Page 63 of Traitors Gate

‘No. I can just about tolerate seeing you two from time to time,’ he said, trying to lighten the mood.

William would have laughed but he hadn’t come to the end of his inventory. ‘You’ll also need to have a bag packed and ready with all the essentials they allow in prison.’

‘An overnight bag,’ said Ross quietly. ‘But I fear not for overnight.’

‘And who should tell Jojo if the worst comes to the worst?’

‘Beth would be the obvious person to let her know,’ said Ross without hesitation.

‘And what do you want Beth to tell her?’

‘I’ve been sent abroad on an important assignment and I’ll be away for some time.’

‘That won’t wash, Ross, and you know it. Someone in her class, and not necessarily a friend, will find pleasure in telling her the truth, and that shouldn’t be the way she finds out.’

‘You’re right of course, so Ms Clarke will also need to be briefed, although I’m sure she’ll allow Jojo to stay at home while the trial is in progress.’ Ross emptied his glass in one gulp, sank back and covered his eyes. ‘I sometimes forget how lucky Jojo and I are to be part of your family,’ he whispered.

‘Let’s hope we’re just taking all the necessary precautions for an accident that isn’t going to happen.’

‘That just about sums me up,’ said Ross.

CHAPTER 19

IT WAS THAT TIME OFyear when one can’t decide if it’s the end of winter or the beginning of spring. The six conspirators boarded Miles’s yacht at different piers on the Thames, and they all ended up sitting around the same dining table on the lower deck, not that any of them had been invited to lunch.

Booth Watson was the last to join them and, once he’d taken his seat at the boardroom table, Miles assumed the role of chairman. Lamont, as his second-in-command, sat on his right, with Booth Watson on his left. Phil Harris, Collins and The Understudy occupied the three remaining places.

There was no agenda as they couldn’t afford to put anything down on paper. All the details would remain minuted in their minds.

‘On your left, you can see the Tower of London, built by William the Conqueror in 1075 …’ could be heard coming from the loudspeaker of a passing tourist boat. A more up-to-date commentary about the future history of the Tower wastaking place around a large circular table on the lower deck of Miles Faulkner’s private yacht.

‘As we are coming to the end of a five-year parliament, a general election is likely to be called in the near future,’ said Miles, opening the meeting, ‘and therefore it shouldn’t prove too difficult to predict the day of the Queen’s Speech, which is always on a Wednesday, two weeks after a new government has been formed. That means we’ve only got a couple of months at most to make sure everything is in place. With that in mind, I’ll ask Bruce to bring us up to date.’

Lamont unrolled a large map of London and spread it out across the centre of the table, using four ashtrays to hold down the edges. Six alternative routes from Scotland Yard had been marked with different-coloured felt-tip pens, all ending up at Traitor’s Gate.

‘We won’t know which route the official party will be taking until the last minute,’ said Lamont. ‘So, every member of the team has to be ready to move at a moment’s notice.’

‘Our primary objective must be to hold up the Lord Chamberlain’s car for long enough to ensure you can take his place,’ said Miles, ‘and equally important, you must have left the Tower with the Crown Jewels before he turns up.’

‘To that end, I’ll have three “not for hire” taxis stationed here, here, and here,’ said Lamont, placing three sugar lumps at different road junctions on the map. ‘Once we know which route Warwick has chosen, our taxis will drive their non-paying passengers to the chosen locations and drop them off. However, it’s imperative we remain the only people aware of what we are really up to, and it’s kept to this inner circle.’

‘Imperative,’ repeated Miles, looking around the table. ‘Any loose talk and I won’t hesitate to call off the whole operation.Let’s start from the moment Warwick leaves Scotland Yard in the back-up Land Rover and heads for Buckingham Palace. I want to be sure we always remain one step ahead of him. Bruce?’

‘There will be an ex-copper secreted inside St James’s Park tube station opposite Scotland Yard,’ said Lamont, placing a salt cellar on the map, ‘and the moment Warwick appears he will make a note of the number plate on his Land Rover. Our man will then pass that information on to a local garage in the East End who can make up false plates in a matter of minutes. They should be attached to our Land Rover before Warwick leaves Buckingham Palace about forty minutes later, when he’ll be accompanying the real Lord Chamberlain.’

‘Thanks to Phil Harris,’ said Miles, ‘we know the number plates of the Lord Chamberlain’s Jaguar, and those duplicates have already been made up and will be attached to our identical Jaguar the night before.’

‘By the time the two official cars leave Buckingham Palace,’ continued Lamont, ‘we will be waiting in the underground car park of the Tower Hotel, just a couple of minutes from the rear entrance to the Tower, ready to move.’

‘At some point during the journey,’ chipped in Harris, ‘Warwick always calls the Tower to let them know he’s on his way. After that, he maintains radio silence until his arrival at the East Gate.’

‘Unless he spots something that doesn’t ring true,’ said Lamont. ‘In which case he will abort the whole operation.’

‘And we won’t be given a second chance,’ said Miles. ‘So make sure it’s not one of you who’s responsible for any cock-up,’ he added with a cutting edge to his voice.

‘But if everyone else plays their role on the day,’ said Lamont, ‘we should have around ten to twelve extra minutesbefore the real party arrives. But think of it as seven hundred and twenty seconds.’

‘We do have a couple of things going for us,’ Miles reminded them. ‘A driver who will be immediately recognized by the guards manning the East Gate, and more importantly a Chief Yeoman who has known Phil for several years. Add to that the fact we have a new Resident Governor of the Tower who Phil has confirmed will be meeting the Lord Chamberlain for the first time.’

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