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At the End of a Van is a Rainbow

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The meeting with the Chief Superintendent lasted longer than intended. Martinez had a few further questions about how Lynley was cooperating with Morton's team and how he was coping with the situation in general. When Cass returned she saw a few printouts of faces on the white board and pins in the map at the wall.

Tommy sat at a desk and gloomily stared into the void. He looked up and nodded at her unspoken question if he would be able to pull himself up and get on with what was necessary.

"Perfect." she said, and then addressed her team. "Well, what did you find?"

During his research Tommy had found that Andrew Bond did not have his birthday today. Of course it would have been a weird coincidence anyway that it could be Barbara's Andrew. Another small hope in Tommy's mind that it could have been a bad birthday joke from a friend ended up in smoke.

Apart from that, Bond could be the clown nonetheless. As well as the other men. Their top suspect turned out to be William McGuire, because they had found him in police data for minor drug crimes, such as dealing with dope. But his address was in Bexleyheath, so first to be visited would actually be Tommy's first choice, Andrew Bond, a banker, who lived closest to the Met.

Just to be sure they informed patrol cars in Bexleyheath to have an open eye for the van near McGuire's house. The officers were advised strictly to only call if they see the van but under no circumstances do anything without the Detectives or backup, not even get out of the car to look for the flag stickers. They should not raise any suspicion before Morton's team would have checked the other two van owners.

After Bond, DI Morton's team would go to Nolan Stevens in Belsize Park. He was a mechanic and it was highly unlikely that a simple mechanic would be able to have a home in that area. His income could be from ransom money, Tommy supposed.

"Apropos, they should have called me for ransom demand by now." he muttered.

"You?!" McCormick asked with a chuckle.


Tommy's head shot up from his monitor. He sharply inhaled and slowly breathed out before he gave a biting explanation. "You might know by now, McCormick, that Barbara and I are not just colleagues but very close friends. And office gossip could have made you hear about her family situation. As far as I know she currently is not in a relationship with anyone. So I don't believe that it's so unthinkable that therefore I am the ICE contact on her mobile. So they probably will call me. Or did you hear about any other reported call that we probably would have been informed of?"

The addressed almost ducked away. "No, Sir." he flatly replied. But when DI Lynley had turned his attention back to the file with the gathered information about the van owners, McCormick muttered an ironic "Yeah, currently..." under his breath.

Lynley looked up again but before this could end up in an argument Cass intervened. "Now, McCormick, what about that woman, Elsbeth Zimmerman?" she sharply asked and the men returned to what was really important.

"Unpromising." McCormick answered. The fourth van owner, Elsbeth Zimmerman, was 85 years old and owned a small business for house painting and decorating. The vans on her website all had a logo so they put her to the bottom of Lynley's list. It was unlikely although there still was the chance that she also had a van without a logo and someone could have used it.

Then there was Tim Clemence, who lived in Greenwich and was a teacher with a good reputation. He probably was not the one they looked for. And Georgina Cook was a busy bee in social media, posting her van that was painted with flowers by now. She definitely was off the list.

"Okay, then it's Bond first." Cass decided after a look at the huge map on the wall.

DI Lynley, DI Morton, DS Thakur as well as two DCs and four uniformed colleagues set off. They were expecting everything because it was the abduction of a policewoman they were investigating. They did not drive with sirens or blue lights but the more help there was the better they would be able to handle every possible situation.


After checking all warrant cards fastidiously, the uniformed concierge of the Perspective Building sent them to the 19th floor. Andrew Bond opened the door already in his pyjamas and a silken dressing gown, but he was completely cooperative. He let them check all rooms of his penthouse apartment and after that he willingly led them to his van in the basement car park. It stood there with two flat tyres and a horribly dented side.

"Unusable for three months already." Bond explained with annoyance. "The insurance companies don't manage to come to an agreement."

Apart from that there also were no stickers at its rear side. It definitely was not the one they looked for. Bond was a blind alley.

Tommy was entirely angry with the situation, so he almost stormed off without a thanking word and already sat in Morton's car when Cass and Raj arrived. He had typed Nolan Stevens' address into the sat nav while waiting and his eyes were glued to the little monitor for a while. He still stared on it when Cass climbed in behind him. Although it was her place in the front where Tommy now was, she let it pass without a comment. She had seen the blue line on the map of the sat nav.


They had to drive through Camden and then passed Chalk Farm. Tommy kept looking out of the side window and gnashed his teeth. When they came past the Prince of Wales Road, he sighed. The certainty that she would not open her door if he would drop by at her flat now was billowing through his body like a thick, toxic fog.

Still without sirens or blue lights they arrived in Belsize Park after about 30 minutes. They blocked the road with their cars because there was no way to park properly. And no time in fact. It was late enough. Tommy looked at his watch and then up and down the road with neat red brick houses with white washed top floor walls. A lot of cars were parked there but no white van.

DI Morton knocked at Stevens' door and a young woman opened.

"Good evening, Miss." Cass said and introduced herself. All three held up their warrant cards since it was mandatory but the young woman appeared unimpressed by the detectives on her doorstep. "Is this where Nolan Stevens lives?"

The addressed woman nodded. "Yes. Why?"

"And you are?"

"Nathalie Stevens. His daughter. Is he in trouble?"

"We only have a few urgent questions. Is he at home?"

"No, but I can call him."

"No, thanks." DI Morton quickly answered. "It's important that he's unbiased when we talk to him. Can we come in, Ms Stevens? We have a few further questions."

"Sure."

The woman opened the door and let the Detectives come in. They walked past a packed bag in the hall. It was recognised by all detectives.

Nathalie was as cooperative as Bond was. She even let them look around in the house although before that she had asked if they would not need a search warrant. "Or something."

"When you allow us to have a look into the rooms, then it's not necessary. Be assured, we're not about to open drawers."

"Well, then... okay."


While the two DCs went upstairs and the DS looked into the rooms downstairs, DI Morton asked her a few further questions about the van, which was confirmed to be in the man's possession and it had dark rear windows but other than that Nathalie did not know of any specifics or stickers. They had questions about Nathalie herself, who was a student in Oxford and just came home for the weekend, and of course about where Nolan could be, but of that she had absolutely no idea.

"But wait. Umm... he didn't know I'd come home. I haven't even called him yet." she explained. "I think he's on some party with Juma, his husband. I vaguely remember him mentioning something like that. In Hampstead, with John and Mary. I really could call him and ask."

"No!" Tommy exclaimed too fast for Cass to give a more polite answer. Of ourse he had heard that Stevens was married to a man. In fragments of a second he had realised that this would fit to the rainbow sticker above the rear wiper.

"No, thank you." Morton said. She still was calm although she had come to the same conclusion. "It's really important that we talk to him without prior knowledge that we'd come." The other detectives came down the stairs and shook their heads to signalise that the man was not at home. "But do you perhaps have the address?"

"Sure. Well, not so sure, to be honest. I believe it's Redington Road."

"Do you have a name, other than John and Mary?"

"Err... sorry, no. I also don't know the number, but I've been there once. The house where I think my dad is, is two houses to the right of a very modern cube and it looks directly into another lane. Really, I could call and ask where he is. I don't have to tell him that he's wanted by police."

She pulled her mobile phone out of the pockets of her jeans.

"He's not wanted, Ma'am. We just have to talk to him." Still Tommy could barely speak calmly. "And that as soon as possible."


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