‘Like what?’ asked Chaudhry.
‘Something that’s easy to remember but that you wouldn’t ordinarily say. But it has to be a word or phrase that won’t arouse suspicion.’
Chaudhry smiled slyly at Malik. ‘What do dominatrixes use?’ he asked.
Malik flashed him a tight smile. ‘You see, I know you’re taking the piss but the whole point is that the submissive uses the safe word. That way he has the ultimate power even though the dominatrix is in control.’
Chaudhry shook his head in mock sadness. ‘You know far too much about this domination stuff,’ he said.
‘I was Googling something else and it came up,’ said Malik.
‘Googling what? “Naughty boys want their arses spanked”? I have to say, Harvey, this is a very worrying side to you. Now I’m scared that I might wake up one morning and find myself tied to the bed and you standing over me with a whip in your hand.’
The mickey-taking was a good sign, Shepherd knew; it showed that they were relaxed. So he drank his coffee and let them get on with it.
‘Do you see what I have to put up with?’ Malik asked Shepherd.
‘I don’t know — I think he might have a point. You know that we do positive vetting, don’t you? Something like that would definitely show up.’
‘Are you serious?’ asked Malik, leaning forward, then he saw from the look on Shepherd’s face that he wasn’t. He sat back. ‘You’re as bad as he is.’
‘All right, guys, let’s get back to the matter in hand,’ said Shepherd. ‘A phrase that I’ve used in the past is “like my grandfather always used to say”. You can start pretty much any sentence with that. How does that sound?’
‘I never knew either of my grandfathers,’ said Malik.
‘Grandmother?’ asked Shepherd.
Malik nodded. ‘Yeah, that’ll work.’
Shepherd looked across at Chaudhry. ‘Works for me as well.’
‘Excellent,’ said Shepherd. ‘And it can work both ways too. If you hear me use that phrase it means there’s a problem and you need to treat with suspicion anything that I say.’
Chaudhry frowned. ‘Say what?’
‘Suppose there’s somebody listening in and I know they’re there. I could use that phrase to tip you off. Or say I was being forced to arrange a meeting with you — if I used that phrase you’d know right away that you’re not to turn up.’
‘Are you saying that someone might be after you?’ asked Chaudhry. ‘Is that what you mean?’
‘It’s just a safety net,’ said Shepherd. ‘It’s standard in undercover work. There’s another useful phrase I’ll give you. If I call you I’ll ask what the weather is like. If you say it’s fine then I’ll know that everything is okay. If you say it looks like rain or snow or anything negative then I’ll know you’ve got a problem.’
‘Well, why haven’t we needed it before now?’ asked Chaudhry. ‘What’s happened to bring this up?’
‘Nothing’s happened,’ said Shepherd. ‘It’s just standard procedure. We’re obviously getting close to the critical stage so we need to have all our ducks in a row. Show me your hands.’
‘What?’
‘Just let me see your hands. Palms down.’ Chaudhry held out his hands and Shepherd studied the fingers. Then he nodded at Malik. ‘You too.’ Malik held out his hands and Shepherd looked at them. ‘Okay, neither of you is a nail-biter, so we can use that as a visual sign. If there’s a problem, if you’re in danger or there’s something wrong, and we have visual contact but can’t speak, then make a point of biting your nails.’
Chaudhry frowned. ‘Now you’ve really lost me,’ he said.
‘Suppose we arrange a meet. And you turn up and you’re waiting for me. But then you realise that you’re being watched. You might not have time to text me. I might be there already and walking towards you. If you start biting your nails I’ll immediately abort the meeting. Ditto if you’re on your way to see me and I spot somebody who might know you. I see you, I bite my nails, you back off. Again, it’s a safety net. You’ll probably never have to use it but we have it in place, just in case.’
‘Okay,’ said Chaudhry, but Shepherd could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
‘Trust me, we’re just being cautious,’ said Shepherd. ‘Best to talk it through now rather than trying to put something together at short notice. I’ll give you another one while we’re at it. You both wear coats with hoods, right?’
‘Now you’re the fashion police?’ said Malik.
‘I’m just saying that you normally wear your parka and Raj has his duffel coat. Changing the hood can be a sign that there’s a problem. Say it’s up and you want to let me know there’s a problem. If you’re sure I’m watching you, you put your hood down. Or vice versa. If it’s down you pull it up. It’s a natural gesture but it can let me know that something’s wrong. Got it?’
Chaudhry nodded. ‘Got it.’ He looked over at Malik and grinned. ‘Think that’ll work with your dominatrix?’
Shepherd finished the last of his coffee. ‘Okay, let’s run through a few exercises in the mall. There’re a few more tricks I want to show you, then I’ll put you on the train back to London.’
Shepherd was half an hour from Hampstead in his Volvo when his mobile rang. He took a quick look at the screen. It was Hargrove. He took the call on hands-free.
‘I’ve had Fenby on the phone. Good news and maybe not so good news,’ said Hargrove. ‘Kettering and Thompson are okay to meet you in London. But they want to see you at a charity boxing night.’
‘What?’
‘They’re down tomorrow for a charity do at a hotel in Russell Square. The Royal National Hotel. They’ve got a table and they want you there.’
‘That’s not on, is it? What if I bump into someone I know? Is it a big event?’
‘Four hundred-odd people, mainly from south London. The event’s to raise money for a boxing club in Croydon. A couple of fighters that Kettering knows are coming down from Birmingham so Kettering has told Ray that he wants to kill two birds with one stone.’
‘We’re not going to be able to arrange an arms deal at a table full of boxing fans,’ said Shepherd. ‘We’re going to have to give this a body swerve.’
‘No can do,’ said Hargrove. ‘You’ve got to look at this from their point of view. They don’t know you — you’re Fenby’s contact. So they want to meet you in a social context first.’
‘So we’ll have a pint in a quiet pub somewhere off the beaten track. I’ve done God knows how many jobs south of the river and if anyone there recognises me I’ll be blown.’
‘We can run a check on the guest list for you,’ said Hargrove. ‘Look, Ray has already tried to put them off but Kettering is insisting and if we start to make a fuss he’s going to get suspicious. He just wants to sit down with you and get to know you.’
Shepherd sighed. ‘If that’s the way you want it I won’t argue, but don’t blame me if it goes tits up,’ he said.
‘Your reservations are noted,’ said Hargrove. He cut the connection.
Shepherd phoned Damien Plant and asked him how he was getting on with the Garry Edwards legend.
‘I put the finishing touches to it this morning,’ said Plant.
‘I need it for tomorrow evening,’ said Shepherd. ‘The clothes and bling, anyway.’
‘Where are you?’
‘On my way to Hampstead.’
‘I could drop it off on my way home,’ said Plant. ‘In an hour.’
‘Perfect,’ said Shepherd. ‘It’ll give me time for a shower.’
‘Don’t go to any trouble on my account,’ said Plant.
‘I’ll have coffee ready for you,’ said Shepherd. ‘How do you like it?’
‘Same as I like my men,’ said Plant. ‘Black, sweet and with bulging forearms.’
Shepherd laughed and ended the call.
The traffic was light heading into London and he had parked the car, showered and changed, and was stirring sugar into a mug of black coffee when his intercom buzzed. He pressed the button to open the downstairs door. Plant was wearing blue Armani jeans and a blue blazer over the sort of tight white T-shirt that he’d threatened to make Shepherd wear. He was carrying a blue nylon holdall in his left hand and three grey garment covers in his right.