The Darkness Below

Chapter Fifty Three - 1970

Mr Harris arrived at Tottenham Court Road Underground Station, with his deputy, in the evening as the rush of late night revellers dwindled to a trickle and the staff prepared to close the station for the night.

Some of the station staff came over and Mr Harris could tell they were unsure who they were, they could tell that Mr Harris was not the usual late night train passenger. Mr Harris reached into his pocket and pulled out his identity card, for the purposes of this assignment he had an ID card which identified him as a Police Officer working for CID (Criminal Investigation Division) as if he showed an MI5 ID card to people the panic that would ensue would only hinder his investigation and also spread the story of his visit throughout the London Underground staff as it was of course highly unusual.

Harris and his partner went into the Station Managers office. The Station Manager seemed surprised but relaxed as Mr Harris expected. Mr Harris looked around then he nodded discreetly at his Deputy asked the Station Manager outside to show him around the station. The Station Manager wasn't stupid and understood the purpose of removing him from the room, to give Mr Harris freedom to look at everything unobserved and had no qualms about leaving.

Once alone Mr Harris immediately used the keys he had been provided to open the main station safe and then felt into the back and behind some racks with keys found the secondary safe which was meant to hold emergency access keys to the doors from the station into the Top Secret Emergency Evacuation tunnels. The keys were there according to Mr Smith the London Underground Investigator and as a true professional Mr Harris was not surprised to find that they were not there. Mr Harris had been a success in his career so far as he never took anything for granted or made assumptions. The biggest flaw that comes with experience is making assumptions based on previous experience which then leads to evidence bias. This leads you to give greater weight to some evidence and overlook other evidence in accordance to what evidence suits your preconceived ideas.

***

Right on time Sgt Armstrong arrives and Harris thanks the Station Manager for his time and told the Station Manager that he was free to lock the station up as normal. Then Armstrong, Harris and his deputy headed down to the station platform and then through an electrical cupboard door which was also the door to another tunnel for London Underground Staff only.

When they came to the reinforced steel door which led through to the Top Secret Nuclear Evacuation Tunnels Armstrong produced a large bunch of keys and unlocked the door then entered the combination code. The door emitted a satisfying click and moved toward them a little as the airtight seal was broken. Harris studied the operation of opening the door trying to imagine who else would have come through here and if Mr Smith would have done so alone?

Armstrong explained to Harris the security systems on the door and then told him about the electronic sensors and their intermittent reliability which was backed up with the mechanical counter in the cabinet next to the door. Harris was impressed with Armstrong's thorough explanation.

'Ok very good. Now take me down to the next door, the other one that was opened. The Centre Point Tower' Harris instructed with calm authority to ensure he was obeyed and Armstrong was left in no doubt as to who was in charge. He added to the instruction a small hint of irritation to keep Armstrong off balance and Harris hoped refrain from asking any questions.

Armstrong led the way and a short while later they arrived at the locked door which was nearly identical to the other door.

'And the locking mechanism is completely the same Armstrong?' Harris enquired.

'Yes sir.' Armstrong responded efficiently.

'Ok well let's open this door so I can check for any damage to the other side of the door' Harris asked hurriedly as if he didn't have time to waste or entertain questions from Armstrong.

'Damage to the door sir? The door is thick reinforced steel. I can assure you there is no damage' Armstrong responded.

'Have you inspected the external side of the door Armstrong? Or is this another item you did not inspect like whether the keys for the doors were in the station safe? Did you leave that to Mr Smith also?' Harris responded trying to put Armstrong in his place and embarrass him into opening the door. Harris knew he didn't have permission to go through the door into the Centre Point Tower basement but if he got in there due to Armstrong's over exuberance to be helpful how could Harris be blamed?

Armstrong looked shocked and Harris couldn't decide if he was shocked in a way that was helpful to his cause or not.

'I apologise sir if I left parts of the investigation to Mr Smith who I understand has since gone missing.' Armstrong responded and Harris was irked because he had not told Armstrong that Smith had gone missing. Armstrong was obviously no fool.

'Can I see the authorisation before I open the door please?' Armstrong asked neutrally.

'You want to practice your reading or test your eye sight? I haven't got time for this Armstrong. Let's get this done as it's late and I for one would like to go home.' Harris responded treading a fine line between being abrupt and demanding whilst hoping for Armstrong's cooperation.

There was a hesitant pause and Armstrong looked at both Harris and his deputy. Harris felt confident that Armstrong was going to cooperate.

'I will not open this door sir until I see the written authorisation. If you are in a hurry to get home I suggest you show it to me straight away...Sir.' Armstrong responded leaving no doubt of his determination but remaining polite to give Harris no room to complain to Armstrong's boss or undermine Armstrong with threats.

'Very well Armstrong.' Harris turned whilst contemplating how far he should go in order to get the answers he needed. He was investigating a potential Soviet spy ring and instead of getting the full cooperation of his boss and those on the same side he was being tied up in red tape. Maybe I should bash Armstrong over the head and knock him unconscious then open the door. No that would probably lead to more trouble than it was worth.

'Very good. Your professionalism is admirable Armstrong. I hope if I level with you we can come to an arrangement. As you seem to be aware the man who helped you investigate the trespass in this tunnels, Smith, has gone missing and it is highly likely he was a Soviet spy or at least gathering information for the Soviets. You lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis and know how vulnerable we all are to the paranoia of men in power but under threat, real or otherwise, of nuclear annihilation. Help me help everyone by opening this door. It is highly likely that Mr Smith went through this door and until we do also we will not know what he did through here.' Harris said with honesty and deliberately putting them both on the same level in the hope that Armstrong would also feel some responsibility for the potential danger posed by a Soviet spy roaming these tunnels, of which he is responsible for.

***

After a moment's thought Armstrong didn't speak but made a grumbling sound and then opened the door and let Harris lead the way through. Harris had expected to go through the steel reinforced door into the basement of the Centre Point Tower but they found themselves in some sort of control bunker. At the far end of the corridor there was another steel reinforced door which Harris assumed led into the Centre Point Tower basement. Harris walked along toward the other door and saw a collection of offices, a small dorm room with triple tiered bunk beds and then a kitchen with dining area.

Harris also found what looked like the main control room with a phone console with multiple phone handsets and a selection of buttons and lights. Armstrong followed on wide eyed with surprise and then fear as he realised he had broken rules to allow Harris in here thinking it would be into a bog standard basement.

Harris looked around and was struck by something odd but he couldn't quite place it. He looked around and realised something was most certainly odd but he couldn't place his finger on it.

'I think we've seen enough sir, I think we should go back into the Evacuation Tunnel' Armstrong said with an almost pleading tone.

'Wait a minute and be quiet please whilst I think' Harris responded. He looked around and something was not right but what was it. Harris heard his deputy sneeze and Harris glared at him and saw the deputy wipe his noise with a handkerchief. That was the hint Harris needed and he realised what was odd.