Page 45 of An Eye for an Eye

‘I’d settle for that,’ said William, as they drove out of Middle Temple and made their way back to Scotland Yard.

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Detective Inspector Hogan and Detective Sergeant Pankhurst were met on the top step of the Fitzmolean by Alan Roberts, the head of security. He checked their warrant cards carefully.

‘I feel a complete ass,’ Alan admitted as he accompanied them into the Fitz. ‘I offered to resign immediately, but Dr Warwick said I wasn’t the one to blame, but if I wasn’t, who the hell was?’

Ross didn’t comment.

‘Can you believe I was waiting for them when they arrived, accompanied them upstairs to the gallery, even kept out of their way while they made the switch, and then agreed to their suggestion that I should lock the ladies’ loo until the Countess had left the premises. You should arrest me for being asleep on the job.’

‘Don’t be too hard on yourself,’ said Rebecca. ‘You were dealing with a bunch of pros who knew exactly what they were doing.’

Alan shook his head, clearly not convinced. ‘They even called my office in advance and made an appointment, which is why I was waiting for them on the top step.’

When they reached the Rembrandt room, Ross could only just see theAngel, as the masterpiece was surrounded by a vast crowd, with a large group waiting to take their place.

‘Were you able to trace that call?’ asked Ross.

‘Not until after your boss found theAngelsitting on the toilet.’

‘And where was the call made from?’ pressed Rebecca.

‘A public phone booth in the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane.’

‘One of the busiest hotels in London,’ said Ross, noting that once again Faulkner had covered his tracks. ‘Did the caller have an accent by any chance?’

‘A slight Scottish burr, which is always more pronounced on the phone than face-to-face,’ said Alan.

Rebecca wrote down:Lamont?

‘Walk me slowly through everything that happened from the moment they arrived.’

‘A police van pulled up outside the museum just before five,’ said Alan, still unable to hide his frustration. ‘A sergeant got out of the front while four other officers and two sniffer dogs piled out of the back.’

‘Did the sergeant produce a warrant card?’ Rebecca asked.

‘Yes,’ said Alan, ‘but as I’d seen several over the years, I confess I didn’t give it more than a cursory glance.’

‘Because, like the van and the uniforms, it was probably the real thing.’ Ross looked back towards the entrance of the gallery. ‘And while they were in the Rembrandt room, purportedly carrying out an inspection, you were asked to wait outside.’

‘Worse than that,’ admitted Alan. ‘The sergeant asked me to make sure no one disturbed them while they were carrying out their search.’

‘No more than standard procedure if they had been carrying out a real inspection,’ said Rebecca, ‘which we do regularly for the Queen or the Prince of Wales, but not for the Countess. They were simply playing it by the book.’

‘And I should have looked at the last page of that book,’ said Alan, ‘because twelve minutes later, they came back out and gave me the all-clear.’

Ross didn’t speak, while Rebecca continued writing.

‘That’s when the sergeant asked me if I would lock the ladies’ toilet and keep it locked until after the Countess had left, in case she needed to use it. An order I obeyed without a second thought,’ Alan spat out.

Ross produced a photograph from an inside pocket, and asked Alan, ‘Was this man among the five who carried out the inspection?’

Alan studied an image of Lamont for some time, before he said, ‘No, none of the men were as old as that.’

‘But he could have been the driver,’ suggested Rebecca, glancing across at Ross.

Alan looked hopeful for the first time. ‘Does that mean you know who committed the crime?’

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