X Marks the Spot

10 - Undercover

The first of five days had begun at roughly eight o'clock for Grayson and Justin. Grayson had picked Justin up from his flat, just as he had promised. As soon as Justin had opened the door to Grayson, he asked what they were doing and where they were going. Grayson had told Justin to be patient and be ready.

Now, Grayson was driving them to their mysterious destination, and Justin couldn't hold his inquiries in any longer. He turned in his seat to face Grayson, whose face was full of determination and concentration as he focused on the road.

"So," Justin asked, "were you actually planning on telling me where we're going?"

Grayson didn't take his eyes off the road. "There's a factory just outside of town. That's where we're going to start."

If Grayson's research was correct, the factory that they were headed towards produced chemicals such as silver, and there was a chance that X had bought the silver from the factory or one of the companies that the factory had sold the silver to. If so, they could ask the manager a few questions to find out who could possibly have access to colloidal silver. He explained all of this to Justin on the journey, which turned out to be shorter than he expected.

"Isn't this kind of risky?"

"How is it risky?" Grayson asked.

"There's gotta be some kind of security there. And you think the manager's just going to answer all of our questions? We're nobody important - we're not with the police, we have no authorisation of any kind..."

"Look, just follow my lead. Worst case scenario, we can try to talk to some employees on their way out of the factory. Pretend we're doing a survey or something."

Justin didn't like it, but he went along with it anyway.

Grayson wasn't particularly keen on the idea himself, but what else could they do? If X had bought colloidal silver in the area, it would have come from this factory in one way or another. And Grayson knew he was in the area, as X had never killed victims outside of south-east England. He thought it was safe to assume that the killer was pretty close by.

Grayson preferred things to be calculated and methodical. He didn't like his plan to improvise, but what else did he have? Justin clearly didn't think it was a good idea, but at the same time, Grayson knew Justin was trusting him to fix things if they went wrong. He was the one calling the shots and directing them through the investigation, so he had to take some responsibility.

They approached the factory. It wasn't particularly big, and there was no security as Justin had anticipated. Grayson tried the front door tentatively, and it swung open. No alarms, no guards. They heard the sound of heavy machinery and another door opening. A short bald man walked through, holding a thick wad of papers.

Grayson took initiative. "Excuse me, sir? Are you the manager?"

"Yes. Never mind me, what about you? You're -" he paused to check his watch. "Almost ten minutes late! What are you still doing in here? Get in there and get to work."

Grayson and Justin exchanged bewildered looks.

"You are the new workers, aren't you?"

"Yes," Grayson said. "Yes, of course we are!" He spoke with such confidence that the manager seemed embarrassed to have even asked the question.

"My apologies. We've taken on quite a number of new employees in the last week. Okay, you'll need aprons, which are through that door on the left. Toilets on the right, and everyone else has started already... Just through the double doors, you'll find your way from there. I'm sorry there isn't time for a tour - got a lot to do today..."