The Keepers of the Persian Gate (31 page)

In the weeks and months that had followed the laying to rest of the Mechanic, a high street bank in London had reported some unusual activity in the bank account of the medical officer who had carried out the initial autopsy. This in turn led to an intervention by the Assets Recovery Agency, who launched a brief investigation into the medical officer. Without knowing any of the contextual background, the ARA discovered that significant quantities of money were being transferred to his account via a savings account located in Paris. When the money was transferred in instalments to the high street bank in London, the owner of the account - namely, the medical officer - was lifting out the maximum available amounts from ATMs across the City of London. However, due to the fact that there was no evidence of foul play, the investigation was dropped shortly thereafter, and the file closed.

Nevertheless, the Brennan Inquiry took a significant interest in these financial irregularities, and in November 2011 the Inquiry asked the ARA to trace the source of the Paris transfers. The ARA were able to open a line of communication with the Federal Intelligence Service in Switzerland who ascertained (albeit unofficially) that a Geneva bank had acted as a conduit for the transfers. However, the source of the money itself was Tehran.

Accordingly, under the London Burial Act 1857, the Inquiry ordered the corpse of the Mechanic to be exhumed for a further autopsy. Unsurprisingly, the second autopsy came to a very different conclusion to that of the original, and a warrant was made out for the arrest of the original medical officer. However, he too seemed to have disappeared. It turned out that the corpse in the Mechanic’s cell had been dead for quite some time prior to the fire. Given that the Governor of Belmarsh was a member of the Keepers of the Persian Gate and had also vanished on the same day of the fire, the Brennan Inquiry concluded that the Mechanic was still very much at large.

The final prong of the Inquiry focussed on the disappearance of Abdullah Atwah. The Inquiry had heard evidence from Paddy and others that the Mechanic had stated in that Atwah was also a member of the Keepers of the Persian Gate. When the Jihadi Knights left the court room on that fateful Sunday in August, both Tony Morley and Prince Hector swore that Atwah was still in the courtroom. Therefore, the question turned on how he could have escaped.

When Paddy took the court through his recollection of the day’s events, he referred to the moments after he got shot. He told the Inquiry how just before he lost consciousness he saw an unmarked helicopter flying over the atrium of the court. However, this in itself was a strange recollection, because no one who was part of the Army response on that day remembered any helicopters flying overhead until after Prince Hector and Paddy had left the building. Therefore, the Inquiry resolved to report on the matter pending further investigations into the subject.

The ISC and Investigatory Powers Tribunal investigation of MI5 was a bit slower moving. Nevertheless, several key figures within the organisation had appeared to fall on their swords, taking early retirement all at once following the commencement of the investigation. This was seemingly another very convenient set of circumstances. Paddy also learned through unofficial channels, that numerous Senior Partners within Sefton & Grey had negotiated severance packages. To Paddy’s dismay, the packages contained guarantees from the government that if any of them were found to be involved in the conspiracy they would be immune from prosecution.

Meanwhile, Jeff Bowers was seconded in from MI6 to act as the ISCs counter-espionage investigator. When the dust had settled, the ISC also reran their tender process for the now infamous legal service contracts. Unsurprisingly, the two firms that came joint top were Dunlop & McLaine and Sefton & Grey. However, when asked to provide presentations to the procurement panel, Dunlop & McLaine just managed to clinch it.

Back in the United States, Robert Jackson had long since been buried and received full military honours during his funeral. In the aftermath of his death, the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom Sydney Hurd travelled to Washington to meet with his counterpart, the Secretary of State. The outcome of this conversation was a resolution that deeper cooperation would be encouraged between the CIA and MI6 in security matters, and that the ISC would be recognised in the US as having overarching authority over domestic agencies within the UK. Arnold McGregor was interviewed and appointed as Jackson’s replacement in the NSA.

***

Thursday 1 December, 2011

Paddy had just sat down at his desk. Adam Scott had relocated to Mark’s old office, and from the annex, Paddy could make out that Scott had also just arrived into work.

“Hi, Adam.”

“Well, Mr. Trimble, how are you?” asked Scott.

“Struggling a bit with this new client in Cape Verde. I get that he wants to transfer all his assets, but I have noticed some inconsistencies in his documents.”

“Such as?”

“Well, in this first Cayman account, his name is down as Francis Rainey who is British. However, when he’s transferring his assets, it’s to an Andrew Millar who is apparently American,” said Paddy.

“Hmmm,” pondered Scott.

“And that’s not the only inconsistency. The birth certificates of the wife and children; the date of births are out of sync with the citizenship applications for Cape Verde,” said Paddy.

“That is odd. Well, he’s a new client. I guess we should make a courtesy call,” said Scott.

“Cool, I’ll get the telephone, what’s his number on the page there?” said Paddy.

“No, no, I meant let’s go to Cape Verde,” said Scott.

“What, now?” replied Paddy in surprise.

“Sure, you haven’t got any plans for the next few days, do you?” said Scott.

“No,” admitted Paddy.

***

Some eighteen hours later, Paddy and Scott stepped off a plane into a climate that was the opposite of London’s. Being located off the coast of Africa, Cape Verde was basking in blistering heat at that time of year. Their new client, Andrew Millar, lived on the luxurious Santa Maria beach in a seven-bedroom condominium. After going through passport control and making their way across the island in a very hot taxi with no air conditioning, Paddy and Scott arrived at Millar’s house.

Paddy noticed a Six Nations rugby ball on the front lawn. “That’s odd.”

“What’s that?” said Scott.

“Don’t know too many Americans who would have the official Six Nations Rugby ball. I think they’re only sold in Europe,” noted Paddy.

As Scott knocked on the door he turned to Paddy and smiled. “Who said anything about this client being American?”

The door opened and a maid brought them into the dining area overlooking the beach. Paddy glanced around the room. He noticed that the room was adorned with paintings of battle scenes from the days of the Persian Empire. Taking pride of place was a large Persian rug which depicted various attacks on Alexander the Great’s many Acropolises. Paddy felt certain he had seen something like this before, if he could only remember where.

Then walking around the corner, was a man that Paddy recognised from some months before. It was Brigadier Lancelot. “I told you I had a feeling we would meet again, Mr. Trimble.”

“Ah, yes, Adam, this is Brigadier Lancelot,” said Paddy.

“He knows who I am, Paddy,” replied Scott.

“I see you were admiring the artwork,” said Lancelot. “You know, this rug cost your client a pretty penny. It shows how Alexander would regularly pierce into Persian lines and build his Acropolis. That Acropolis would then splinter the enemy line, causing it to falter and disperse. To build an Acropolis in someone else’s territory is therefore an act of war, would you not agree? And if that’s the case, one could argue that it stands contrary to peace, does it not?”

“I suppose,” said Paddy.

“So, I guess what he’s really trying to say is that the Keepers of the Persian Gate made a mistake getting involved with the Acropolis, didn’t they?” said Scott.

Paddy looked intrigued. “Go on.”

“So now they need a new partner in the West, someone they can trust implicitly. Someone who will also fight for peace and freedom,” said Brigadier Lancelot.

“Will you join the Round Table, Mr. Trimble?” A familiar voice came from behind Paddy.

Paddy turned, and standing there in the middle of the room was what appeared to be William Dunlop, surrounded by his family.

**THE END**