“Linda, wait… We have to pack. Ed said that there’s nothing we can do for her just now — except find these bastards. He wants us to move out of here immediately. We have to meet him at another hotel a few miles west of Harlow.”
Linda nodded impassively, and began gathering their possessions.
“He’s bringing all of the files and his copies of her work. Yesterday Megan said she’d found something, but she didn’t tell Ed what it was. That’s why he was going round there. He thinks if we look through her stuff, perhaps we can find something — perhaps we can find a clue. For now, it’s all we’ve got,” he said with grim finality.
They left the motel without checking out. They simply loaded their bags into the car, and drove away. Stone figured that housekeeping would report that they had gone, and the desk clerk would probably pocket the additional rent. Linda drove while Stone kept a watchful eye for anyone following, but they saw nothing suspicious in the sparse early morning traffic. When they arrived at the hotel, Carter was standing by his car. He looked haggard and worried. His clothes were crumpled and sooty and his eyes were runny and red. Stone went to hug his friend, but Linda got there first.
“Any news?”
“No, she’s still unconscious. The doctor said that her bloods were not good, but they’re doing all they can.”
Carter’s face was a grim mask.
“At the moment they’re doing Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. It uses high-pressure oxygen to flush out the toxins. We’ll know more in a couple of days.”
Stone gripped his friend’s shoulder.
“Thank God you were there, Ed.”
Carter shook his head.
“I was lucky to get her out. The fire was so fierce; the heat was incredible. Fortunately, whoever set the fire didn’t know that she had a fire suppression system, sitting behind all of that computer equipment. It kept the flames back for a little while, and probably saved her life. If I’d arrived five minutes later, it would have been too late. As it was, I was still trying to drag her out of the door, when the fire engine arrived. They gave her oxygen and immediately whisked her off in an ambulance.”
Carter looked down sadly.
“There was nothing they could do for the cats.”
Linda broke the silence.
“She’s alive — that’s what matters.”
She put a supportive hand on Ed’s arm.
“You can’t blame yourself for this. It’s not your fault… ”
She remembered an earlier conversation.
“—or Eric’s.”
“I know.”
Ed gave Linda a fierce hug.
“Anyway, this Wrecking Crew thing has just become very personal. We have work to do. Let’s go and check-in.”
He pointed to the hotel with his chin.
“We’re safe here. The owner is an old mate. He’ll book us in secretly.”
Despite having been awake all night, Carter wanted to start work immediately, but he eventually gave in to Linda’s nagging and agreed to get cleaned up first. After he had showered and changed into some clean clothes, Linda took both men firmly by the hand and marched them to the restaurant, where she made sure that everyone ate a hearty breakfast. Cleaned and fed, but still looking exhausted, they went back to Ed’s room to begin working the files.
“Ok. Let’s summarize.”
Carter was standing beside a whiteboard, borrowed from a conference room at the end of the corridor. It was covered in scribbles, lines, and yellow post-it notes — the product of three hours of reading and discussion.
“From the files that Charles got from GCHQ and the additional research that Megan conducted, this is what we know as facts, or strong supposition.”
Ed pointed at the board and began to read.
“One: The Wrecking Crew has been in operation for around ten years. That’s an assumption, but there are no files from before then.
“Two: According to the file from GCHQ, the Wrecking Crew operate on the belief that knowledge is power, and that everyone has a weakness. Once that weakness is identified, it can be exploited as a means to an end. Then the targets are manipulated, discredited, destroyed, or dispatched, to achieve the desired result.
“Three: Megan was positive that such an operation would require substantial resources, with computers, cars, and offices with good internet access.
“Four: We don’t know who runs the Wrecking Crew, or where their base of operations is.
“Five: The Wrecking Crew has worked for the US and UK Governments, but there is no record of who hired them, or how they were paid. However, we can suppose that they are very well connected, with some very powerful friends.
“Six: We know that they operate through the charity Second Chances, but we were unable to find a physical connection to the Wrecking Crew.
“Seven: From the list of operations that they’ve been involved in, we can surmise that they have people skilled in computers and the manipulation of financial data. In addition, they must have access to a legitimate data bank — probably through an employee at one of the big operators.
“Eight: They also use violence and intimidation quite frequently, as well as theft and — as we know — arson. Some of these people may have come from Second Chances, but others must have been specially recruited.
“Nine: The file also mentions an assassin who goes by the name ‘Chameleon’. There’s no clue to his identity, but from the list of killings attributed to him, and the wide range of methods used, he must be ex-special forces. Unfortunately, Megan was unable to find a likely suspect in her searches.
“Ten: Finally, every case that involved an obvious crime has been investigated by the police, but no suspects were found, and no arrests were ever made.”
Ed sat down, looking haggard and defeated.
“So in summary we have nothing.”
Linda stood up and paced in frustration.
“There must be something! What about this Chameleon?”
Ed shook his head sadly.
“He’s a ghost and a shape shifter. We can’t even be sure that he has killed.”
He tossed the marker pen onto the table.
“Take the last two cases as examples. Lynda Devon, CEO of Devon rail, was killed in a mysterious, but very convenient car crash. I personally spoke with the investigating officer. He said that the car’s computerized automatic stability system failed, causing the car to swerve into the path of a semi-truck. When I asked if there was any sign of tampering, he said that although it was theoretically possible to hack into the car’s computer and cause the crash, because the manufacturers have a powerful lobby group, any officer suggesting such a scenario would be laughed off the force.”
Carter ran his hand through is sparse grey hair in tiredness and frustration, before he continued.
“Then there was Valerie Jenkins. She was suggested by Charles as the best person to help expose the Wrecking Crew. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, she was dead — and in the most unusual circumstances. Apparently, she suffocated after falling ill. The investigator believes that she ate some sushi contaminated with a natural, but very rare toxin. Although it may be the first such death in Britain, it’s happened elsewhere — so it’s being treated as an accidental death.”
“Another dead end,” Stone said. “These people really know how to cover their tracks.”
“Damn right!”
“What about the insurance companies?” Linda asked.
“What about them?”
“Bear with me… I was thinking about that film where the rich guy stole the paintings. The insurance company used a private investigator to track them down. It’s the sort of job you might do, Ed.”
“Go on.”
“Well, isn’t it right that because you’re getting paid, usually with a commission, you might be a bit more tenacious than some overworked policeman?”