Page 115 of The Black Trilogy

Lesson number one, build rapport.

If he was surprised by a slightly sweaty woman showing up on his doorstep, he didn’t show it as he bustled around the kitchen with teabags and sugar.

“Could you tell me more about the missing plates?” I asked as he handed me a mug. “When you noticed they were gone, whether you saw anyone suspicious hanging around, anything like that?”

“I noticed straight away they had been taken. They were there in the morning, and in the evening when I went to get in my van, they were gone. And just to be certain I was not wrong, I checked on my CCTV. The man stole them at precisely seventeen minutes past six.”

CCTV? He had CCTV? How on earth had we missed that?

“You mean you actually have the person who stole them on video?”

“Oh, yes. My brother owns a company that sells security cameras, and he says I cannot be too careful on my own in the shop at night. He installed me an excellent system. I told the police this, but they did not seem interested. They said they would send somebody to look at the film, but nobody came.”

“Do you have a copy of the footage I can watch?”

“Certainly, but it is in my shop in Clapham. That is where the van is kept. My delivery driver uses it. We will have to go there.”

Forget the cup of tea. I hailed a passing cab while Gabir locked up. As he hunted for his jacket, I called Dan and asked her to meet me in Clapham.

“Put the incident room on standby as well, would you?”

“You think this might be a break?”

“Keep everything crossed. Fingers, toes, the lot.”

“Eyes?”

“If you think it’ll help.”

We were halfway there when my phone pinged again. Nye was calling.

“We’ve just had the new ransom demand.”

About time. “How much?”

“A million plus the software.”

“Where’s the drop?” If the guy had picked the woods again, I was going and so was my gun. Who cared about the legality?

“A shopping centre in East London at six this evening. I’ve sent a team to check the place over.”

A shopping centre? If anything, that was worse than the previous location. We’d have to be careful with the public around. I dialled Nick to get an update on Luke.

“How is he?”

“Just about holding it together. But if this goes on much longer, he’ll give himself an aneurysm.”

I gave Nick a brief outline of where I was heading.

“Shall I fill Luke in?” he asked.

“No. I want him to concentrate on what he has to do this evening, and besides, I don’t want to get his hopes up.”

I couldn’t say much more with Gabir sitting beside me, but I promised to call Nick back once I got out of the range of unwanted ears.

The cab pulled up outside a small supermarket called, imaginatively enough, Gabir’s Supermarket, and we both hopped out. As I followed Gabir into the store, he proudly pointed out the ridiculous number of cameras in the completely over-the-top security system his brother had installed. I fell a little bit in love with the second Mr. Hassani at that point.

In the cupboard-like office at the back of the store, Gabir cued up the footage. The picture was crystal clear. I held my breath as a man walked into shot, head down, and unscrewed the plate from the front of the van. He crossed to a different camera and did the same at the rear. The guy was the same size and build as the man I’d chased through the woods, but due to the hood pulled low over his eyes, I couldn’t see his face.

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