The following morning, Meninda had woken him early, advising him that breakfast would be ready when he arrived in the kitchen. He wore his muggle clothing of a plain blue T-shirt, jeans and trainers. His black suit was consigned to the closet.
After breakfast, he used the floo network to get to a quiet Diagon Alley. From there, he walked to Scotland Yard, enjoying the half-hour walk, much better than catching the tube. The main doors at Scotland Yard opened for him as he arrived. He assumed his notebook did the opening, not realising the AI had been watching his movements for some time. Inside, he stopped at the door to the station and found the smiling desk sergeant staring at him from the display. A friendly face, he thought, as he held his card up to the screen.
"DCI Garrett, I'm not being rude, but how the hell did you get a rank that high? You're just out of school." He said from the display.
"I'm not just out of school, I look young because I have good genes, and the rank is honorary while I'm liaising with the police."
The sergeant smiled and nodded. "Would you object to me giving you a little advice?" He asked from the screen. Tony nodded, not understanding where this was going. "When you meet DCI Croft, be prepared to duck."
"Why?" His confusion deepened.
"Scotland Yard went into lock-down for about ten minutes this morning, for only the second time in seven years. Apparently, he did something that caused it. No idea what it was, but he'll be in a foul mood and when he is in a foul mood, people around him suffer." He smiled. "Have a nice day." Tony held his card towards the camera and the door buzzed, signalling it was open. He smiled back as he headed into the building, with apprehension building in his stomach.
The door opened for him. He found Adam sitting on a chair with his feet up on the table, staring at the electronic board, deep in thought. He dropped into the chair next to him.
"You're early. I didn't expect to see you until at least eight." He looked at Tony's choice of clothing and nodded. He was expecting him to be angry, but he didn't seem to be.
"London is nice early in the morning, and I enjoyed the walk. I always thought London was very much busier, though."
"London is nowhere near as crowded as it once was. Most people work from home or spend their time in virtual realities."
Tony waited for Adam to continue, but he seemed to slump into introspection. "I have two questions?" Adam looked over and nodded for him to continue. "First, what do you mean by people being in virtual realities?"
Adam laughed for a moment. "I find it hard to believe your knowledge of technology is so lacking."
"Until now, I never needed to know."
Adam shook his head in bemusement. "Most people work and play in virtual computer-generated worlds. The Evob is a virtual reality of sorts. What the hell did you do as a kid?"
"I went to school." He replied, confused.
Adam looked at him. "I assume this is the private school you went to?" Tony nodded back.
"They use haptic gloves," he continued, "and headsets, and sometimes complete bodysuits, that put them in the world of their choosing."
Tony didn't understand much of what Adam was telling him. "What's wrong with this world?" He asked, realising he knew nothing of this world, one he was supposed to be comfortable with.
Adam shook his head. "Virtual reality is addictive, I know, having tried it. It has made the police officer's life a lot easier. Most streets are almost empty, crime is down. Drug offences are down. House burglary is almost unheard of. You can't steal something that knows it's being stolen and will tell everyone where it is." He leant back a little further. "However, Cybercrime is now huge. People will do almost anything to get their fix of virtual reality." Tony looked at Adam and realised he didn't understand what he was talking about. "When we get a break, we can drop into a Cyber café and try out the virtual head-wear."
"I'd rather not. I'm confused enough with this world, I don't need another one. Although, I seem to remember my father mentioning using virtual software from time to time."
"Fair enough. What was the second question?"
Tony paused, not knowing what to expect. "What does lockdown mean?" He asked, waiting for an explosion of some sort.
Adam did not reply at first, giving Tony the chance to study the huge display board, which now included all the information they had.
"There is no apparent connection between these people," Adam continued. "Apart from the three women found in the locked room in the same London flat." He said after a while. "No cause of death, no marks, no access to the room from outside. I would normally assume that these were all suicides if they were in separate places, but in the same room, no." He looked at Tony. "What are you going to tell me about this?" He asked.
Tony realised he wouldn't be getting an answer to his question just yet. "Elfrida Hedgecock, female, found in a ministry broom closet where she worked. The door was locked, and the key was in her pocket." He wanted to explain further about keys, but refrained.
"Cause of death?"
"No Idea on any of them," Tony said, shrugging, knowing he had just lied yet again. "Number two is Ninian Ferhe, male, found in a locked room in a village called Lykkeligdal. He rented a room at the local inn. The innkeeper found him in the morning, again in another locked room."
"Where's that village?"
"It's on the Swedish and Norwegian border."
"Why are we interested in a murder from another country?"
"Ninian Ferhe was one of ours."
"What does 'one of ours' mean?"
"None of your business."
"Murder is my business, and it is currently my job, as it is yours," Adam said. Tony could hear the concealed anger in his voice.
"Let's say they work for the ministry and leave it at that."
"As you wish." He said.
An uneasy silence descended on the room as a message appeared on the display, saying that Ninian Ferhe and Elfrida Hedgecock were 'Persons Unknown.'
"One more thing." Adam waited. "The unknown dead woman was one of ours. Her name is Argonia Huxley."
Adam said nothing, picked up his notebook and tapped on the display before setting it down on the table. A few seconds later, the notebook beeped and 'Person Unknown' appeared on the wall display.
"None of these people are on any databases. Any idea why?" Tony shook his head. "Are they spooks?"
"They are now," Tony said, confused by the question.
Adam gave Tony a strange look. "No, are they, spies, because that could be the only reason they are not in any database?"
Tony shook his head, realising by the look on Adam's face he'd slipped up again.
"So these people aren't spies?" He asked, staring at Tony, who nodded again. Adam continued to stare for a moment before slipping his feet off the desk and standing.
"It's very hard to work with someone who won't tell you what they know." Adam touched his notebook again, and another picture appeared on the display. "Want to try explaining that?" This one showed a railway platform with four people moving as a group. In the lead was a young Tony pushing a full luggage cart.
"You had a normal life until just after your eleventh birthday." Tony could think of nothing to say, even though Adam was not giving him time to think, let alone talk. "You disappeared. Let me guess, your mother and father." He touched the display on either person. "I assume this is your sister?" He touched the picture of a teenage girl at the rear, looking like any other teenage girl, full of attitude.
"If I get the chance, I will explain. I promise." He said, trying to stop this from going any further.
"I haven't finished."
"I have. That was the last time my sister and I ever spoke properly." Anger tinged his voice.
"Why is that? She is alive and well with her husband and five-year-old daughter?"
Tony stood up. "A Daughter who I have never met."
Adam spotted the anger in his voice. "I can find almost identical images, minus your sister, four times a year. They show you leaving and arriving. You did not leave the country, passport control confirms this. You have never bought a train ticket, nor have your parents. Records confirm this." Tony's mind was running at full steam trying to think up a sensible reason for the pictures, but he had none. "You don't have a credit card, a driving licence or a bank account." Adam stepped back, giving Tony a strange look before he sat back down. "Are you going to explain any of this, because I have dredged up so much information about you, and none of it makes any sense?"
"Where did you get this from?" Surprise finally gave way to resignation as he sat down. "I'm not under investigation."
"No, you're not, but I need to know who I am working with. Can I trust them? Do they have the skills to do the job?" He turned to face Tony. "Currently, you are mister fucking nobody. You have no idea how close you were to being arrested when you walked into the building this morning."
"Why would I be arrested? I've not broken any laws?" He exclaimed in shock.
"I agree, you haven't, but when I asked for a background check on you because you were so forthcoming yesterday, the AI that runs the police networks almost had an electronic heart attack."
"I don't understand?"
"You have a made-up background, one that is so transparently thin, that it would, under normal circumstances, be dismissed out of hand. According to the records supplied by your Ministry, you leave the country regularly, but you don't even have a current passport. The AI looked at the information it had found and decided you were a terrorist of some sort, and you had been given access right inside the heart of the place it is supposed to protect."
"Can I assume this is what caused this lockdown?" Adam's head nodded. "What happens now?" He asked, wondering where this was going, as all the things he had shown him were correct, but he could explain none of it.
"Nothing happens. Luckily, you have a free pass from your Ministry. A lot of phone calls were made this morning, by me, my Super, and the Commissioner, and I suspect a lot of other people." A grin appeared on Adam's face. "It's good for the entire station to get a little jumpy from time to time, and they did this morning." Adam waited, giving Tony time to answer. He waited for what he thought was enough time. "I assume no explanations are forthcoming?"
"I can't tell you at the moment. If I am given permission to tell you, I will do so without hesitation." Adam nodded, letting it go for now. Adam knew politics was playing a hand. He'd been down this road before, many times.
"How come you've never met your sister's baby?"
"She lives in Copenhagen and I've sort of been out of contact. I haven't seen my parents since before Christmas," Tony answered, happy now he was on a subject he could talk about.
"Do you need time to see her?"
"Good grief no," He replied, noting the incredulous look on Adams' face, he continued. "My sister would not appreciate me turning up unannounced. It's better I keep away for now."
They both sat back down. The uneasy silence continued while they stared at the board. "What do our victims have in common?" Adam asked, more to himself than Tony. "Apart from looking like suicides on their own. We need to look at the evidence a little more closely."
"Can we look at the crime scene we saw yesterday?" Tony asked, wanting to use his own methods of investigation.
"No. As soon as the forensic scans are complete, the crime scene is cleared and handed back to the owner. I expect someone has already moved in."
Tony mentally swore. "A flat like that must cost a lot to rent." He asked.
"Around three hundred thousand a year, plus ancillaries, whatever the hell they are." He'd checked this by himself as he spoke without looking at his tablet.
"Could any of our dead people afford those prices?"
Adam thought for a moment. "Not the first two women."
"I'm sure Huxley couldn't either. Who was paying for the flat then?"
Adam looked at Tony for a moment before reaching over and picking his notebook up again. He spoke into it for a moment before dropping it back on the table as a new message appeared.
"Seems our flat was rented by an unknown Ministry department." He looked at Tony. "I wonder which one that is."
Tony said nothing in return, feeling sick. "I meant to ask the ministry about this recording business. When I do, I'll see if they know about this flat."
"Good point. Ring from here." He pointed at the huge display. "I'm going upstairs to have a word with the commissioner and hopefully calm him down." He got up and left before Tony replied.
He stood up and looked at the wall-sized display before pulling the notebook from his pocket. He held it up in front of him.
"How the hell do I call the ministry?" He asked himself aloud.
"Calling the Ministry." A female voice said from his phone. He swore to himself as he realised the phone could hear his every word. It was ringing someone at a Ministry he knew nothing about. He tapped the screen, trying to elicit a response from it.
The strange warbling noise coming from the display in front of him went quiet. He stopped panicking, thinking he had turned the phone off somehow.
"Good morning, Mr Garrett. I'm Botilda, your Ministry liaison. How can I help?" Tony attempted to freeze and jump at the same time as a woman's face, in black and white, larger than life, appeared on the display. She was smiling at him from the centre of a halo of frizzy hair.
Tony's mind had just about given up and gone out for lunch at this point. "You know who I am?" He asked.
"Of course I do. I'm your caseworker. Is anything the matter, Mr Garrett?"
Tony's mind was still refusing to help. "What branch of the Ministry do you work for?" He asked, unable to think of anything clever without giving himself away again.
"Mr Garrett, I am aware of your case and some problems you could be facing." She replied.
"Muggles." He said aloud, hoping this would produce a response, which he hoped would help somehow.
"Are they causing you trouble, Mr Garrett?" Tony felt his whole body relax.
"Ministry of Magic." He relaxed as he remembered where he knew this woman from. She appeared at the end of every school year. For the life of him, he couldn't remember why.
"Yes," she replied, doubt in her voice.
"I have a problem with muggle police procedure."
"Really," she said, sounding altogether far too excited, "please explain?" She leant forwards, making her head bulge towards him.
"Muggle police carry monitoring and recording equipment with them at all times." He waved his notebook at her image. "As I am working with them on a Muggle murder case, I have to wear the same recording equipment."
"Refuse."
"I can't, it's Muggle law."
"Perhaps you can wait and destroy the recording at a later date?" She moved back from the screen.
"No, all recordings are in real-time and saved to the cloud." She looked at him blankly. "It means that the device I'm expected to carry at all times is recording everything. This is sent to a database that the Muggles have access to, and I have no control over."
"What sort of information are we talking about?"
"Like when you take a memory, only it's constant, and it includes this conversation. Also, I think my location is monitored at all times."
"The Ministry can't allow that." She said with finality.
"However," continued Tony, "it's Muggle law that everything is recorded and while I am working with the police, I have to follow Muggle law." He was getting annoyed.
"What are you going to do?"
"That's the reason I'm calling you," Tony replied, realising she didn't know what to do.
"I'll talk to one of the Ministers."
"In that case, I will carry on as I am, until you have spoken to a minister and sorted something out. One more thing, someone at the Ministry is renting a flat in the Soho area of London, I need to know who it is, who's been living there and why?" He did not give her a chance to reply as he touched the display in the same way he watched Adam do. The display blanked out. He sat down and breathed a huge sigh of relief as he realised he'd just made his first phone call, and he had not dropped himself in it yet, he hoped.
He was still sitting, looking at the floor a few minutes later when Adam came back in.
"Any luck?" He asked, looking at the blank screen.
"Yes, I got through to the ministry, but they seemed a little confused by this recording business, so they've gone away to think about it."
Adam dropped into a chair. "The commissioner rang a number he'd been given and seemed to get a similar response."
Tony shrugged. "I've told them I will continue recording until I get an answer."
"Probably for the best."
"What was the meeting with the commissioner about?"
"This morning's lockdown. I explained what I did, and he just laughed." Adam sat down, a frown clouding his face. "Back to the Evob."
They stood in an empty room again; the walls covered with pleasant wallpaper. The windows were bare, but dirty on the outside. The white wooden painted floor was brushed clean. Against the far wall was an outline on the floor and up the wall in white tape.
"This is the room where Marc Ewan was discovered."
"What's the white stuff?"
"The outline shows where the body was found." Adam looked at Tony, wondering why he wouldn't know this.
"Weird shape."
"Room, overlay body of Marc Ewan." Adam pulled out his notebook, the clear plastic display lit up with text scrolling down it. "The body was found in a sitting position, back against the wall." He looked at Tony, then at the body before continuing. "Legs straight out in front fully dressed and hair combed. The clothes and shoes were clean, including the soles." He looked up at Tony again. "No cause of death has been found. The toxicology report states, no drugs or alcohol abuse, he didn't vape, fairly fit. Last meal was probably the day before; fish and potatoes, most likely fish and chips." Adam paused for a moment. "He was twenty-one, not married, lives with his girlfriend and several cats further up the coast, possibly in Anglesea."
"Looks like he was posed like the others," Tony said from the rear of the room.
"The three bodies at Soho were positioned after death, this man has not been moved since his death."
"Why would you clean the bottom of someone's shoes? Did the other three have shoes cleaned this way?"
"I can have someone check, but the main reason for cleaning the shoes and clothes is a way of hiding evidence on where they have been, removing mud, seeds and fibres etcetera." This information told Tony that the killer or killers had a better knowledge of Muggle police methods than he did.
Adam went back to the phone. "According to records, the flat had been empty for about three months. No cleaning had been completed since the last people moved out. Mr Ewan signed a rental contract for the flat three weeks ago. The owner said he didn't know when he moved in." He said, still reading from the screen.
"Where does the owner live?" Tony asked.
"The other side of Conwy, about ten miles away and has an alibi."
"Does the girlfriend have an alibi?"
Adam looked around. "Can't find her. We know nothing about her, not even a name."
"So we don't know whether he moved in or whether he was alone, or had visitors?"
Adam smiled. "First, no furniture." He gestured around the empty room. "Second, he had neighbours. A woman was seen coming here the day before he was found. Long flowing dress, many colours, bohemian in style."
"Bohemian?" He asked.
"Witchy," Adam replied. "High lace-up boots, a black felt hat with a wide brim which covered her face from above. The neighbour in the flat above saw her."
"Where I come from, that style of dress is common," Tony said with resignation.
"Where do you come from?"
"London, then switching between Birmingham and Copenhagen until boarding school. My father moved for work. The demise of the petrol engine made many people move."
"I know, I was one of them, and you know that wasn't what I meant," Adam said, going back to his notebook, catching sight of Tony's smile. "According to the coroner, the time of death coincides with this woman's arrival." He continued. "At least we know the murderer was a woman."
Tony closed his eyes, knowing Adam could be wrong, but unable to tell him he was, and even worse, unable to explain why.
"Who found the body?" He asked while Adam continued to stare at his phone.
"Good question." He interrogated his tablet again. "According to the local police who found the body, they were contacted by the woman who lives in flat twelve, a Mrs Jones, would you believe." Adam looked at him knowingly, Tony nodded back, not understanding what the hell he was talking about. "Her flat is directly above this one. After the Hippy woman arrived, she said she could hear a man and a woman almost screaming at each other, followed by a loud crashing or popping noise, with a bright flash of light."
"And it was the following day before the police turned up to investigate?" Tony asked, stopping what he was doing, and turned to Adam.
"No. She didn't report the issue until the next morning because she hadn't heard a single noise since. Also, she stated that she never saw the woman leave."
There were no surprises for Tony in this information. "She said the popping noise was before the bright flash?"
"What the hell difference does it make?" Adam asked, frowning at Tony.
"I would expect the popping noise to occur at the same time as the bright flash."
"No guns were found, and no sign of any shooting taking place. Also, the dead man doesn't have a mark on his body."
"I'm just running ideas through my head."
Adam thought about this for a moment and assumed that in this industry, that might mean something.
"Why Copenhagen?" He asked after a moment.
"What?"
"Why did you keep going to Copenhagen?"
"My mother's Danish and my sister lives there. Didn't your search bring that up?"
Adam grinned at him. "I didn't get that far. Several alarms were going off that needed my attention. Let's talk to our voyeur."
They sat down in the crime room again. The display had woken up as they re-entered, while Adam continued to touch the display on his notebook. Tony realised how useful these items were. Almost everything needed was carried with them and accessible. They both looked up at the display as a strange warbling sound came from it, different to any other sound Tony had heard.
After the fourth ring, a beep came from the display and the warbling went quiet. A woman's face appeared. Tony thought for a moment that Adam had called the Ministry by mistake.
"Hello, Mrs Jones?" Adam asked of a middle-aged woman, sitting on a comfortable couch in a neat, modern living room. She was neatly dressed in Tony's eyes, to Adam's, fussy.
"Yes." Came the reply. Adam held his warrant card out at her eye level. "My name is Adam Croft. I'm—"
"From the police." She butted in. Her welsh accented voice sounded full of restrained resignation. "Are you going to ask me the same questions as all the others?"
"I'm afraid so," Adam replied kindly.
"Why don't you ask the others I've talked to? Surely that would save you time?" She asked, keen on this. "Rather than going through it all again."
"I am sorry," continued Adam, "we have some questions, which may come from a different viewpoint."
She leant back from the screen. "When are you coming to see me?" She asked with a resigned air.
"There's no need for us to come and see you, Mrs Jones," said Adam, causing Tony to look at him. He looked at Tony and gestured for him to continue.
"My names Tony Garrett." He said after a moment, realising he was again thwarted from using his own methods of investigation.
"Why do you have long hair?" She asked. Tony stopped and looked at the woman, his mind confused.
"It's popular where I come from." That was all he could think up.
"Where's that? You don't look English or Welsh?"
"Denmark." He replied after a moment, the only thing he could think of. "Can you describe the woman you saw outside the night before they found the dead man?"
The woman nodded, happy with his answer for now. "She was dressed strangely. I have to be honest, I used to dress like her when I was younger, only I didn't wear a tall hat." She stopped and looked around her room as if making sure she was alone. "She looked like she was dressed for Halloween, a bit like a witch. Strange, Halloween isn't for months yet."
Tony couldn't help himself from smiling at this news, which confirmed his thoughts.
"How old do you think she was?" Adam asked.
"Early twenties, pretty, long blond hair, which was curly, almost frizzy."
"How did you see her face from above?" Asked Adam, realising the error in the report he had read.
"She looked up at the window for a moment while she was waiting for the door to open." Adam nodded, satisfied at this.
"You said you heard a popping noise and saw a bright flash?" Tony continued as Adam added the information she was giving to his notebook.
"No." The frustration she was feeling came across in her voice. "I've told them so many times. I heard a loud pop, at the same time as a flash of light, like green coloured lightning, bright, it lit my room up. Strange because their flat is below mine, and it was still light out." They let her carry on as she was in her stride now. "Anyway, I heard scuffling sounds for about a minute, then I heard another loud crack-like noise, like a branch being broken. I didn't hear another sound after that. You can hear people walking across the floor, bare floorboards you see." She paused for a moment. "Nobody left that night and the following morning I called the owner and asked him to come over and check."
"So you called the police after that?"
"No. I didn't call the police. The owner called the ambulance when he found the man lying on the floor. The police turned up later after the ambulance men found he was dead."
Tony had heard all he needed and turned to Adam.
"Can you think of anything else you saw or heard, however strange?" Adam asked.
She looked at them both, a certain amount of trepidation in her eyes, and took a deep breath.
"There was a lot of shouting after the woman arrived, and while they were shouting, I heard the woman call the man a stupid bloody mongrel. I think that's what she said. All the shouting was done as if they were trying not to shout and failing if you know what I mean." Both of them nodded.
"Did you mention this to the other officers?" Adam asked.
"Yes and no, the first one I told ignored it, and I didn't mention it after that. I didn't think it was important."
Adam smiled kindly at the woman. "Now you know why we keep asking the same questions. Something always gets missed or is considered unimportant."
"Is it important?" She asked, excitement entering her voice.
"I don't know at the moment. We've only just started." He replied. "Is this the woman you saw by any chance?" Adam did something to his notebook which brought up a photo on the display and on Mrs Jones' screen as well.
"Yes, that's her. She was wearing a cape and a hat when I saw her, though." Adam had shown Mrs Jones a picture of Argonia Huxley.
He continued to ask her some general questions, leaving Tony time to think.
Adam stared at Tony for a moment after the display went dark.
"What's wrong?" He asked, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze again.
"You reacted slightly to her comment about the mongrel." Tony nodded. "Your little friend on the Charring Cross Road called your parents something like that, didn't he?"
Tony realised he had tripped up again. "Yes, I think what she heard was 'Muggle'."
"Wasn't that something to do with your school?"
"Yes, but I can't see how it could be connected." Adam let this ride, filing it away in his head with all the other questions that needed answers.
"Also, when she told you about the lights and the noises, you smiled." He left the sentence hanging.
"I did. It reminds me of something, but I have to check first." He replied, hoping this would be enough for Adam, knowing in his heart it wouldn't be.
"One more thing," Adam said, just as Tony thought he had gotten away with it. "Why did you smile when she said she looked like a witch?"
"Do you miss anything?" He asked, angry that he had given himself away again, realising that this man could read him like a book.
"I try not to." Adam continued, his eyes not leaving Tony's, making him feel like a schoolboy, caught doing something wrong.
Tony scratched his head for a moment before shrugging. "Nothing. I'm used to people looking like that." He said defensively.
"You've said that before." Adam was staring at him, continuing to make Tony feel uncomfortable. "How are we supposed to investigate a crime? When it is clear you have information that you are unwilling to share?"
"I'm not unwilling. I cannot do so at this time."
Adam leant forward and put his face close to Tony's. "Bullshit."
Tony tried and failed to stop himself from laughing. "You are so bloody right."
"I know, when you've been in this business as long as I have, you recognise bullshit very quickly." Adam sat back. "I know it's politics getting in the way, so I'll let this ride for now. However, I will be asking you more questions and I will expect answers, understand?"
Tony thought for a moment. "As I said, if I am allowed, or have to bring you into the Ministries confidence, I will."
"Let's pretend that you already have no choice but to bring me into the Ministries' confidence."
"No, too dangerous for you and me." Tony stood up, ending the conversation.
Adam realised he getting no more out of Tony for now.
"Hello, Gwen," Adam said aloud to the room. Tony spun around, looking for whom he was talking to until he remembered the earpiece. "Dammit." He exclaimed after a moment. "I'll be at the flat in an hour; I need to see the boss first. Sorry, Gwen, I've bad news. I'll tell you when I get there."
"Something wrong?" He asked as Adam stood up.
"My wife has just arrived at my flat."
"And you have something to hide?"
Adam stopped and looked at Tony. "No, we're supposed to be going to my retirement party tonight."
"Retire from what?" Tony asked, becoming more confused by the moment.
"I was retiring today, but this case has put a stop to that, and I forgot to tell Gwen. She has travelled all the way here on the train from North Wales." Tony was about to launch into a whole raft of questions before Adam spoke aloud. "Phone, call Superintendent Marchbank."
Adam paced the room while he waited for the phone to connect. Tony jumped when the display flickered and a man's face appeared.
"What's up, Adam?"
"Retirement do tonight." He said as the man in the display nodded at Tony.
"I assume you're the new DCI?" He asked, ignoring a very agitated Adam.
"Tony Garrett."
"Dan Marchbank, we'll have a chat later." He looked back at Adam, who looked as if he was about to explode. "Nugent sorted it all out, put it on hold." A big grin appeared on the man's face, enjoying Adam's discomfort.
"Did no one tell my wife, who has just arrived at my flat?"
"Of course we did. She said she needed a pleasant break in London before the new school term begins." Tony watched all of Adam's indignation and anger deflate, while he tried very hard not to laugh.
"Did you not think I might need to know this?" He asked as the last of his anger left him.
"From the chat we had with the commissioner yesterday, I assumed you would need all of your wits about you." He stopped, the smile sliding off his face. "Nobody is happy that you're going and the reasons. Also, nobody is happy with your replacement being so young." He looked towards Tony.
"I'm not anyone's replacement," Tony frowned, wondering where this information was coming from.
"People have been watching and they all think you are. They also know you have come from some secretive Ministry department, so they all think you're some sort of James Bond." Tony wanted to reply but didn't know what he was talking about. So he kept quiet, allowing people to believe whatever they wanted to. As soon as this was over, he would be gone, never to be seen again, not realising this thought would come back to haunt him later.
"I remember asking you to keep quiet about the reasons." Said Adam.
"I kept it quiet, but it seems everyone already knows, although why no one told me is something else." A grin appeared on his face as the screen went blank.
Adam sighed and looked around at Tony, finding him staring back. "What." He spat at him.
"Are you going to explain this retirement thing?"
"No."
"Why are you retiring? You're still young. How old are you, sixty-five, seventy?" Tony watched Adams' eyebrows lift at this comment.
"I'm forty-five, you cheeky bastard." Tony's eyebrows rose this time.
"Why are you retiring so young?"
"I have another job."
"So you're leaving the police?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"None of your business."
"We're working together. It is my business."
Adam walked over and put his face in front of Tony. "When you tell me what you're hiding, I'll tell you why I'm retiring."
