Edge. Part 12

"She's still with the Met. Always seemed to have a thing for you."

"As I recall, she's a lesbian."

"So what does that say about your girlish charms, mate? Anyway, she's bound to help, provided you ask nicely."

"f.u.c.k."

"Uh-huh." Haresh held up his phone. "Is that 'f.u.c.k' as in 'loadsa-f.u.c.kin-thanks-to-all-my-mates-for-doingme-a-good-turn'? The kind of thanks I can pa.s.s on to Geordie?"

Josh rolled his shoulder muscles as if loosening up for a fight. Then he blew out a breath.

"Yeah. That kind. Thank you."

"Any time."

[ TEN ].

From the time he parked in front of the gate and waved to the camera, to sitting down in a leather armchair in what the maid yes, a maid called the drawing room, he felt out of his depth. But taking in the cream and pale-yellow walls, polished wooden floor and expensive fittings, it felt more and more impersonal, like a hotel, not a home. And for all that Philip Broomhall might be rich, he commanded fewer resources than senior military officers, the best of whom were always approachable.

He waited, something he was good at, comparing this to the cramped, messy flat in Brixton where Mum and Dad had raised him: overflowing with cushions and tattered books, housework readily put aside in favour of a chat or reading. The military had drilled neatness into him; otherwise Josh was his parents' son, and they had raised him in a warmer place than this.

"Mr c.u.mberland? Josh? I'm Philip."

"Sir." Josh controlled his grip as they shook. "Good to meet you."

"What I want is simple. My son is missing and I need him back."

"Understood. Clearly the police haven't got anywhere, or I wouldn't be here."

"I'm told you're an expert."

"I can construct specific searches, use profiling, and talk to people who might avoid the police." ELINT and HUMINT, electronic intelligence and human intelligence, were grist to the mill; and he had access to algorithms and bots undreamt of by Scotland Yard's Serious Systems Crimes Unit. "Is there any specific person who'd want to do you harm?"

"No, and there's not been any kind of ransom demand. Richard slipped out of the car by himself, you know."

"I'd like to speak to the driver."

"Lexa's here. You'll be able to talk to her."

"Thank you. I don't suppose there were cameras in the car?"

"Absolutely not. I'm often on the phone discussing confidential matters, or riding with business partners I'm negotiating with. No recordings permitted, ever."

Broomhall headed for a cabinet, picked up a whisky gla.s.s, and raised an eyebrow.

"Not for me, thanks," said Josh. "I'll read the file, but are there any friends of Richard's that spring to mind?"

"He was in the chess club at school." Broomhall poured dark rum. "Dropped the science club because he preferred just to read by himself, he said."

Clubs, not individuals.

"It would help if I can go through his room. Have the police done that?"

"No, they b.l.o.o.d.y well have not."

"You're worried about him. About Richard."

"He's soft." Broomhall's left hand rested on his own heavy abdomen. "Not tough like... I work to keep my family. Since his mother... I'm a widower, you see." Swirling rum in his gla.s.s, he stared into the liquid. "He's important to me. Understand that. I'm not sure Richard does."

"I get it. Was there anything troubling Richard particularly?"

If there had been, Broomhall probably hadn't noticed.

"He was normal, except for going to see that b.l.o.o.d.y shrink, and then he didn't even make it home. What do you make of that? b.i.t.c.h is still practicing, still s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g other patients' minds."

"I'll need details of that as well."

"So I hope you're a d.a.m.n sight better than she turned out to be."

"Why do you say that?"

"Obviously becauseWell, because the same person recommended you both, but in your case he checked more carefully. So he's a.s.sured me."

"Who's that, if you don't mind me asking?"

"More of a second opinion. I came up with the idea originally, got the name of Biggs' company from someone. But I pa.s.sed your name to a friend who works in the DTI, and he tells me you're good."

"Me personally?"

"That's what I mean."

There were civil servants who could check special forces records, but not in the Department of Trade and Industry. Broomhall knew less about his friend than he realised.

"Is there anyone I should be talking to besides the driver, Lexa?"

"The rest of the staff, I guess. Lexa can show you round." Broomhall took his phone from his pocket, and said into it: "Mr c.u.mberland is ready."

"Thank you. What about Richard's school? I don't know for sure yet, but a visit might help."

"I'll let the headmaster know. He should be helpful, the amount we pay each year. I pay."

Then a broad-shouldered woman walked through an archway, and nodded to Josh.

"Where would you like to start?" She had a Birmingham accent.

"Richard's room, I guess."

"I'll see you later." Broomhall gestured with his phone, and intricate tables and graphs of data lit up on the wallscreens. "Let me know if there's a problem."

But his attention was already lost in the world of corporate finance.

In the hallway, Josh shook hands with Lexa. Her grip was stronger than Broomhall's. Then she led the way upstairs, along a corridor with panelled walls and ugly expensive paintings, to a door that opened onto a ma.s.sive tidy bedroom.

"Like a big hotel suite, ain't it?" She pointed at the neat shelves. "That's not the maids. Richard keeps everything organised himself."

"Maids."

"Yeah. It's a far cry from Selly Oak, where I started."

"I was thinking the same kind of thing. Brixton, in my case."

"Your old man a drunk, or anything like that?"

"No. Good family."

"Then you probably had it better than young Richard, for all the old man's money."

A Navajo rug lay on the floor. No posters on the walls. Nothing left scattered around.

"I'm just going to poke about for a bit." He slid opena drawer. "Christ, that's neat."Folded underwear, squared off. Everything was right angles.

"He's a bright kid." Lexa looked at him. "You want me to leave you alone?"

"No, you're all right there. Is this why he was seeing the shrink? Obsessive-compulsive?"

"That wasn't it." Lexa raised her eyebrows. "Hoplophobia, allegedly."

"Why allegedly?"

"How many people do you know that aren't afraid of a blade?"

"Good point."

"You saw the weapon on Broomhall's belt?"

"Yeah. Nice hilt."

"Any idea how many times he's duelled with it?"

Josh did, but said: "Tell me."

"Exactly none. But he has issued challenge, twice. Both times, to guys even less likely than him to fight. They have enough money, they can afford the fines."

"So you think Richard's not really a weapon hater?"

"Oh, he hates them all right," said Lexa. "I'm just not sure it's a problem. You know Birmingham? Selly Oak and King's Heath?"

"Sure." Josh smiled. "Ansells Mild and pork scratchings."

"And burglary and drugs, when I was young. Before the Blade Acts. In some ways it's better now."

"Huh." Josh was checking the wardrobe and cupboards. "No sports kit."

"Not Richard."

Intellectual, physically soft, alone on the streets of London. Poor combination.

"So, are you done?"

In his pocket, he thumbed his phone. Wallscreen and processor stacks winked blue then shut down.

"All done," he said.

"So that's why the old man called you in."

"What do you mean?"

"I served in Tibet. 3 Mercian." Lexa nodded toward the wallscreen. "Came across quiet guys with eyes like yours, could do things like that."

"Like what?"

"Uh-huh. You just downloaded the entire system logs. And they got firewalls, firebreaks, shields. Crypto up the wazoo."

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"Christ, no." She grinned. "Means you stand a chance of finding the poor little b.u.g.g.e.r."

He parked in a multi-storey in Guildford. The hourly rate was ridiculous, double if you recharged your vehicle, but the batteries were running low. Sitting in the car, he called Petra Osbourne, directing her image to the windscreen heads-up display.

"Hey, lover." Her image was ghostly. "Haven't seen you for a long time."

"Too long. Sorry."