The Audi's passengers listened as the controller advised that Nobriega's flight had landed at RAF Lyneham. "Repatriation ceremonies completed, sir."
"Advise status of cortege and location of Colonel Nobriega, please."
They listened as the controller queried others in the control room. "The cortege is presently entering Wootton Bassett for repatriation ceremonies, sir. Colonel Nobriega is en route to London, sir. He's in one of our escorting police cars."
"Good man. Get a message to him to meet us at Sir William's residence. Iron Hammer out." Ronan hung up and dialed again. "Edmond, is that you?"
"Yes, sir." Sir William's manservant responded with obvious relief in his voice. "Is Sir William with you?"
"Yes. There will be four for breakfast. Strong coffee, please."
"Sir ..." Edmond's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Speak up, man!" Sir William ordered from the back seat.
"Lady Catherine was here, sir!"
"Oh God! What did she want? Did you tell her I'm in Timbuktu as I told you to?" the elderly baronet snarled.
"To speak to you and she says she'll be back later."
A low beeping emanated from the car's speakers.
"We'll be there in five minutes, Edmond. Have to go. Radio transmission incoming." Ronan swerved, hung up and answered the radio call in a series of smooth movements. "Iron Hammer."
"Delta Tango Four Zephyr, sir. We have been advised that you would like to know status of our passenger."
"Reroute your passenger to 12 Charles Street, Mayfair. Provide ETA."
"Forty-five minutes ETA as soon as we are relieved by Thames Police in seven minutes. Shall we proceed with full kit, sir?" the voice of the police driver eagerly requested permission to proceed with lights and sirens engaged.
"Permission granted. Advise dispatcher. Iron Hammer out."
From the back seat, Sir William braced himself against the car motions. "Ronan, you are enjoying yourself much too much. Are you strapped in, my dear?"
"Yes, thank you, sir."
"I'm not enjoying myself as much as you obviously are with Lady Catherine, you serial philanderer!" Ronan engaged the car's warning lights and siren.
"Ignore him, Inspector. He's being melodramatic and a philanderer is serial, you intellectual peasant. Now let's recap." Sir William retrieved his notebook as the Audi growled. "We have a victim that doesn't exit, an accused who has died while enjoying Her Majesty's hospitality. From what we can tell, he was the only prisoner to have the halal vaccine. We also know that the telephone records have been scrubbed and our security and commercial databases have been breached. This all smacks of very powerful opponents who are covering their tracks."
**
The two police officers listened while performing their other tasks. Alexandra was typed rapidly into her laptop as Ronan focused on avoiding the rush hour traffic via a series of side streets and laneways.
"Got it!"
"What?" Both men immediately responded.
"There really is a halal meningitis vaccine. It was developed by Malaysia and Cuba in 2005. It doesn't have the pig products. A dozen vials were issued to the prison yesterday. Only one was used"
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The Shaddad Conspiracy
Adventure“Your murder victim was not an innocent, naive woman. She was on our terrorist watch list. The fact that she escaped from Basra and lived a normal life in London buggers belief, but she was planted here by a foreign government to wreck the Taliban p...
Chapter 7: Excess testosterone meets excess estrogen
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