Perth Scotland
Midnight
“Right the one at the Marina is Cobb.”
“Right.”
“Spencer was the dead one on the track.”
“Right.”
“Wheeler was the one who escaped the hospital.”
“Right.”
“That leaves Mason to be the one on the train.”
“Right.”
“A booking was made in the name of Townshend weeks ago, but Spencer was in that sleeper.”
“Right.”
“Except Mason didn’t show up on the CCTV for Inverness and evidence from CCTV linked to a stolen white Alfa shows someone like Mason on the industrial estate where it was taken.”
“Right.”
“Which means there’s a fifth man.”
“Dewey missed one then.” Beaumont said finally.
David nodded.
“Let’s tap into the CCTV footage of Inverness. You know before we left London I was looking at Spencer on the screen and something bugged me about the man at the next cashier. It was the same thing that bugged me on the platform.”
They pulled up the CCTV footage.
“Trains, planes and automobiles.”
“What?”
“Well, one bike, one boat, one train, one flight which leaves walking.”
“Or hitching.”
“Right.” David ran the footage and froze it on Stanton. It was hard to see his face clearly, but for a second McKie caught a glimpse at one eye. He ran the footage on and there was a look of recognition from Spencer as the fifth man passed.
“Spencer knew this guy. They could have met on the train. We’ll arrange interviews with restaurant staff and have the girl at Inverness who served him interviewed too.”
McFarlane had been sat in silence quietly stroking his dog. Too old for the duty rota he spent time knowing his city and the people in it.
“Your man has probably gone down river. He’ll head for the motorway and hitch. If you pull up the map I’ll show you where it joins.”
“Good John. That’s a thought.”
“He’ll kill the driver of course.” Beaumont added gloomily.
“Why?”
“No witness.”
“That could mean he killed the driver who took him to Inverness. Jack said to check missing persons.”
McFarlane pulled up the map on the laptop. The M90 was clear as a scar on sunburn, threading south.
“Edinburgh or Glasgow?” He asked.
“No idea.” David was stumped.
“I like the idea of Glasgow.”
“Call Jack and have him send a duty team to Edinburgh, we’ll go Glasgow way tomorrow.”
“After we’ve talked to the police and some of the staff. If only we had an image of the fifth man.” Beaumont suddenly brightened. “Couldn’t you try and sketch the face you saw on the platform, the way Dewey did?”
“I can’t draw. I’d know him if I saw him.”
“I can draw. I was a graphic designer. I still do some freelance work. Get that Inverness image up and we’ll add any changes.” McFarlane left the room to get a sketch pad and a portable scanner.
“Okay. The man on the platform had a goatee beard for a start.”
Half an hour later they had the sketch of their fifth man, scanned it in and sent it to Jack at DIC centre. Jack told them they’d have to decrypt the MI6 site again, that could take until sunrise. Fulton agreed they should head for Glasgow. He also suggested that there might be more than five. He added to their knowledge by telling them of Sternway’s conversation, crackly as it was, and that it might implicate him in whatever plot was unfolding. He explained about the police being called to a burning Alfasud on an estate in Glasgow. Mason was probably there too and Wheeler could be holed up there. There was no doubt that Glasgow should be their next stop.
They tossed a coin for the spare room and Beaumont won. Exhausted and troubled Beaumont and McKie went to sleep, David with his hand gun on the arm of the sofa. The slightest of noises woke him all the way through the night.