Page 139 of The Killer’s Mark

‘I have her.’

‘She’s not with you now, though?’

Poe glanced at Estelle and Bradshaw. They had been watching Cowie House. ‘Of course she isn’t with me.’

‘Where is she?’

‘Somewhere safe. Somewhere nearby.’

‘I’ll need proof before we do this.’

‘Give me your number. I’ll send you a photograph.’

‘This is a burner and I’m not where your padawan is.’

‘I understand.’

Dongyang Dong rattled off a phone number. Poe handed Bradshaw his iPhone, and she sent the photograph of him and Océane that he’d taken in the back of his car. He waited until the Red Chamber guy had received it.

‘OK,’ he said. ‘It seems you do have her. Now, if you want your padawan back in one piece, you’ll follow these instructions to the letter …’

Chapter 115

Poe called Towler and told him that the Red Chamber had moved the goalposts.

‘We knew it was possible, mate,’ Towler said. ‘Even the most incompetent OCG would have had eyes on Cowie House. They’ll have seen you return empty-handed and wondered why. They asked for proof?’

‘I sent that photograph.’

‘OK. Well, we’re ready at this end. Go into your office and put your mobile on speakerphone. I want to ask that corrupt cop a few things.’

Poe moved into his office and set his phone up near Susan Hawksworth. She looked at it as if it were radioactive. Even on the other end of a telephone, she was terrified of Towler.

‘Tell me how they do this,’ Towler said. ‘I assume we’re about to be sent on a wild goose chase. A succession of cut-outs and checkpoints. Probably circling the actual location?’

Susan nodded.

‘She nodded, Matt,’ Estelle said.

‘This isn’t a video conference, you fucking pinhead,’ Towler said. ‘I ask a question, you answer that question with words, not mime.’

‘They won’t give you the actual location until the last possible moment,’ Susan said.

‘How many checkpoints will we need to go through?’

‘On an operation of this importance, they’ll want at least three. They’ll confirm you still have Océane Blue, that you haven’t ditched her somewhere safe along the route, and that you’re alone.’

‘The final checkpoint will be a matter of yards from the exchange location?’

‘That’s usually how they do it, yes.’

Poe noted the use of ‘usually’ and again wondered just how deep Susan was with these guys.

‘What type of location will they use?’

Susan shrugged, realised what she’d done and said, ‘I don’t know. These things have always happened in cities. Warehouses, abandoned factories, that kind of thing. Somewhere easy to defend, with plenty of exits if things go wrong. This is the first rural exchange I’ve been involved with.’

Towler didn’t bother asking her to guess. He could do the maths by himself. The Red Chamber’s needs hadn’t changed just because they were in Cumbria. They would still want somewhere they could control. Somewhere isolated, with plenty of escape routes. Poe thought it would be somewhere near the M6 but with easy access to one of the bigger A roads. The A66, A69 or A595. If they could get to one of them, they could disappear into the wilds within seconds.