IMPOSTURE: Hunters become the hunted in this gripping murder mystery by Ray Clark (book series for 10 year olds TXT) 📕

they must have been card players at some point,” said Gates. “We have a Jack Spade, and an Alf Diamond, but get this, Zoe Harrison chose Hunter as a surname.”

“Jesus Christ,” said Reilly, “they’re nothing if not inventive.”

“When did they come back in?” Gardener asked.

“Michael Foreman was first,” said Gates, “six weeks ago. Zoe Harrison came in three days later, and Anthony Palmer as recent as Monday of this week.”

“This week?” questioned Gardener.

“Yes,” said Longstaff, “and apparently there was an incident with a clown, involving security. We’re still checking but it involved Anthony Palmer.”

Reilly clicked his fingers, and Gardener nodded. “Roger Hunter told us that Anthony Palmer was petrified of clowns, so what was the incident?”

“We’re not sure,” said Gates. “Apparently a new carrier was having an open day and clowns were present when Anthony Palmer passed through the lounges. The CCTV didn’t show a lot but it looks like he spotted the clown and fainted.”

“There was a doctor on hand,” said Longstaff, “he was checked over, given some tea and then he left, but we’re still working on where he went from there. We need to check more of the CCTV.”

“None of this tells us who is responsible for what’s happening now,” said Briggs. “Two of these people are still at large: Zoe Harrison and Anthony Palmer. On top of that, there is still one more person in the picture. Rosie Henshaw. Have we any idea yet where these people operated from, and whether or not it is still being used by one of them? That might help.”

“All houses have been cleaned out completely,” said Dave Rawson.

“I’m not sure if this will help,” said Gates, “but we also now know what cars they drove and we have the registration numbers from the airport. Like the Evoque, they are all on lease with the defunct company V-Tech, all using the DPA names. Problem is, the cars are all missing, including Anthony Palmer’s.”

“What about the account?” asked Gardener. “Is it still open?”

“No,” said Longstaff. “But it was only closed two weeks ago.”

“That’s interesting,” said Gardener. “How long were they leased for and how was it all paid?”

“Leased for six months and paid in full,” said Gates.

“And now the account has gone,” said Gardener, “just like them and the cars. Can we find out who closed the account?”

“The cars could be wherever the victims are,” said Reilly.

“They could be,” agreed Gardener, “but that would have to be somewhere big and possibly remote, all of which make it very difficult for Rosie Henshaw to control.”

“Only if she’s working alone,” added Reilly.

Gardener glanced at Sarah Gates. “Were each of these cars parked at the airport and taken from there?”

“We believe so,” she replied, “we’re still checking the CCTV to see if the owners removed them, or someone else, and which way they went.”

“Excellent news,” said Gardener, updating the whiteboard. He turned back to his team. “I keep thinking about them all being holed up. We know for a fact that the unit they supposedly had is derelict, a dead end, but if they had somewhere else they operated from, what’s to say that whoever is running the operation hasn’t got them all in their own place?”

“But that would need to be a big industrial unit,” said Briggs. “Especially if they have all the cars in there, and the vehicle used in the hit and run, and this green Evoque that we keep seeing. So the question then is, why would a company who specialise in computer viruses need a big unit?”

“Why would they need a unit at all?” asked Gardener. “They could all have worked from home.”

“Maybe there was a lot more to it than computer viruses,” said Rawson.

“Could have been a smokescreen,” offered Gates. “Maybe they just rented a big unit somewhere whether they needed the space or not.”

“For what?” Gardener asked.

“No idea,” offered Longstaff, “but let’s face it, money was no object. And if one of them had this in mind all along, the big unit would be perfect.”

Gardener figured they may have hit on something. “Okay, point taken. I need someone to start checking units and warehousing within a fifty-mile radius.”

“I’ll take that, sir,” said Patrick Edwards.

Gardener was beginning to appreciate Edwards. He was young but willing, rarely shied away from anything he was given, and often volunteered for jobs other people wouldn’t want.

“Excellent, Patrick. Get Benson to help you. But before you guys go anywhere, I’m afraid we still have more information for you.”

Chapter Forty-one

A collective sigh rattled around the room but Gardener understood it. Sometimes the mountain continued to grow and you could see no way of scaling it. He picked up the two scrolls containing the biblical quotes, now sealed in evidence bags.

“We’ve now discovered that two of the victims each had a paper scroll accompanying them.”

“I never saw one on Michael Foreman,” said Rawson.

“None of us did. It was stapled to his back.”

“Stapled?”

“Yes,” said Reilly, “four, one in each corner of the scroll, and they were heavy duty. I reckon whoever did it wanted the scroll to stay where it was because they were embedded into bone.”

A few of the team winced and sucked in breath.

“What do they say?” asked Sharp.

“They’re biblical references.”

“Great,” said Thornton, “we’re not dealing with a Bible basher as well, are we?”

“I’m going to let Sean explain them.”

“Hang on a second,” said Rawson, retrieving his phone from his jacket.

“What are you doing?” asked Reilly.

“I’m going to record it and translate later.”

Reilly stuck two fingers up as the rest of the team cheered. When the noise died and the tension dropped, Reilly stood at the front.

“They are from The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as described in the last book of the New Testament. It’s the