Conumdrum Ch. 04

"And it bears out the thinking that they have a rural location. Plenty of country around there." Then memory slipped another clue into his head. "Beth said something in her note about the course being in Herefordshire. But all she would have known was the meeting place." Gary looked pleased.

"That fits in. We're closing in on them, Mate." Matt was encouraged.

"Right we have six days now. I shall call Chubb and get a full planning meeting set up. When's best for you two?" Gary had no problem he could make it anytime. Hendy had quite a full diary for the next week, but as he said.

"I've gone over the psycho-babble with you so there isn't really any point in my being there. If I can make it I will, but if not.." He shrugged his shoulders. "I will email you with the address of the hospital. Bring your wife straight there, Matt. Phone me to let me know you are on your way."

Two days later the council of war happened again in Matt's office . Janet organised the supply of bacon sandwiches and plentiful mugs of tea. She wanted to sit in, but there was too much work to do. Matt really took a back seat at this meeting, as Chubb and the others were the real professionals in this situation, so he let them get on with it.

Chubb had listened to Matt setting out the scenario, and then took over. With a large scale map of the area, he gave it thought and then started detailing the tracking.

"If Matt is right, and I suspect he is, they will go north once they leave the meeting place. But as it's dual carriageway they may have to go north before turning back towards Cirencester, so Spag, I want you positioned on the southbound carriageway. I shall be about two miles ahead of them northbound. We will be in position about thirty minutes before the meet. I am certain that there will be another bogey with them, to take Mrs. Bennett's car and hide it, and also to make sure no-one is tailing them. Ideally I would like someone in the Little Chef to confirm when they move, Gary, does Mrs. Bennett know you?"

"No, we have never met."

"Then do you think you could do that?" Gary nodded. "Don't do anything to alert Mrs. Bennett. Act like a Sales Rep if you can. Once they have moved use the mobile to alert us. We will rely on the GPS tracking to follow. One of us has then got to do some really hairy motoring, but I am betting it will be you, Spag. Any ideas about what roads you will use?" Spag had been studying the map intently just for this purpose.

"Yes, I reckon I'll take the A435. There's a junction just before Cirencester, with a back road avoiding the town centre. I'll use the 435 to Cheltenham, there's a bypass which links to the motorway, so I should be ready to go north or south on the M5 depending on what they do. If they go south towards Cirencester, I assume you will want me to follow.?"

"Yes, do that. I shall wait until they get through Cirencester, as they could take any direction from there. Then Jock will have to find me a route to parallel depending on what they do. Once we are certain that they have reached their destination, which we are assuming will be rural, we'll each find somewhere quiet to park up, no closer than two miles if it's rural and a bit closer if it's urban. Jock and Goat will go in cross country to find laying up hides for themselves. Co-ordinate lads, so that we get two surveillance points. You know what we need, CCTV, alarms, visitors, and an entry. We only have twenty-four hours to reconnoitre, so do the best you can. Once we know all that we can get, we'll pick a suitable rendezvous and go in."

Gary had brought along the GPS receivers, and the bug for Beth's car. He produced with a flourish the lip-stick. Matt had carefully examined the one Beth was using, and was pleased that it was exactly the same. Gary explained. "The bug is right at the bottom, underneath the actual lip-stick. I will activate it when they are leaving the rendezvous. It has a range of fifty miles max, but at the extremity of the range it could give false readings, and the battery is good for something like seventy-two hours. Now the only thing I am worried about is does it look used enough?" Matt called to Janet.

"Janet, do you think that Beth would notice that her lipstick has been changed?" Janet looked at the tube. She took off the cap and examined the stick. "It looks as if it hasn't been used, so if you give it me for a day, I will use it and it won't be noticed. A day in my hand-bag should age it well enough." Gary then asked.

"What about the length of the stick? Could it be too long?" Janet shook her head.

"No. It won't be noticeable. Women only turn up as much as they need to apply it. They rarely know how much is left until they get near to the bottom, or more likely bought another of a different shade."

Matt issued the guys the black combat overalls he had obtained He had a set for Gary and himself. They would be washed before use to get the dressing out and soften them. They would use no detergent, as that would leave a fragrant odour that any guard dog would pick up. Neither would the four team members bathe themselves except in plain water for the same reason. He then handed Chubb and each of his team a pack, containing emergency rations, night vision binoculars, camouflage face stick, Each pack also contained a number of plastic bags. Jock and Goat would be on observation for twenty four hours, they wouldn't want to leave anything behind that could contain their DNA. Then Matt opened his drawer and handed over the Sig Sauer P230 firearms.

"There's two clips for each. Hopefully I shall get two full clips back again. I have six disposable mobile phones. All charged, with the five other numbers programmed into each. I have hired two four by fours, a V-eight Range-rover, and a Land-Cruiser, both black. They're outside now so you can take them with you." Chubb nodded. Matt was doing what 'Ruperts' did best. Organising the logistics. 'Rupert' was the nick-name given to officers in the SAS. It wasn't derogatory. Just a term used in the same way that the first officer in a ship in the Royal Navy was always known as 'The Bloke'. Matt turned to Chubb.

"As soon as they have gone to ground, let me know the location. I'll get there and find you. Gary, once we know the place would you be able to find out names and usual inhabitants of the house?" Gary had no problem.

"Give me a map reference and I can get that in a couple of hours."

Matt summed up all that they had discussed. He knew that there would be quite a few conversations with Chubb and Gary before the day, but he was happy that everything was in place.

To be continued...