Costa Crew 2: They Walk Among Us

Chapter 17 - The Letter of the Law? (The Letter)

"Gaffer, here's the statements that you wanted," Ben said as he handed Paul a file.

"Thank you, DC Davis," said Paul crisply as he read through the names at the top of each document - Rebecca Hidgens, Hannah Perkins, Raymond Drake. All of them shared the same date - 29th October 2034. The day Becky almost died.

Becky's statement didn't spark any new ideas. She'd been dropped off at home, Drake had been waiting, they'd waited for a while then Becky went to make dinner and when she came back Drake had been knocked out. Hannah and Anthony had ambushed her and taken her to Amelia's house, where she had thrown up on Anthony's shoes (Becky had insisted that her statement include this detail). Amelia had been about to shoot Becky when Paul, Charlotte and Ted had arrived. This corroborated both Becky's account that Amelia was the Godfather, and Anthony's claim that it was in fact Becky.

However, Paul frowned when he read through Drake's statement: On the day in question, I went to Rebecca Hidgens' house and waited outside for the helicopter that dropped off DCI Houston and Miss Hidgens. I accompanied Miss Hidgens upstairs to her flat, then watched TV while we waited for the kidnappers to arrive. She then went into the kitchen to make dinner and I found myself drugged and blacking out. When I woke up both Hidgens and the kidnappers were gone and I immediately drove to Anthony Andrews' house. By the time I arrived Amelia Murphy and Anthony Andrews had been apprehended.

Something didn't feel right. How had Drake not noticed two people hiding in the flat? Had it been a genuine error, or was something else going on? Paul sighed and moved onto Hannah's statement. I woke up at 6am, as Anthony ordered. He came to pick me up a few hours later, at about 9am, then he drove to Rebecca Hidgens' house. I asked the agent in the flat below to buzz me in, and they did. I assume they thought I was going to see Becky. Anthony hid in the bathroom cupboard and sent me to hide under the bed, then we waited for Becky to come home. When she did, DI Drake was with her, so Anthony signalled for me to wait. When Becky went to the kitchen we ambushed DI Drake and gave him a sedative before forcing Becky to come with us. We took Becky to Anthony's house where Amelia Murphy was waiting. Amelia sent me to watch security cameras and I contacted John Goodman to let him know the situation.

Paul read over these statements several times, then jumped to his feet. "DS Foster, DC Davis!" he called sharply. "My office!"

Samantha and Ben rushed over and Paul closed the door behind them. "The address!" he exclaimed, before either of them could ask what was wrong. "How the bloody hell did it take us four years to think of that?"

Ben frowned, but Samantha understood. "How did Murphy know where Hidgens lived?"

Paul nodded, snapping his fingers. "Becky's an MI5 agent, her address was only known by her colleagues until we realised that somebody was going to try and kidnap her, then John Goodman sent the address to Drake."

"So it was leaked by either an MI5 agent or DCI Drake," finished Samantha.

"Surely Murphy wouldn't have waited if it was an MI5 agent though?" Ben asked.

He grabbed a pen and a sheet of paper from Paul's desk. "This always bugged me when I read the Operation Godfather files," he said. "Amelia Murphy was the boss, Anthony Andrews her second in command." He wrote Amelia at the top of the page, drew a line down and wrote Anthony. "Anthony was the one that went out and spoke to their employees, so Amelia could keep her identity hidden, right?"

Paul nodded, not quite sure where this was going. Ben drew a line down from Anthony and wrote Joanne etc. "He went out to all the coffee shops that they used as a front to make sure the owners were doing the jobs, but the two of them floated above it all. So why did Anthony speak to Michael Arnott?"

Ben drew several lines from Joanne etc and wrote Messengers, then several more lines and wrote Criminals. "Everybody in Murphy's organisation knew that she planned to settle a personal grudge, but nobody knew who the personal grudge was. Nobody except Arnott. Why him?"

Paul frowned for a moment, then tore out of his office, Samantha and Ben behind him. "Just how many times have you read those files?" asked Samantha.

Ben shrugged, going slightly red. "I was still in training at the time...I would have killed to work on that case. Well, not killed, but you know what I mean."

Paul grabbed the box of Operation Godfather files and started pulling out documents. "Grab a bundle each," he ordered. "I need Michael Arnott's testimony, every statement given by Joanne Goldstein, and the transcript of what the bug planted on Becky picked up."

For a minute or so the only thing that could be heard was the rustling of papers, until each of them struck gold. "Here we go," said Paul. "Becky asked Amelia why she wanted to kill her, and Amelia said, if there's anyone who can and will interfere, it's you. Which means it probably wasn't an MI5 agent that leaked the address. Amelia saw Becky as a threat, she would have wanted her dead as soon as possible."

"Unless Hidgens is the one behind it all," countered Samantha. "Then there would have been no need for her to act until the police started closing in. She would have known that Perkins had to deliver a message to Arnott so he would probably be arrested, then she just would have had to tell him to tell Drake that she was the target."

Paul's eyes narrowed. "Becky's innocent, DS Foster."

Samantha sighed. "I want to believe that too. But you said it yourself. We have to be willing to consider the possibility that our friends and colleagues aren't who we think they are. No exceptions."

"Joanne didn't know who Murphy's target was," Ben cut in, reading through Joanne's statements. "All she knew was that it was personal."

"Becky Hidgens has been my best friend since before I could walk," snapped Paul, ignoring Ben. "She's one of the most selfless people I've ever met, she was given an award for services to the country. Amelia Murphy, on the other hand, cares only about herself and was willing to ruin the lives of everyone around her for her own personal gain, not to mention that she nearly killed one of our own, DS Ted Green."

"But did she do that, or did Hidgens stage it?" Samantha pressed. "Paul, I know she's your best friend, but Amelia Murphy was also your best friend once. Don't you ever wonder if you made the wrong choice?"

Paul met Samantha's eyes and shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "I don't. Call it instinct."

"Good enough for me," Ben added. "DCI Drake's already investigating Hidgens, we should be investigating Murphy."

Paul nodded, but didn't smile. "We need to speak to Arnott. Let's see what he's got to say for himself."