Jane worked out that it must have been October 1972 when she had last seen Natalie, who looked very different now. They would certainly have a lot to catch up on, and Jane was looking forward to meeting up with her.
The journey back to the Royal Arsenal was quicker than Jane had expected. Arriving at the explosives lab Jane was told by the MOD police officer on guard that DS Lawrence had requested that she report to him at the chemistry section. She thanked him and went straight to the lab where Lawrence greeted her in a tone that gave away his excitement.
‘We’ve managed to reconstruct most of the Covent Garden bomb from the bits found in the debris. It was detonated by high-frequency waveband, using a 27-megahertz radio signal.’
‘Do you mean the detonator was a radio that you listen to?’
Lawrence laughed. ‘No, it was a transmitter switch from a remote-control toy car. It’s powered by a small HP7 battery and can be easily concealed in the palm of your hand, or a handbag or purse… you press the switch, it sends a radio signal to the receiver, which triggers the bomb detonator lodged in the explosives.’
‘Does that prove I was in no way responsible for the bomb going off?
‘You weren’t responsible, Jane. Whoever had the detonator was.’
‘So, it had to have been detonated remotely by the man I chased or an accomplice?’
‘One or the other.’
Relieved, Jane asked if DCI Crowley and DS Dexter had been informed about the results.
‘Of course they have. I’m on my way over to the explosives range where they’re testing out a new explosives protection suit and jammer.’
‘Can I come with you?’
Lawrence looked uncertain. ‘Only approved personnel are allowed on the testing range.’ He saw the disappointment on her face and added, ‘But it’s fine if you stick with me.’
They walked towards a large area of waste land where there was a small reinforced bomb shelter. ‘That’s called a “splinter-proof”,’ he explained, ‘it’s capable of withstanding bomb fragments.’
As they approached, Jane could see a figure about two hundred feet away wearing a bulky green bomb suit and head protector. She was certain it must be Dexter, standing beside a rucksack like the one she had seen at Covent Garden. Suddenly a red light on the shelter came on and a klaxon sounded.
‘Oh shit… looks like they’re about to live test the jammer!’ Lawrence grabbed Jane and pulled her towards a wall of sandbags nearby.
‘What’s a jammer?’ she asked, ducking down with him behind the sandbags.
‘It’s an electronic counter measure… a device for blocking the 27-megahertz signals on the toy car transmitter…’
Suddenly there was a large explosion, causing Lawrence and Jane to crouch down even further. Jane peered over the sandbags as a mushroom of sand, dust and debris spiralled upwards. She could see Dexter flying through the air, then hitting the ground and lying completely motionless. She let out a scream of panic and started to run towards the prostrate body.
‘Bollocks! It didn’t work,’ Dexter shouted, as he walked out of the shelter and threw the jammer on the ground. He looked at Jane and saw her shock.
‘What’s up with you?’ he asked.
‘The explosion… I thought… I thought you’d been hurt by the bomb… I thought you were dead!’
To Jane’s amazement, Dexter started laughing, as Crowley and the head scientist walked out from the splinter-proof.
‘You all right, Tennison?’ Crowley asked.
Dexter turned to Crowley. ‘She thinks I’m dead, Guv… Do you reckon the mannequin in the bomb suit felt much pain?’
‘There’s no need to be sarcastic, Dexter, not after what Jane went through at Covent Garden,’ Lawrence said. ‘She was concerned for your safety, that’s all. I’m sorry, Jane. I should have explained that there would be a mannequin in the bomb suit.’
Dexter was quick to turn on the charm. ‘I’m flattered by your concern, Jane, but believe me, I’m not stupid enough to test a bomb suit on live explosives… even in a controlled situation.’
Crowley, totally unaware of the tension between Lawrence and Dexter, interjected. ‘On a positive note, I’d say that, with a bit of adjustment, we can get the jammer to work.’
Dexter nodded. ‘Besides, the Covent Garden bomb was crude and amateurish… a schoolboy chemistry student could build that piece of crap.’
‘I wouldn’t underestimate the IRA. They’re well-trained and quick to develop new technology. They know we will piece the bomb together from the debris, so the next one may well have a different remote mechanism,’ Lawrence retorted.
Dexter looked complacent. He knew that was possible and said that he was about to do some stopwatch-timed practise on disarming different types of mock bombs, with both radio-controlled and time-delay detonators.
Lawrence, irritated by Dexter’s blasé attitude, turned to Jane. ‘Do you want to come back to the lab?’
‘I apologise for my overreaction, but if you don’t mind I’d like to stay and watch Dexter at work… if that’s all right?’
‘That’s fine by me.’ Dexter said, with a smile that irritated Lawrence even more.
As Lawrence walked off Crowley brought out another replica rucksack from the shelter, handed it to Dexter and took a stopwatch out of his coat pocket.
‘I’ll blow the whistle and start the stopwatch when you give me the signal. Then, after eight minutes, I’ll sound the klaxon to simulate detonation.’
‘Make it five. I like to minimise the danger, so the quicker I’m in and out, the better. They don’t call me Felix for nothing.’ He laughed.
Seeing Jane looking puzzled, Crowley explained that Felix was Latin for ‘lucky’.
‘I thought Felix was a cat’s name.’
‘Cats, like Dexter, have an innate ability of always landing on their feet.’
Dexter invited Jane to stand beside him and watch as he disarmed a bomb. She looked nervously at Crowley. ‘Are we going to wear protective suits?’
‘No, we aren’t using real explosives. But to make the exercise more difficult, Dexter here doesn’t know what type of bomb mechanism is inside the rucksack.
‘It’s standard procedure to talk through the disarming of the bomb,’ Crowley added. He picked up a small military radio and tucked it into Dexter’s back pocket before clipping the mic to his shirt collar. ‘Normally the bomb disposal officer wears a tape recorder, but in a mock situation we use a radio to communicate, and record the exercise on tape.’
Dexter tapped the radio in his pocket. ‘Life is irreplaceable… but in a real situation if I was blown up and killed, the recording would give other bomb-disposal officers an insight into what went wrong. An expo was killed recently and the tape was invaluable. We learn from our mistakes.’
Dexter picked up the rucksack and Jane followed him over to the practice area. As they walked he explained that the first rule of bomb disposal was to assess the improvised explosive device, or IED, to minimise the chance of accidental ignition when disarming it. He would then either cut the circuit or interrupt it by cutting out a section of detonation cord. Finally, he would remove the detonator and main charge by hand.
Jane was impressed. ‘How many bombs have you defused?’