Chapter 6

The third week of work was a repeat of the second, long days of hard work, not manually tiring but tedious days of checking invoices and paperwork. Grey was arrested by the Military Police on the Wednesday morning and the resultant search of his quarters led to things unravelling quickly. Brodie decided that they should return on the Friday morning flight to Britain and talk to Lester. The Ministry head office would have to make the decision of what to tell the UN and when. Brodie also warned Andrew that it was likely that they would be back the following week and have to work hard to catch up. Hmmm.

Other than his two week holiday with Suzanne Andrew had never had as much sex in a two week period in his entire life. It was slutty, hedonistic and he needed to get it out of his system. What Andrew did think about on his morning runs and swims was the size of his partners. All nine of them were bigger women, varying from athletic through strong to soft and fleshy. And other than Rike every one of them had enjoyed an energetic physical fuck. There was starting to be a pattern, although as usual it took Andrew a while to understand it.

But the evening with Aditi was like a punctuation mark on that phase. Andrew had a two week holiday at the Nissi Beach Resort, fucked nine women and then flew home. Except he didn’t fly home. But the third week he was more himself again. The longer work days and avoiding the bar meant that he had a quiet week. It was only on the Thursday morning that the decision was made to fly back so that evening was getting packed up, reserving the room for the following week, just admin crap. They were up early to get to RAF Akrotiri and for once the Flyboys were decent human beings. The flight left on time and there was no attitude. Lester himself met them at Brize Norton and threw Andrew the keys, he was driving. Lester let Brodie go through everything up to where they were currently.

“So we have a fraud of £300,000 which has been perpetrated against all seven UN detachments. So everyone has been overcharged £45,000, roughly. We have Grey in custody and enough evidence to successfully prosecute although goodness only knows how long he will get in the Glasshouse. I don’t think we have had a court martial like this for a long time, if ever. We also have his partner in crime as well. But that is a Cypriot criminal matter. Publicity and who knows how balanced the scales of justice are?”

“That sums it up. Grey hasn’t blown much money so we can recover most of it.”

“So we are going to need to brief the Adjutant General’s office to get someone out there to work through recovering the money from this safety deposit box? We should talk to them, maybe we offer Grey a deal if he hands back the cash. A good word at the court martial?”

They went down into the weeds for a while dealing with liaising with the Adjutant General, the military lawyers.

“So we can get Grey back here, recover his half of the money. What about the Cyprus end? Do you think we can get the other half back from the trucking company owner without involving the Cypriots?”

“I mean we can barge into his office, show him the evidence, put the frighteners on him but if he calls our bluff the only way to deal with him is the Cypriots.”

“Okay, I get that. But if we got the money back then we brief Worthy Down, they send someone reliable and they clean it up. Nothing more than a clerical error. We make the thieving bastard the hero, how he came forward, conveniently glossing over the last 18 months and everyone is whole. Nobody knows, and given that they have all signed off on this sloppy shit, no one will care. Head Office are happy, we are not a laughing stock at the UN, Stavros or whoever he is called is happy because he is not in prison and Grey gets three years rather than ten for cooperating and the return of the cash.”

“The problem is the owner of the trucking company. It all hinges on him. Let’s talk when we get back to the office.”

In the mirror, Andrew saw Brodie nod towards him. The rest of the journey passed without much chat, well Brodie got a bit of a razzing for staying at the resort but Lester sounded more jealous than anything. Andrew, he was ignored. When he got back into the MIU there was a familiar face standing talking to Susan.

“Taff, how are you?”

“Jock? You been back this summer?”

“Yes, this is the end of the.” Andrew paused and counted them up. “Eighth week. How is Greenham Common?”

“Fuck me, don’t get me started. It is hotter than the surface of the sun when you are all kitted out in the protective gear. But I am off that for a month. I have to go to.” He looked at Susan. “Where?”

“HMS Vulcan. Dounreay.”

“So I am off to the top of bloody Scotland, no offence, and at the end of it I will glow in the dark like half the other blokes here.”

Vulcan was where the nuclear reactors for the Navy’s submarines were tested. It was a big research base, a long way from anywhere.

“McLeod!”

“Good to see you Taff but I have to go.”

Lester beckoned Andrew in when he knocked on the door frame.

“Close the door and sit down.”

Oh, oh.

“I don’t think you are going to be back before the end of your employment. The same flight in two weeks’ time, back here, sort out expenses, return your security badge and then be finished.”

Lester shook his head.

“We thought we needed you as our computer expert and then go and stick you in Cyprus for half the summer. The Chief Inspector has been impressed. So too have the SIB pair. Chambers was not keen on you being there at the start but you have won them over. There is no formal evaluation on this program, at least not that I have seen or heard of. It is more pass or fail with us. If we ask you back you have passed and if we don’t want you again then you have failed. We will be asking you back again next summer.”

Lester looked at Andrew expectantly as if he should say something.

“Thank you.”

“I was hoping for a bit more. Will you come back?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I will have to think about it.”

Lester looked surprised.

“Why?”

“I am not sure that I am getting anything out of it. I felt I made more of a contribution last summer than I did this time. My degree is in engineering and I wonder whether I should be doing something related to that in the summer.”

Lester looked at him carefully.

“We are expecting you to decipher compliments without realising what they mean. We have guys who have been out guarding the estate for years who then qualify to be assigned here, and some of them, when they start, don’t do as well as you. You have good instincts and would make a good policeman. But I also understand that you are an engineering student. I am telling you that you have choices.”

Andrew was underwhelmed by Lester’s comments. He might think Andrew would make a good policeman but Andrew was much less sure. He packed up, checked in with Brodie to confirm the trip back out to Brize early on Monday and headed home. It was good to be back in the flat. There was nothing in the fridge to suggest a dinner party so he defrosted some chicken in the microwave and made a simple chicken pasta dinner for the three of them. If Jim and Freya had plans or stayed out for dinner it wouldn’t go to waste. But they were home at their usual time and quickly changed to join him at the kitchen table.

“We really need to see about getting a housekeeper. I could get used to coming home to a piping hot, tasty dinner, a glass of wine poured and waiting.”

This was Freya not Jim, not that he looked like he was disagreeing.

“We decided to come back a week early for meetings but the downside is I am away for two more. I am off first thing on Monday back to Cyprus.”

Freya had a thousand questions but couldn’t ask any of them.

“The Chief Inspector briefed Superintendent Lester.”

She knew that problems flowed uphill and that the Chief Constable would be making an appointment. She nodded and they moved on.

“Navya called last weekend and Manon called and wants you to call her as soon as possible. She didn’t think it would be until next weekend so she should be pleased. Other than the results envelope from Cambridge there is a pile of mail waiting for you. Congratulations on the First for the year, are you disappointed that you were pipped for first place overall?”

“It would have been nice to get but there are 250 of us. Close to that anyway. I tied for first last year and am second this year. What is one mark in 800 or whatever the difference is? There is nothing that I can do about it. Assuming it is the German over at Emmanuel, he is a decent bloke, a bit dull and Germanic but he probably thinks the same thing about me. So no I can bear the disappointment. Let’s face it he is holding a theodolite beside an autobahn somewhere in the Harz Mountains. I got to spend it at the beach in Cyprus.”

Over dinner Andrew talked through the previous Sunday and his conversations with Aditi. He wanted their thoughts on his instinctive decision not to trust her.

“Have you ever had to deal with the press before?”

Andrew stopped himself from the immediate answer of no. It wasn’t quite true.

“I have not dealt with them but a reporter from Agence France-Press called when the commercials were first shown. Morag said he was very persistent. But I did not talk to him. Other than that I do not think so.”

“Nothing has come out about the Trusts? I must admit I am surprised. There were too many people in the room for that to stay a secret.”

“I talked to Suzanne and her mother a year ago when she agreed to move into the flat. Just to give them a heads up that the press may get wind of it. But there has been nothing to my knowledge.”

“Interesting. Getting back to this young lady she made a mistake, and I don’t know if it was deliberate or accidental in that your answers started to fit into this story of hers but asking you if it is alright to quote you after you think you are talking to a tourist. It just isn’t done.”

“You know how I can be. I don’t think I did a great job of hiding my disquiet. And the thing was it cost her the chance of the most amazing story.”

Andrew told them about Ara and her grandparents, without any names.

“So she had heard about this Indian Princess who married a British Officer but could get no details, no corroboration. And you have gone out with their granddaughter. There are, what, 700 million Indians, more, that is absurd.”

“Ara told me the story herself. I have never met him and sadly her grandmother died from cancer at a very young age. But if I had trusted this woman I would have taken her details and passed them on. Whether he would have spoken or not, I don’t know. But she lost the chance to find out.”

Jim and Freya exchanged a glance.

“You have a ruthless streak in you Andrew. It is well hidden, probably as well hidden as that temper of yours, but it is there.”

Sherard’s convulsing body sprang into sharp relief.

“I can’t tell if you are quietly proud or slightly disappointed.”

“It is more an acknowledgement of who you are. It is interesting that a woman, who in every other way was a temptation to you, was politely cast aside. Even if you were wrong about her, there is no harm. The next time you trust your instincts like that we should talk about it.”

Before it got too late Andrew went and called Manon. There was not even a bonsoir.

“How are you in Cyprus and we didn’t know about it. We could do a shoot there.”

Someone was wound up.

“Hey, bonsoir, how are you?”

He could hear the exhalation of frustration.

“A bit mad that this great opportunity is being missed.”

“It isn’t as easy as that Manon. I have worked two of the four weekend days I was there. I am back in London this weekend, again unscheduled. Suppose we had arranged a shoot for this weekend but I am called back to London? I head back there on Monday and I will be there the following weekend. Am I working? I don’t know and I might not know until the end of the day on Friday. I know it is a chance to do some shoots in a great location but the place is packed and I am not in charge of my own schedule. It would be a big risk and possibly a big waste of money.”

There was a more considered silence.

“Bah, I hate it when you are right. And there is no way that you can say you are unable to work at the weekend?”

“I know I am being mysterious but if they tell me I have to work then I have no choice.”

“Where are you staying?”

“At the Nissi Beach Resort, outside Ayia Napa.”

“Is there a phone in the room?”

“No. A bank of phones in the lobby. You would have to leave a message with reception.”

“Okay. For the shoot in three weeks, do you have any preference with who you work with?”

“Heloise is scheduled?”

“Of course. One full day and half of the next.”

“You have seen all the shoots, seen the chemistry, how it takes a while to build up, for the shoot to come alive, yes?”

“I understand, yes I have.”

“I would like to work with Renee Clement again. It took a while but the chemistry was there, especially at the end.”

Manon snorted in a very unladylike manner. Andrew presumed that meant agreement.

“Thank you. So pick some models that you think would work with me. Interesting people, smart people. I saw lots of Africans when I was in Paris, both North Africans as well as from further south on the continent. Would Hermès want some black and white imagery?”

The silence was even longer this time.