolve, it’s nothing to do with you, but I’m sure you will be able to move things forward. Sally has not had any contact regarding payment, would you be able to help?” The Brigadier wrote notes on a pad, he handed it to the secretary who brought in the coffee. “Can we get down to business now?” “Roger Peterson was tracked down to a flat in Wandsworth, I had someone search for him starting early on Friday morning, he was found later that day, I had a good idea where he would be, so it wasn’t that difficult. He was watched all day Saturday, in the evening I carried out a recce of the location. On Sunday morning, as soon as he left, I entered the flat and looked round, I found some money and a gun. I was alerted of his imminent return, I sat waiting for him, ready for any eventuality. I have a recording of our conversation, I would like to play it back to you. It explains most things.” Dave took out his phone, placed it on the desk in front of him, he found the recording and pressed play. The three listened intently, Sally had never heard anything like it. She thought Dave sounded so calm, like he was chatting to a friend. That was until the part where he described killing Freddie, she wanted to be sick, her face went white. They listened to the end of the recording in silence. “What happened next?” “Sir, as I was reaching towards the phone to stop the recording, he tried to jump me, I had no choice, I shot him twice.” “Where is he now?” “Still sitting in the chair, he only got a couple of inches off the seat. He won’t be sending any emails after this shooting.” Dave picked up the phone and found the images he took afterwards, he showed them to the Brigadier but kept the phone away from Sally. “Shit, can my secretary have your phone to copy the voice recording and those images.” “Sorry, but no sir, I can email them to you, I don’t want to give my phone to anyone.” “OK, do that, did you search the flat?” “Yes sir, the person who had been doing the watching helped me, we found a load of money, I would like a receipt for it, I have no idea how much is here.” He stacked the money on the desk, there was a pile of the bundles when he had finished. “I took the liberty of retaining a small amount to cover my expenses. There were also two handguns and another in a cigarette packet, which was why we had an issue downstairs. We found a few photographs and a memory stick which I will check before handing them over. In a drawer were a load of passports. We only did a quick search, the flat would benefit from a thorough going over by a professional team. The body will begin to smell in a few days, so it might be worth getting rid of it. The place appears as if it has been gone over by amateurs. We left no prints anywhere.” “Was there a computer or laptop?” “We don’t have one here this morning.” “Will you give it to me when you have finished with it?”
The coffee was cold, the Brigadier phoned for a secretary. “Count this money and issue a receipt, Sargeant Stretton has sent me an email with audio and a couple of images. I want a copy of the audio typed up now, print out the images, make sure they are marked ‘Top Secret.’ David, you have done a good job, thank you.” “Sir, I couldn’t have done it without the assistance of Miss Fellowes, she helped me co-ordinate the information. Sir, by using Miss Fellowes, it has placed me in a difficult position, her security clearance is not rated for the information she has been handling, can that be resolved?” Another note was written on the pad in front of the Brigadier.
“David, where do we go from here?” “We can close the Roger Peterson file finally now, that is done with. I don’t know if the accusations against the Major and Christopher Jenner are true or were said to divert us. I suspect they may be true, but that is just a gut feeling. Someone will have to investigate, dig deeply into their backgrounds and see what they can find. Sir, I worked with Jenner on several assignments, I saw him as a friend, I am not the person to do it. My personal opinion would be to bring in an outside organisation to investigate, check out the whole department, including me. Freddie created ID’s for anyone who would pay, he made the three for Roger Peterson.”
The final issue is the Home Secretary, Roger Peterson used him to find out if anyone suspected he was still alive, I am sure he concocted the bomb plot story and had the Home Secretary spin it to the Major, saying it was connected to someone in S417. The Major brought me in thinking that after eight months out of it, I wouldn’t have the enthusiasm. As soon as it was realised I was making progress, I was dropped like a hot potato. If I were you sir, I would pass the images over to MI5 saying that they were discovered during an operation and nothing to do with the MOD. It passes the buck onto them, they have to make the decision as to whether they tell the Prime Minister, you don’t know how much information they have on the Home Secretary already.” I have brought copies of the images you saw last week.
He picked up the phone again, “find the MI5 officer that is embedded here, tell him he is urgently required in my office and bring us more coffee. Sally hadn’t been involved in the conversation, she was amazed how professional Dave was, his powers to think ahead and come up with solutions stunned her. She thought he was good, but not as good as she had seen him that morning. He spoke to the Brigadier as if they were equals. The coffee arrived, “have you found him yet,” he’s having lunch sir.” Ring whichever mess he is in and tell him if he is not here in five minutes, I will send two guards for him.” Five minutes later, the door opened and a man with a very annoyed expression entered, he was about the same age as Dave, but had spent too long sitting behind a desk “you wanted to see me?” “Pull a chair up and sit down, what is your name?” “Gareth Jones.” “I assume you have ‘Top Secret’ clearance,” he nodded, “we have come across some images during an investigation into a separate matter, we think they may be of interest to you.” He passed over the envelope Dave had taken from his backpack. He gasped as he examined each one, “where did you get these, who knows about them, who are these people?” He was now looking at Dave and Sally, “They are researchers from another base. The images were discovered in a search of a house and passed over to them. They have been seen by very few people, mostly senior officials within the MOD.” “I have to take these directly to our office, I must go now.” Pointedly the Brigadier spoke to the MI5 agent, “take them, we can soon print more copies.” Gareth Jones realised there would be no hushing this up.
“I now have reports to write, meetings to speak at and generally a lot of hassle coming up over the next few days, however I do appreciate the work you have done, thank you to both of you. What are you going to do now?” “On Wednesday, I will start working through the images we have and see what other information I can find, by the end of the week, it should all be done.”
“Sir, I would like you to contact the police and say Freddie Small is missing, I think he deserves better. He loathed me, but I liked him.” More notes were made. “I enjoy not being here, but if you need me, I might be available.” They all shook hands, in the outer office Dave was handed a receipt for the money, £64k. “Do you want to see if anyone you knew is still here?” “No, I feel the same way about the place as you do.” Outside the building Dave stood still and sighed, people had to walk round him. He sucked in mouthfuls of the air, Sally could see his chest heaving. “Are you all right?” “Yes, I have an image of Freddie stuck in my head, I could easily have overpowered Roger Peterson and I did intend to bring him in, a threat to Freddie would have shut him up, he didn’t need to kill him, certainly not the way he did. That’s why I shot him.
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