Leicester
5 – 30 p.m.
April 17th
It was the same thoughts which led Mason to get off the London train at Leicester. He was happily settled on the train, feeling warm and comfortable and then he started thinking about the submarine. It had told him from the start that it was a government job. Someone in power had given the green light to an assassination in the UK. He had thought it sensible to send five of them to make sure the job got done, but now that he thought of it, he was struck by the thought that there was something odd about it. He knew they’d gone in Scotland to avoid detection, but who were they avoiding. If the target was someone important they’d be guarded. If it was someone in secret service it made more sense that they came in from a remote place. Then it struck him. Stanton had chosen to hitch because he was avoiding CCTV and centres that meant that Stanton, who’d been far from chatty those two weeks on the sub, knew something they didn’t or at least had worked out what he was working out now.
The idea got into Mason’s head that whoever they were going to kill would have security that were watching for assassins. He’d made up his mind to get off the train and find transport that involved him being away from the public when Leicester station was announced. He grabbed his bag and stepped onto the platform into lashing rain.
He asked the ticket barrier guard for directions to a supermarket and was told the nearest one was the Tesco along the Uppingham Road and that a 747 bus would take him there. He had to make his way up to the Humberstone Gate and found the stops there. He stood waiting for the bus, the rain hammering onto the bus shelter roof.
Leicester public transport is known for its efficiency and the 747 bus arrived within minutes and Mason was at the Tesco quicker than he’d expected.
He was wandering the car park waiting for the right person and vehicle to show up and it was becoming a problem. He needed a car that was overloaded at the back, the boot lid held down by rope because wood was sticking out or something. It was either that or a van that was overloaded at the back or had a broken back door handle.
Mason had spent half an hour in the car park looking suitably fuddled in case someone asked him what he was doing. He created a part for himself in case security came over. He decided to be a man with mental health problems who couldn’t find his daughter and the car. This was his lie and he worked it over in his head, mentally doing the voice and visualising the facial expressions.
He needn’t have worried as the rain was making people more concerned with themselves than anyone else.
He was going to give up, feeling exposed, when he saw a plumber’s van with faded writing, blue on white, ‘David Barrett Plumbing amp; Heating Engineer’ on the sides. It pulled into a space half way up the row he was walking along. Mason had seen it so easily because the small van had a bath sticking out the back and bungee straps holding the door.
Mason watched David, presumably, get out lock the van doors and do that half run half walk people do so embarrassingly into the Tesco entrance.
As soon as the man was out of sight he walked to the van, unclipped the bungee straps and pulled the bath out, which was thankfully coated PVC and not cast iron, laying it behind the car to his left. He climbed through into the driver’s seat, grabbing a screw driver on the way. Half a minute’s quick work and the van had started. He was pulling out when, as an afterthought, he pulled the bath into the space and popped the plug in.
As he drove away the bath began filling with rain water. Mr Barrett would think one of his mates was having a laugh and might not call the police for a while before he’d checked. Mason was spot on. Dave Barrett didn’t call the police. On seeing the bath where his van had been he simply stopped being amazed at the lack of his van and rang his mate.
“Alright Jimmy bring my van back.”
The conversation went on and the more Jimmy, who was in a pub, denied it the more Dave Barrett didn’t believe him. Mason was heading out to the M1 via East Park Road in the direction of the 5199. He decided to stop at Bedford for the night. He watched his speed as he hit the big motorway, easing into the fast moving traffic and playing it safe.