Authors: David Lowe
Jimmy looked at the card and smiled. ‘How times have changed. I remember when it was scraps of paper you handed me with public phone box numbers on it along with times to call you. So no questions are asked by the others, have a couple more before you go and we’ll talk about everything under the sun except what your business is.’
‘How about the younger lads you’re with? How well do you know them?’ David asked as the three men began to walk back into the bar.
‘Well enough for you not to worry about them.’ Looking at David, Jimmy said, ‘Unlike Stevey here, no matter how hard you try not to, you still look like an off-duty peeler,’ and patting him on the shoulder Jimmy started laughing.
* * *
‘Sorry Debs, we were with Jimmy O’Leary longer than we thought we’d be,’ David said walking over to his desk in the ISB office where Debbie was working on his PC.
‘You wouldn’t apologise to me if you’d been a couple of hours with a snout while I had to do the work back in the office,’ Steve said, ‘but there again I don’t live with you!’
Sniffing the air, Debbie said, ‘Going by smell of your breath, it must have been hard work in Reilly’s bar!’
‘He was with all his mates and once he saw us he called us over to join him. We had to be careful, for his sake as well as ours,’ David said.
‘I’m only pulling your leg. Did you get anything useful from him?’
‘Not much, but he did say that O’Byrne and McElvaney are working in Liverpool for some bloke that operates from Cheshire. He had no idea McCrossan was over here,’ Steve said sorting out the post on his desk that had been delivered while he was away in London.
‘But he did say that he’ll find out what’s going on and get back to us as soon as he can,’ David added. ‘How about you, did you find anything?’
‘I’ve got no record of O’Byrne and McElvaney working in Liverpool. There’s nothing further on McCrossan. It looks like he’s well and truly gone to ground and SO15 are struggling to get any further leads on his whereabouts. I’ve added the new intelligence on O’Byrne and McElvaney’s files, but we need to find out the details of this man in Cheshire they’re working for.’
‘With luck we won’t have to wait too long. Jimmy might get back to us in a day or two,’ David said.
Chapter Eight
GMP Special Branch Offices,
Monday, 2
nd
July,
09.00 hours
Waiting to find out what their next investigation would be, there was a buzz of anticipation among David’s team as they assembled in one of the briefing rooms running off GMP’s large open plan ISB office. As the team’s detective inspector, George Byrne walked into the room, the droning sound of numerous conversations between members of the team ceased. ‘I hope you all enjoyed your weekend off, especially after the revelry in London last Wednesday. It was worth suffering a sore head on Thursday morning getting Ahmed and Younnis convicted. Although we have a new investigation to deal with, David and Steve still have the Chechen job coming up in court in a few weeks. That’s right isn’t it gents?’ Both David and Steve nodded indicating it was. ‘So once that’s over we can well and truly draw a line under the whole of that operation. All of your efforts averted a major incident and I think some formal acknowledgement will be coming your way soon.’ Seeing Steve raise his hand, George said, ‘Yes Steve.’
‘Does that mean I’ll finally get my knighthood sir?’
‘The closest you’ll ever get to being called “Sir” is by passing the inspector’s exam and seeing how you haven’t even passed the sergeant’s exam yet, I can’t see that happening for a very long time. Now back to business. As you’ve had a pretty tough time over the past twelve months, I thought you needed a less pressurised job to deal with. This team is going to assist West Yorks rather than lead an investigation. Let me introduce you to DC Jerry Ives from West Yorkshire ISB. Jerry will be liaising with us on this one. To start us off, I’ll give the outline of the latest on this investigation then Jerry can fill in the gaps. Is that OK Jerry?’
‘Yes sir, that’s fine,’ he said smiling nervously at the assembled officers.
George continued, ‘West Yorks have been looking at an Al Qaeda cell in the city of Bradford for the past four months. They believe there’s a link between the Bradford cell and two targets they’ve identified living in Poppythorn Lane in Prestwich. If you look at the screen, you can see the latest pictures we have of them.’
All the officers looked up to the large screen at the end of the briefing room as George clicked the remote control of his presentation except for Hurst whose phone started vibrating. Taking it out of his trouser pocket he saw Jimmy O’Leary had sent him a text message. As discreetly as he could, David held the phone down by his side and opened the message:
‘Phone
me
on
this
number.
Got
info
you
need.’
Nudging Steve, he showed him the message.
As two unflattering photographs of the targets the officers would be investigating appeared on the screen in the briefing room, George noticed his favourite DS was not paying attention. Surprised, he stopped speaking for a moment and said ‘DS Hurst, have you something there that you find more interesting than my briefing?’
‘Er, no boss. Sorry boss, I’ve just got a text message from a possible snout, that’s all.’
‘I’m sure it can wait. Of all the people in this room who should be setting an example, you know the rule. All phones are left outside the briefing room unless ordered otherwise. I should not have to remind you of the importance of a primary briefing into a new job. Will you and your side kick DC Adams start paying attention to the job in hand? If this doesn’t interest you, I can have you both transferred back to uniform dealing with minor street crime.’
‘Sorry boss, but trust me, it’s important.’
‘And so is this. See me after the briefing,’ George said with an admonishing tone, ‘Now where was I? If you look at these photographs, especially you DS Hurst, the male on the left is Abdullah Islam and the female is Shrinal Hussain. MI5 intelligence kicked off the West Yorks investigation. They are both British born Muslims. Islam was born in Bradford. His date of birth is the twenty-eighth of the fourth 1978. Hussain was born in Leeds on the fifth of the seventh 1980. Islam studied medicine at Leeds University and Hussain studied to be a dentist at Aston University in Birmingham. Islam is currently a GP at a medical centre in Crumpsall while Hussain is working at a dental practice in Clayton. West Yorks believe they’ve been assisting a number of Al Qaeda cells based in northern England.
‘In late 2004, Islam went to work as a doctor at a refugee camp in northern Pakistan for the Red Crescent organisation where he met Hussain. She was also giving her dental services for free at the refugee camp.’ A picture obtained from the BBC News Service when they covered the story of the refugee camps in 2004 appeared on the screen showing Islam working at the camp. ‘Apparently the traumatic events they dealt with transformed not only their outlook on life, but also radicalised their beliefs. That’s when Al Qaeda made their move and recruited them. After working out there for just over two years, they returned to the UK in March 2007. Since they arrived back, our mutual friend and top Al Qaeda man in the UK, Sayfel assisted them in settling down in the Manchester area.’
As the latest picture the ISB had of Sayfel appeared on the screen, Hurst and few of his team muttered, ‘bastard’.
‘I understand your sentiment,’ George said, looking at Hurst and Adams in particular, ‘I know he gave us the run-around in your last job and a couple of you are literally bearing the scars from your dealings with him, but intelligence has come in revealing he was behind Islam and Hussain getting their respective positions at the medical centre and dental practice here in Manchester.’ Clicking on his remote, George brought up the latest surveillance pictures of Islam and Hussain on the screen. ‘As you can see, their appearance is westernised. They’re living as a cohabiting couple, to enhance the image of their rejection of the Islamic faith to those on the outside. To aid their authenticity, they’ve gone as far as being outcast by their respective families, especially Hussain as their lifestyle has brought shame on their families. From what we know, their families have no idea of their Al Qaeda connections. They never attend a mosque and to all appearances they look just like any professional couple that have fully embraced a contemporary western lifestyle.
‘Since they returned to the UK, they disappeared off our radar until a few weeks ago. West Yorks saw Islam call at an address in Bradford they’ve been watching.’ A picture of Islam talking to one of the targets at the front door of the house in Bradford came up on the screen, ‘There, he made contact with one of the major targets in their investigation.’ George pressed the keyboard and started showing a film on the screen. ‘As you can see from this video footage you can see him park his car . . .’
Alex Bullard shouted out, ‘A BMW Z4, now that’s a nice car. It’s nearly as nice as your old Aston Martin David. Now I could fall for a man with a Z4, and he’s a doctor too. Very classy.’
‘Thank you for that nugget of information Alex. If any of you know of any eligible bachelors in the medical profession that drive a BMW Z4, can you please put them in touch with our Alex? I don’t know what’s got into you lot this morning. If it’s alright with you all, can I carry on?’ George asked sarcastically. ‘If I go back to where we see Islam park his car,’ George said rewinding the recording to the relevant point, ‘you can see him take two attaché cases from the boot of the car. He parked his car a few doors down from the targets’ house. As he’s walking up to the house you can see him constantly looking around. As he approaches the front door, it opens without him having to knock and he walks straight in. From the microphones West Yorks placed in the targets’ house, this is what was said.’ George played the audio recording that started with the Bradford target speaking.
‘You’ve
brought
the
stuff.
Are
sure
you
weren’t
being
followed?
That
car
of
yours
sticks
out
around
here
man.
Why
didn’t
you
rent
a
poxy
Fiesta
or
something?’
‘I
didn’t
have
time.
I
got
the
message
that
you
needed
the
stuff
right
away.’
‘You
should
have
checked
with
us
first
before
you
made
the
delivery.
For
a
doctor,
you’re
fucking
thick
at
times.’
‘So
the
job’s
not
for
a
few
days
yet?’
‘You
know
better
than
to
ask
for
that
kind
of
information,
you’re
just
the
courier.
How’s
it
going
at
your
end?’
‘Shrinal
and
I
are
ready
and
we’ve
got
the
chemicals
in
a
safe
place.’
‘Are
you
thick?
Walls
can
hear
things
they’re
not
supposed
to,
even
in
houses
like
this.
If
you
need
to
give
me
any
more
details
then
we
can
go
for
a
walk
and
you
can
tell
me
then.’
‘It’s
hard
when
you’re
not
on
the
front
line
all
the
time
like
you
boys
are.’
‘[Laughs]You
mean
that
rich
western
style
of
living
is
making
you
soft?
Not
to
worry
brother.
Here’s
the
paperwork
you
and
Shrinal
need.
Don’t
read
it
until
you
get
home.
You
can
relax.
You’re
not
to
make
a
move
for
a
few
weeks
yet.
Other
things
have
to
be
put
in
place
before
we
can
exchange
contracts
as
it
were.’