BLOOD DRAGON by Freddie Peters (books to get back into reading .TXT) 📕

“I’ll see you then.”

Nancy sat still for a moment. The implications of what she had learned were astonishing. Her father had suddenly become a stranger. But perhaps it should not have been such a surprise.

She was only a young girl when they’d left China and a mere adolescent when he left Paris.

He had only showed to her the side he had wanted to, the artist, the man of skill and knowledge. She had discovered him through her own eyes but also through her parents’ artist friends. After he had left, she had retained this image of him until she had decided to stop remembering.

She glanced at her watch. It was almost time to leave for an appointment she did not want to attend. Denise had been apologetic about the short notice, but the Super had insisted on meeting her sooner rather than later. She had not managed to speak to Pole to prepare herself.

Never mind.

It was not the first time she would have to improvise.

She went up to her bedroom and en-suite dressing room. She pulled out a severe black suit she had not worn since she had gone to court for the Henry Crowne trial. She added a plain white blouse and chose simple black pearls as jewellery.

In the bathroom she applied a little makeup and twisted her jet-black hair into a low sitting bun.

She had time to check on Cora.

* * *

“Oh my God … Nancy, your call startled me.” Cora’s voice was almost inaudible.

“Are you okay?” Nancy would cancel the Marsh meeting if Cora needed her.

“I’m fine … it’s just …” There was movement around her that Nancy could not make out. “Something has happened, or rather, I’ve received something important.”

A door closed and Cora started speaking a little louder.

“I’ve received a parcel or rather … there was a parcel that has been returned to Ollie undelivered. It was addressed to someone in Hong Kong. Someone I don’t know. But that person never received it so it has come back here.”

A shiver ran down Nancy’s spine. “Have you opened it?”

“Don’t be mad … of course I have. I did it with gloves on, though.”

“What was inside?”

“Academic papers written by Ollie, on biology … immunology … pandemics … a lot of complicated research, I think. Then transcripts from some of Bill Gates’ lectures … again about epidemics and pandemics. Then something odd … the timetable of Jared Turner’s meetings on a trip to China.”

“Do you have a photocopier or scanner in your flat?”

“We do.”

“This is what you are going to do. Photocopy the documents. When you have done that, speak to Branning and apologise for opening the envelope … Tell him you didn’t notice it was redirected to Ollie … Or whatever you think he’ll buy. I’ll drop by after lunch. Don’t show the documents to anybody else.”

“Shall I do a bit of research in the meantime?”

“On what?”

“I could find out more about the documents themselves.”

“If you do, do it incognito in your search engine and don’t forget to erase the history on your browser after you’ve finished.”

Nancy could hear Cora smile. “Not the first time you’ve sailed close to the wind, then.”

“Indeed, and not the last time either.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

The stairwell resounded with the weight of his footsteps. Pole ignored the lift and climbed down the four floors that separated Marsh’s office from his own. He had almost missed a step at the beginning of his descent, his focus still on his latest conversation. He was now concentrating on the stairs, pounding them in anger. But truly, who did he have to blame but himself?

Another colleague had started his journey upstairs. He greeted Pole with an out of breath smile and carried on. Pole stopped on the third floor and took a moment to gather himself. Would he have done anything different though?

Almost certainly not and that answer bothered him.

He walked into the open plan office, straight to his DS’s desk. Andy was concentrating on his work, oblivious to Pole’s shadow hovering over him.

“Anything you need?”

“I’m examining the payments received by Ollie Wilson. The Swiss account is a numbered bank account, with no name associated with it … yet.” He was tucking fervently into a packet of jellybeans. He offered it to Pole without shifting his eyes from his screen. “Have some, Guv …”

Pole considered the packet, took it from Andy and grabbed a few beans. A little sweetness at the moment would not go amiss.

“How long before you know?”

Andy rotated his chair to face his boss. “A few hours maybe. I have a call with a federal police colleague in Switzerland. They’ve contacted the bank that holds the account. Anonymity is no longer what it used to be in Switzerland … but we shall see.”

He looked into the sweet packet, fingers hovering to seize one of his favourites. “But I’m certain there will be yet another account somewhere more difficult to reach such as the Cayman Islands or Lichtenstein.”

“But what would that tell us?”

“That whoever is paying is a fishy customer.”

“That’s right.” Pole dragged over a chair and sat down. “Remind me when the payments started.”

“Four months ago.”

“And when did Wilson open the account?”

Andy returned to his screen and checked a different document from two years earlier, according to the Jersey bank records.

“The opening is legit. His father opened the account with him, just as Wilson moved to the UK. His father sent him some cash then. If I compare it with movements on his London current account, the cash was used for renting the flat, furnishing it … stuff like that, and before you ask, I’ve also checked the opening of the current account. It’s with a well-known UK bank.”

“Nothing unusual there?”

Andy shook his head. “But suddenly, four months ago, Wilson starts receiving payments into and making payments from the Jersey account.”

“Didn’t the Jersey bank ask any questions about why that was happening? Isn’t that part of the anti-money laundering rules, that you