Remember Remember (25 page)

“OK Tony, OK, but did you hold anything back.”

“No, not a thing, that’s all I know.”

“Thanks.”

“You don’t need to thank me, that is all I know, now what’s this all about,” He quizzed.

“If I told you that; it wouldn’t be all you know would it?”

“You know what I mean, come on, are you in the shit?”

“No I’m not in the shit, not just yet.”

“If I was your friend you’d tell me.”

“It’s because you’re my friend that I won’t tell you, surely you know that; it’s basic training.”

“Yeah, yeah the good old days,” he snapped.

“The good old days are gone and now I don’t know what will happen and whether they will trace me here or not, but I will call to keep in touch,” he smiled at him then continued, “what do you think of a long holiday abroad , you and me chasing the ladies in the sun and the surf?”

“Who’s paying?” he enquired.

“Me, all expenses.”

“And what about my hotel; who runs it while I’m away?”

“I’ll pay for that too if you’ll come.”

“Wow, you’ll pay for everything, business must be good.”

“Business is good, now would you come if I arranged something?”

“It depends when,”he replied.

“I don’t know yet, I don’t know,” he responded, “how much notice will you need?”

“For me to get extra staff; at least a month.”

“I can give you a month’s notice and if it’s all expenses paid, will you come?”

“Yes, I suppose so,” he declared.

“Thanks, now let’s have another beer?”

“Yeah, that would be nice.”

Alan returned from the bar, Tony took his pint and smiled, “You’re slipping, what if they ask me about this offer?”

He smiled back and replied, “I am slipping, so you either tell them or you don’t, it’s your decision.”

“I won’t tell them will I, but you do intrigue me, what the hell are you up to?”

“Nothing Tony, nothing, it’s probably a case of mistaken identity. Let’s go and have a nightcap at the Ivy,” he said, trying to appease his friend and change the subject.

Two double brandies were dispensed to keep out the December chill and both men sat at the secluded bar of the Ivy.

“How long will you be staying?” enquired Tony.

He swirled the brandy in its glass, took a sniff and then a drink, then replied, “That depends on my customers, and my ability to persuade them to take my products. But it’s not been easy so far, so I guess a couple of weeks,” he replied, smiled at Tony then continued, “I do expect to pay this time; in fact I think it’s important that I do pay, I think it will help you in the long run if I do.”

“In the short run too, money’s money,” he laughed.

“Yeah, money is money, so book me in for at least another seven days and charge a sensible room rate.”

Alan downed his brandy and eased himself off the barstool saying, “goodnight my old friend, I’ve a lot of work to do tomorrow, see you at breakfast.”

“Good night, see you then.”

It took Alan a further eight days of intense telephone selling to get agreement with eighty companies to take his free samples. It was also agreed that if these samples proved to be acceptable, then further orders would be placed in March and April to meet demand. He made arrangements with the warehouse in Kent to supply the eighty companies, but knew he would have to return to York one last time, to finalise the contracts with companies who wished to place further orders.

On December the thirteenth he paid his hotel bill, bid farewell to Tony and promised to see him again soon in the New Year; then he walked the half mile to the covered car park near York station where he had parked his car nine days earlier. He had not used the car once while in York and had purposefully left in the morning rush hour of the thirteenth in the hope the police would not spot the car until he was at least on the M62. In this way he believed it would make it more difficult for them to be able to pinpoint his whereabouts for the past 9 days without him informing them.

He was sure no-one had been shadowing him in York and reasonably sure that no electronic bugging had been used in the rented offices or the hotel. This, along with the aliases he had used when ordering the print and booking the offices made him feel reasonably confident of his anonymity while in York. Only Tony at the Ivy knew of his presence and he was a true, faithful friend, at least for now.

13
th
, December, Stockport Police Station.

Since December the 4
th
Major Rock and Sergeant Lawrence had been receiving reported sightings of Alan Johnson and following each lead, had proved time consuming, frustrating and fruitless. To date the car had never been seen but now a confirmed sighting had been made on the M1 southbound. The car had been followed at a safe distance onto the M62, the M60 and had been tailed to Sandiway in Bramhall.

“Our Mr Johnson is home,” smiled Lawrence, “where he’s been we still don’t know, but now he’s here; so why don’t we bloody well go and ask him?”

“Perhaps Sergeant, perhaps,” replied Rock and continued “some time ago I would have said no to that because if my hunches were correct I felt he may flee to the Middle East and be lost to us, but now I think differently. He knows he is being followed and that his house has been bugged. He even takes the tracker out of his car, then drives somewhere for nine days, becomes totally bloody invisible and then reappears. I believe he isn’t leaving because his job is not yet done here, so perhaps we should interview him and sooner rather than later. I think we should bring him in Sergeant. I think we should bring him in now and Jacky too. If he knows we are talking with Jacky it will increase the pressure on him.”

One telephone call to Commander Bagshaw was all that was needed to confirm the decision.

13
th
, December, Stockport Police Station.

“Major, we now have both Alan and Jacky in interview rooms one and two, who will you speak with first?”

“To Johnson Sergeant, and I want you with me. I want you to remain silent but to observe Johnson’s body language especially at the following points in the interview. Firstly I will mention the body in the sea below the White Dolphin hotel; secondly that an Englishman was observed with a group of other men at the Secret Garden restaurant who wore clip on sunglasses. The third point will be the different time of return of Alan and Jacky from their excursion in Rhodes. Were they together or did they part company for him to meet others? Still with me?” enquired Rock.

“Yes sir.”

“There are three other points of interest I will also mention, which are; one, where has he been for the past 9 days; two, that we are investigating whether known aliases used in Turkey were also used in Rhodes and three; that we are interviewing Jacky with regard to what happened on both the holiday in Turkey and the cruise. Your observations and the cameras might just give us a clue.”

“To what, sir?”

“To which part of this puzzle Johnson thinks is his weakest link. You know the six points?”

“Yes sir, I’ve made notes.”

“OK let’s go and see Johnson.”

Sergeant Lawrence and Rock entered the interview room and acknowledged Alan Johnson.

“Good Morning Mr Johnson, I am sorry to have disturbed your day but I am in need of some information which may help me in my enquiries. My name is Major Steven Rock and this is Sergeant Lawrence.”

Rock then read Johnson his rights, informed him the interview would be taped and asked if he was prepared to co-operate in the interview.

Alan Johnson affirmed the agreement but asked what it was all about.

“Mr Johnson, may I call you Alan?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you Alan. Quite some time ago the British authorities were alerted to a mysterious death in Turkey in a place called Olu Deniz, just above a restaurant called the White Dolphin. We now know the person in the car, who had no identity, was murdered by the use of a judo strangulation hold. Do you know the technique?”

“Yes I do, I trained in the SAS and I am certificated in the martial art of Ju Jitsu, but I’m sure you already know that.”

“I do Alan. I also know you were in that area of Turkey, staying at a resort called Sun City, at the same time as this man was murdered. Do you remember when you visited Turkey?”

“No, not exactly, but I can find out if you wish.”

“We already know.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“You went on the holiday with a lady called Jacky James who works at the Brown Cow in Stockport, is that correct?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Good, we don’t want to have the wrong lady in the next interview room, do we?”

Alan moved position slightly, smiled and replied, “She’s the lady who accompanied me.”

Rock was aware of two ice blue eyes looking directly at him.

“Do you wear sunglasses Alan?”

“Yes I do, when I need to.”

“What type are they?”

“Type, I don’t understand.”

“Let me explain. An Englishman bearing a description similar to yours was observed on at least two occasions having a meeting with three other men at a restaurant called, “The Secret Garden.” The Englishman wore clip on sunglasses over his every day glasses. Do you wear those?”

“Yes I do sometimes; I also have an ordinary pair of sunglasses but I have no idea which I took to Turkey, perhaps both,” he retorted.

“Thank you, now can I redirect our conversation for just a moment? You recently took a second holiday with Jacky, cruising in the Mediterranean,” he enquired.

“Yes I did.”

“On your return on December the 2
nd
you moved your car from the drive into your garage, for what purpose? “

Alan sipped a little water then responded, “Well, I decided to clean it, to give it a full valet.”

“I see, why a full valet?”

“I was going away in it the next day and I like things to be clean, neat and tidy.”

“Where did you go?”

“When, on the 4
th
.”

“Yes, on the 4
th
.”

“I’d prefer not to tell you and I do believe I have that right.”

“Of course you do, but it seems strange that you want to keep it a secret, have you something to hide?”

“Nothing to hide sir and yes I do want to keep it a secret.”

“Perhaps we’ll come back to that again later,” responded the Major who then changed the subject by asking, “when you and Jacky were on the cruise you left the ship for many daytime excursions and with only one exception you left together and returned together. Do you know which destination was the exception?”

“No I don’t.”

“The exception was Rhodes, where you returned far later than Jacky. Can you explain why?” quizzed Rock.

“I’ll need time to come back to you on that one, I don’t really know. Let me think about it please.”

“I really would like you to do that and to give me an answer before we terminate our interview,” snapped the Major as if giving an order.

“I will try, but what happens if I can’t answer you? What will you do then?” he looked intently at the Major. Now it was his turn to shift position.

“I’d find it difficult to understand why you can’t remember and log it for future reference. Perhaps Jacky will enlighten me.”

“Well perhaps she’ll know what we did that day and give you an answer Major,” he explained.

“I’m sure she will, I’m sure she will.”

Rock smiled at Alan, still observing his body language, then continued, “you may not know this but when you were in Turkey the man who was murdered drove from Syria with two others, all of whom were using false identities. Now these were the same men we think met with our Englishman on the island of Rhodes.” He paused and looked at Alan, trying to observe a reaction of some sort but saw nothing and continued, “We are now tracing all sea and air arrivals into Rhodes about the time of your ship’s arrival, to see if those same names arrived on the island.”

“To what end?” enquired Alan softly.

Rock looked intently at Johnson but observed no real body language change, “this guy is bloody good,” he thought then continued, “if we can place this Englishman with these others in Turkey and then the same two or three others in Rhodes it becomes more certain that meetings were arranged and took place. Some may also consider it more than a coincidence that you were in both locations at the same time.”

“Yes, I understand, but so what?”

“I’m still looking for a murder suspect.”

“Well yes, but that could have been anyone.”

“Anyone who is skilled in Ju Jitsu, who was in Olu Deniz at the time and who associated with three others while there. Some may also consider it to be more than just chance, if these same people were then found to be in Rhodes together.”

“It’s still all circumstantial Major.”