Part 45 (1/2)

'Apart from that, there's only one other thing you can do, and that's pursue the possibility that this lad really is called John Steed, and that his message was badly worded but otherwise innocent.'

'I'm doing that already, sir,' Steele replied. 'The police on Tyneside have reported back to me already; they've turned up three John Steeds; one's in jail, another's in his eighties and the third is a hemiplegic.

'I even asked them to check on people named John Stead, just in case the man might have mis-typed his own surname when he sent the message.

No joy there either. I'm waiting for other forces to report back; I've asked for traces as far south as Middlesbrough, and also in London and in our own area, where the two incidents have occurred.'

'Fair enough,' said Bob Skinner, turning away from the window of the Head of CID's office. 'It all has to be done, but you'll get nothing from it.

Big Neil's first instinct was right; the name's a phoney, part of the message itself. We'll trace Mr Steed when he has another go at Louise, and not before.'

'And he'll find that difficult while she's under surveillance,' Martin suggested.

196.AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN.'Agreed, but next week, Lou starts location work on her movie; that's when she'll be vulnerable. We can protect her, and we will, by blocking off the streets where they're filming; she'll have a dressing room trailer too, but she'll still be an open target to an extent.'

'What about the crew, sir?' asked Steele. 'Are they being checked out?'

'Of course they are, sergeant,' said the DCC, testily. 'DI Mcllhenney's getting a list this morning from Judd, the producer; everyone on the team from Elliott Silver, the director, right up to the tea-boy. He'll run a PNC check straight away . . .' He sighed. '. . . and come up with f.u.c.k all too, apart from a couple of pot-smokers.'

'What about Judd himself?'

Skinner frowned at Martin's question. 'He was the first one Neil checked.

He and Louise lived together for a while a few years back; they talked about getting married, but she decided that she'd had enough of that game.

Judd didn't like it, they had a major argument, and they split up, but not before he thumped her.

'She almost turned this movie down because of Mr Judd, but she liked the part, her agent pressed her and finally, he apologised. So she agreed.

'Do not worry, Andy. His was the first name out of the hat when this all blew up. He was even in the hotel on the day that smoke bomb was planted in Lou's room. But he is not the man in the hotel video and he was not John Steed in Newcastle. The physical descriptions just don't match up; the guy in the black hat is slim, and Judd's a wee bull of a fellow.

'On top of that, from the moment that he arrived at the Balmoral, all the way through their tour of Edinburgh, during their meeting afterwards, and right up to the moment he left, Lou swears that he was never out of her sight, and that Silver was with them the whole time too.'

The big DCC scowled. 'I'd love it to be Judd. It'd give me a chance to teach him not to knock women around. But it isn't.' He looked at Steele.

'So that's where we are, young Stevie; waiting for the stalker to pull another stunt. I hope he does too; I don't want him just to fade away. I want him caught.

'Now, will you excuse us, please. I have to talk to Mr Martin about something unconnected with this.'

'Of course, sir, I'll find DI Mcllhenney and give him that print.'

As the door closed behind him, Martin looked at Skinner. 'Well?' he asked.

'Yes.' A grin spread across his face. 'I've spoken to him, interviewedhim even, with the Chief Constable present. Mr Chase and his lovely wife Estelle were indeed entertained by Mrs Chase's cousin on Wednesday night.

They dined on fish soup prepared by Ms Alvarez, braised venison prepared by Mr Lander, and praline ice cream prepared by Haagen-Dazs.

'The a.s.sistant Chief Constable having consumed no alcohol all evening, he and his good lady began the drive back to Edinburgh at 12.45 a.m., leaving the young lovers slightly the worse for the third bottle of Paternina Banda Azul rioja tinto, and about to retire for the night.

'We left him pondering the possibility of being subjected to aggressive cross-examination by a hungry Advocate Depute.'''

”'That was nice of you,' laughed the Head of CID. 'It won't come to that, though. Dan phoned me a while back; Raymond Anders, of Eildon Security, who failed to turn up for his four o'clock appointment with Kath Adey yesterday, has also visited the Mellerkirk and Howdengate trout farms in unsuccessful attempts to sell them video surveillance and alarm systems.

'Every copper in the Borders is looking for him, but he's disappeared.