Chapter 56

South London

‘Quick as you can, Stuart.’ Toni glanced behind her. The street was deserted. There was no response as he continued to jiggle the front door lock.

Breaking in to people’s houses was always easier in the summer months, she mused. With all the windows now closed due to the cold weather, it would only be Stuart’s skills with the lock tools that decided whether they gained entry that night.

All at once, the door gave way. ‘We’re in,’ he whispered.

Stuart stepped forward carefully, scanning the hallway of the terraced Victorian house for any indication of occupation or an alarm system. There was none. He pulled a set of night vision goggles from a bag that hung across his shoulder, flicked a switch near his temple and gave the ‘OK’ sign. He was ready. Toni had stressed that, until the house was cleared, they would not speak.

They checked downstairs first. Stuart took the lead, listening and then moving. No lights, nothing touched. No clues to be left that they had been there.

Next came the stairs. Two bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor left to check. Toni could see Stuart treading carefully, making sure to apply his weight to the edges of the stairs rather than the centre. Use the strong points, avoid the creaks that wooden treads under stress would make and reveal your presence. On each step he applied pressure to test it and, only once satisfied it was safe, did he move forward. Carefully, and without rushing, they reached the landing. All the doors were slightly ajar. There was no sound, no movement – no indication of life.

The nearest door looked to be the bathroom. Stuart pushed it open very, very slowly. Just as with the front door, the hinges stayed silent. Toni watched as he leaned around into the room, paused for a moment and then stepped back. As he’d done with the previous parts of the house, he gave a thumbs-up with his right hand to indicate the all-clear.

Toni had figured that, if Miles was at home, he would be using the front bedroom to sleep in. It looked to be the largest and, as she’d suggested to Stuart before leaving the car, what kind of a person buys a house only to sleep in one of the smaller rooms? They’d agreed, therefore, to check the master bedroom last.

The final door creaked very quietly as it opened and, for a moment, Toni wondered if it might be sufficient to wake someone. They needn’t have worried. As they crept into the large but unusually tidy bedroom, it was clear Miles wasn’t at home. The house was deserted.

Twenty minutes later, electronic sweep and a cursory search complete, they returned to Stuart’s car. Only once the doors were closed did Toni speak.

‘He’s left the hot water system on but, apart from that, I’d say he hasn’t been here for several days at least.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘The waste bins. They were clean and had fresh bags in them. If someone from the Service had been here they might have emptied the bins but we never put fresh empty bags in place afterwards. No, I think it’s more likely Miles is in hiding somewhere. He’s left things nice and neat with nothing that would rot or make the place smell ready for when he makes a reappearance.’

‘You don’t think he’s been taken out like everyone else who knows about this document?’

Toni paused for a moment, and then shrugged. ‘I’m sorry you had to hear that.’

‘No need to apologise. I was starting to piece things together anyway. In a small office like ours, it’s hard to keep secrets for long.’

‘Yes, I’m aware of that. But I did tell Nell to be discreet.’

‘No worries. What’s done is done. And now that I do know there’s really no undoing it.’

‘Mark my words though, Stuart. Do not talk to anyone apart from me about it. If Miles turns up in the Thames having suffered the same fate as everyone else involved with Al Anfal then…’

‘It’s a reminder of what happens to those that talk?’

‘Exactly,’ said Toni.

‘So what did you think of Nell’s theory?’

‘About Miles?’

‘About the document – that it’s the full version of the Muslim Brotherhood “Project” document?’

‘I think she could be right. She’s working on it now, even as we speak. Shall we call her to see if there’s any news?’

Stuart agreed. Even though it was gone midnight, they both knew Nell would still be at her desk. Given sufficient incentive and enough caffeine to keep her going, she would work through the night if needs be. They were right, and she had news.

‘I hope you don’t mind,’ Nell said, apologetically.

Toni was livid, and handed the phone to Stuart to give herself a few minutes to think. Frustrated by what she had seen as inconsistencies in Dr Armstrong’s translations, Nell had contacted one of her friends through their dark-web connection to see if she could give her a second opinion.

‘Tell me what you learned, Nell,’ said Stuart. He turned on the speaker to the phone so they could both hear the response.

‘About the listening device or the document?’

‘Let’s start with the bug.’

Nell spoke quickly. ‘OK. I didn’t get too far with it other than to confirm there is a receiver and that it seems to be linked to a personal computer. Maybe a laptop or something similar. But it’s switched off at the moment so I can’t trace it.’

‘Will you able to if the user switches it on?’

‘Definitely. I’ve set up an activation warning in case that happens but … well, let’s just say that if the user never turns it on again, we’ll never know who it was.’

‘We’re pretty sure we know who it was, Nell. We just need to know what he has. What about the document?’

‘Slightly better. It was the reference to the word “currency” that didn’t seem to make sense. In several places the word is used in regard to banking arrangements and I was cool with that. But, in other places where Armstrong translated sections as “currency exchanges” it was more confused. I thought the translation may be close but not quite right and that’s what Melissa confirmed.’

‘So, who is this Melissa?’ Stuart asked.

‘A friend of mine from uni. Is Toni cross?’ Nell sounded confused. ‘Is that why she passed the phone to you? Tell her don’t worry, Melissa has no idea what I do and she thinks it was for a thesis I’m writing.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Yes, I am sure.’ Nell said angrily, at what Toni sensed was a reaction to having her judgement questioned.

‘OK, OK,’ said Stuart. ‘Let’s keep cool. What exactly did she say?’

‘The word was meant to be “trade”, as in an exchange of goods rather than currency or money, as Armstrong thought.’

‘Did it make a difference?’

‘Yes, very much so. The goods they were talking about are people – people who they send on trade routes that they’ve established between countries.’

‘People? … You mean terrorists they send to do jobs?’

‘Sometimes, yes; they seem to use the routes they describe for that purpose, but the main reason they use the routes is to generate currency in exchange for those people.’

Toni snatched the phone from Stuart’s fist. ‘Get to the point, Nell,’ she said, impatiently. ‘We haven’t got all night’.

Nell didn’t bite. ‘OK. Well, I’m sure I’ll be able to tell you more in the morning but what I can tell you now is that one of Al Anfal’s principal cash-generators is people. They trade in slaves.’