The Legacy (28 page)

Ten minutes later Hemraj heard the men enter the house above him. He put on a similar balaclava to Ganesh and waited at the bottom of the stairs. Harry led the way down into the cellar. Hemraj grabbed Richards by his outstretched arms and led him to the far end of the room in silence. He had put plastic sheeting on the floor and rigged up a curtain that could be pulled across, effectively turning the area where the gym had been into a secluded room. He stopped Richards in the centre of the plastic sheeting and took out a Stanley knife. Harry saw Richards flinch. Ganesh moved round to Hemraj's side with the rifle still aimed squarely at Richards' chest. Richards was left in no doubt that he would be shot if he tried anything. Hemraj quickly cut away all of Richards' clothing until he was left standing naked in the centre of the plastic sheet. Neither of the Gurkhas had said a word since Richards had entered the house. Hemraj then went to the side of the room and picked up an old wooden chair which he positioned behind Richards. Putting his large hands on Richards' shoulders, he pushed him down until he was sitting on the chair. Harry was in no doubt that Richards would have felt the power in Hemraj's arms as he did this. Harry then watched as Hemraj took a roll of industrial duct tape out of his trouser pockets and wrapped it round Richards' torso and the back of the chair. His arms were pinned in front of him, his hands covering his groin. He cut the tape and then did the same with his legs. There was little chance of him being able to wriggle free, even if Ganesh wasn't there to keep an eye on him.

Hemraj then moved round to face Richards. He spoke slowly and clearly.

‘Mr Richards. If you do as I ask you, you will live. If you do not, I will kill you. Is that clear?'

Richards remained silent, staring at Hemraj impassively. Harry had to admit that it was an impressive performance. Hemraj was scary at the best of times. Hugely muscled and with the deadest eyes that Harry had ever seen, he was a fearsome figure but Richards seemed to be taking it all in his stride.

‘I know who you are Mr Richards and I know that you have been well trained for circumstances such as this. Let me tell you what I want to know and then you can reconsider whether or not you wish to help me. If you do, I give you my word that I will let you live. If you do not, then my friends and I will no doubt be disposing of your body in the morning. You will not be the first man I have killed Mr Richards and I suspect you won't be the last.'

Harry had to admit that Hemraj's polite and even delivery was particularly terrifying. There was no anger and no emotion. He was simply telling it as it was. Again, Richards just continued to stare at him. Hemraj smiled, his teeth visible in the balaclava's mouth slit. He started to explain everything they knew about Richards, from his service in the Army and his forced resignation through to his involvement in tasking and then killing Lucy's father. He quickly summarised the abortive attempt on Camilla's life and concluded by describing how they had watched Richards move into position that night. Richards tried not to show it but he was clearly shaken that they knew so much.

‘So what I want to know, Mr Richards, is who ordered you to kill the assassin and the artist girl. If you tell me that and it checks out, then we will release you. If not, then, as I said, you will die. I promise you, it will be painful. I will spare you the detail but, just to give you something to look forward to, I will start by removing your penis. Think about it,' said Hemraj, ‘we will find out eventually anyway when whoever tasked you starts looking for you.'

Richards began to realise that he was not dealing with a bunch of amateurs. He was irritated with himself for being caught so easily. He had made the fatal mistake of underestimating his enemy. He had focused on the blond man and the girls. It didn't even occur to him that the blond man might have called for reinforcements. And it certainly didn't occur to him that he would be able to call on the services of two such capable operators. As he looked into his questioner's eyes, he realised that the man would have absolutely no hesitation in killing him. He could see death waiting there. Cold, devoid of emotion and utterly ruthless, he realised that this wasn't a bluff. His train of thought was broken by the man talking to him again.

‘I will give you one hour to think about what I have said. I will then come back and give you a chance to talk. I will not torture you if you do not talk to me, I will simply kill you very painfully. Do not try and escape. My friend will be covering you with his rifle. He will shoot you if you try anything.'

Hemraj walked back to the other end of the room and then climbed the stairs to the kitchen followed by Harry. Ganesh remained downstairs with Richards. ‘What do you think?' asked Harry quietly when they were seated at the kitchen table removing their balaclavas.

‘I'm not sure,' said Hemraj. ‘He's certainly very tough and very well trained. He'll be thinking about what he's got to lose. Hopefully, there won't be much loyalty between him and his boss. I suspect it'll depend on how seriously he takes my threat. If he believes that I'll kill him, then he'll talk. If he doesn't, then maybe he won't.'

‘I think you were pretty convincing,' said Harry. ‘I was scared and I'm on your side. You can have a look if you like, I've got it all on this.' He held out a small digital camera.

‘No thanks,' replied Hemraj. ‘I'll take your word for it.'

Harry made a pot of tea and they talked quietly about what their next move should be. After an hour, they replaced their balaclavas and went down back downstairs. Hemraj went to the far end of the room and stood in front of Richards. He took out his knife and placed it on the weights bench opposite Richards. He then removed one of the Glocks from a bag on the floor next to the bench and took a silencer out of his trouser pocket. Slowly and deliberately, he screwed the two together. He placed the weapon on the bench and picked up the knife. Richards watched. He'd had an hour to think things through. What he'd seen in his captor's eyes had unnerved him. He was in no doubt that the calmly spoken and powerfully built man who seemed to be leading the interrogation would kill him if he didn't cooperate. Were he still a soldier, he would have been preparing himself for the inevitable. Whatever his faults, there was no way he would have betrayed his regiment and his country just to save his own skin. But he wasn't a soldier anymore, he was a businessman. He had a commercial arrangement with Highworth and he was in no doubt that, were Highworth in his position, he would have little hesitation in telling his captors what they wanted to know. He decided to do the same. If they were stupid enough to let him go, then there would be plenty of time for him to get his own back. The important thing was to get through the next hour. He wouldn't volunteer information but he would answer their questions.

‘I'll talk,' said Richards calmly as Hemraj walked towards him with the knife. ‘The man's name is Charles Highworth. He runs an investment fund called ‘International Valiant'. He's been manipulating share prices by killing off selected individuals. Not surprisingly, he's made a huge amount of money doing this.'

‘Go on,' said Hemraj.

‘Something scared him recently. I don't know what or who but he suddenly wanted to get rid of anything that might link him to the killings. That's why the assassin had to die. He wanted the girl dead because, for some reason, the assassin didn't kill her when he took out Fairweather. I don't know why he didn't but Highworth thought this was a mistake. He thought that the girl might somehow be able to lead people to him. I didn't see how and I tried to talk Highworth out of it but he wasn't to be persuaded. He was very spooked and he wanted the girl dead.

‘Where does Highworth live?' asked Hemraj.

‘I don't know,' replied Richards.

‘And I don't believe you,' said Hemraj, taking a step towards him. ‘You are a very careful man Mr Richards and I have no doubt that you know all about Mr Fairweather. It won't have escaped you that if he's trying to sever the connections between him and the many murders he's initiated, you are an obvious target. You will have your own insurance policy and this will have included finding out everything you can about Mr Highworth. I'll ask you one more time, what's his address?'

Richards said nothing but, as Hemraj's knife moved slowly towards his groin, he relented. He gave Hemraj Highworth's address in Farnham. ‘Thank you Mr Richards. We will check out what you've said and, if what you have told me is true, we will let you go. This might take a while. I am now going to put a blindfold on you. Do not try anything.'

‘I need to pee,' said Richards.

‘So pee,' replied Hemraj. ‘You will stay exactly where you are until we are happy that your story checks out. I will get you a glass of water but, if you need to use the toilet, you will have to do the best you can as you are, at least for the moment.'

Hemraj and Harry left Ganesh with Richards and went upstairs. Although it was still early, Lucy was in the kitchen making coffee. ‘You've had fun,' she said when she saw Harry and Hemraj removing their balaclavas. ‘Coffee?' she asked, placing two steaming mugs on the table. She wasn't concerned about the welfare of the man they had in the cellar. She realised that in all probability he had killed her father. In doing that he had, at least in her mind, forfeited whatever rights he might have had to fair treatment.

The three of them sat at the table as Harry explained what had happened. ‘So what do we do now?' asked Lucy. ‘We can't let him go until we've checked out his story. That might take several days and even then we're going to have to think about what exactly we do with him. If we let him go, there's nothing to stop him tracking us down and killing us at some time in the future. I don't want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.'

‘No,' replied Harry. ‘I get that but let's cross one bridge at a time. I suspect he's telling the truth about Highworth. He's got nothing to gain by lying to us. Highworth just used him to achieve outcomes in order to make lots of money. I know Richards killed your Dad but I suspect you want to know why Highworth wanted your Dad dead, why he got Richards to kill him?'

‘You're right,' replied Lucy. ‘I do want to know.' For the next hour or so, they discussed what their next move should be. Eventually, they reached a decision. Lucy went to wake the others whilst Harry and Hemraj continued developing the plan.

Chapter 55

Highworth was beginning to get agitated. He had left more messages on Richards' phone but there was still no response. Bubble.com's shares had dropped to 310 pence but still hadn't reached the magic 300 figure. He was beginning to wonder whether he shouldn't just buy them at 310. He knew this would push the price up but he would still make a killing, both on the short sell and over the longer term once Mymate was successfully fielded. He looked at his watch. It was still early but, unable to sleep, he decided to get up. His wife was fast asleep next to him and he was careful not to wake her as he climbed out of bed. He put on a dressing gown and went downstairs to make coffee and phone his driver, Simon.

‘Where the hell is Richards,' he said to himself as he tried Richards' number again. Still no response. He left another angry message and hung up. He wanted closure on the girl from the Fairweather killing but he also wanted Richards to do some background work on Simon Copley, the MP opposing fracking. The sooner he could start to put pressure on Copley, the sooner he could set the Kendo Oil ball rolling. He wasn't impatient but once Bubble.com's shares hit 300 pence and his team starting buying, he would need something else to keep him occupied.

An hour later, Highworth was in the back of his car and heading into London through the early morning traffic. Simon remained silent. He recognised the mood his boss was in and he therefore concentrated on his driving. He knew only too well that at times like this any sudden braking would elicit a sharp rebuke from the back seat.

Simon dropped him off and Highworth marched into the foyer of his office building. He ignored the ‘good mornings' of the receptionist and the security guards and took the waiting lift straight up to his office. Once at his desk, he phoned Briggs' office. His mood didn't improve when he was told that Commissioner Briggs was on holiday for two weeks. His tried Briggs' mobile. Another answerphone. He could see his PA arrive through the glass wall that separated his office from hers. The door was open. ‘Coffee,' he shouted. ‘Now.'

‘Yes sir,' she responded, surprised and disappointed that he was in so early. Like his driver, she recognised his mood and her heart sank. He was foul to work for at the best of times. When he was like this, he was utterly unbearable. For the thousandth time that year, she thought about leaving the company, or at least him, but the money was exceptional. She bit her lip and made the coffee. She even smiled when she went into his office and put the cup on his desk. Highworth didn't respond. He was watching share prices on one of the TVs opposite his desk. The UK stock exchange hadn't opened yet but, across the world, other markets were trading and he was looking for trends and opportunities. He pressed the intercom and told his PA to send his head of research in to him the moment he arrived in the building. He wanted to get his team working on Kendo Oil.

Chapter 56

Harry, Lucy and Hemraj arrived in Farnham just before lunch. It had been a long drive but the only difficult bit had been getting off the Moor. Although it had stopped snowing in the early hours of the morning, the roads had still been covered when they'd left the house and they had had to use Ellie's snow chains for the first few miles. The roads had still been treacherous beyond Moretonhampstead but there had been far less snow and the Range Rover's traction control had meant that they were able to dispense with the chains.

Hemraj knew the Farnham area well. As a young Gurkha soldier he had joined his Battalion when it was based in Church Crookham, a small town located a few miles west of Farnham. The UK Gurkha Battalion had eventually relocated to Shorncliffe in Kent but, other than a new housing development where the old barracks had been, little else had changed. Hemraj had pointed out the Long Valley training area that lies between Farnham and Church Crookham and had explained that this was where he had done his airborne selection course. Densely wooded, it was criss-crossed by a network of forest tracks, all of which seemed to have remarkably steep hills somewhere along their length. Hemraj had grimaced as he had explained how his instructors used to make them sprint up and down the hills until they could hardly walk. ‘They said it was character building,' said Hemraj. ‘It wasn't. It just hurt!'

Lucy laughed. Hemraj was one of the quietest men she had ever met and his humorous comment surprised her.

They had put Highworth's address into the car's SatNav. It showed that they were now within two hundred metres of the house. There was little traffic and Harry was able to slow to walking pace without causing an obstruction. The new Range Rover didn't look out of place in what was obviously an exclusive residential area. They looked at the houses on either side of the road. They were large and extremely private with high walls and secure looking gates. Some had CCTV cameras mounted on discrete poles, others had signs that warned of guard dogs. As they drove past Highworth's house, Hemraj filmed the entrance on a small digital camera.

‘Automatic gates, no CCTV that I can see, no signs of dogs, floodlights over the porch,' said Hemraj into the camera's microphone.

They had used Google Earth to give them an idea of the house's layout. It was set back from the road and surrounded by gardens. It might be difficult to get in but, once inside, there was little chance of being seen from the road. The rear garden backed onto a small wood which they had decided might be used as a covered approach. Harry started to smile as he looked at the house next to Highworth's. It was for sale. The sign gave the name of one of the country's most exclusive estate agents.

‘Why don't you give them a ring and see if we can view the house?' he suggested to Lucy, pointing out the sign.

Lucy smiled as she dialled the number. ‘What a good idea,' she said. ‘We can stop and have a look through the gate. Nobody would think that was suspicious.' Harry pulled up on the kerb in front of the house. He got out with Hemraj whilst Lucy spoke to the estate agent.

‘I've booked us in for two o'clock this afternoon. They've had a number of viewings but no offers so far. It's on the market for six million but the agent thinks they might be willing to drop to five five,' she said to Harry.

‘A bargain,' said Harry. ‘Does it have a pool?'

‘It does,' replied Lucy laughing. ‘And a tennis court with retractable lighting and its own changing room. It sounds very nice indeed.'

They could see the front of Highworth's house from the gate. It seemed very quiet. Earlier that morning they'd spent an hour or so searching the internet for facts about Highworth. A great deal had been written about his spectacular investments and his family's charitable activities. They now knew that he was married to a woman called ‘Caroline' and that her father had been a well known banker. Perhaps not surprisingly, there was little else about his domestic life other than the fact that he didn't have children. They had phoned his office on the way to Farnham on the pretext of confirming whether he would be prepared to give an interview for a magazine later in the month. His secretary had listened politely and had then told them to put their request in writing. They had tried to get her to confirm whether he was in the office by suggesting she ask him there and then whether he would be prepared to give the interview but she had been the model of evasive discretion. ‘If you drop him a note setting out why you wish to interview him, I will ensure that he considers your request,' she had said before putting the phone down.

‘As we can't do anything more until two o'clock, why don't we have lunch?' suggested Hemraj. ‘There's a really nice pub not too far from here that serves great food.'

They agreed and Hemraj directed them out of Farnham and along a succession of country lanes until they came to a place called Well. Harry saw the pub as they entered the village. It was a typical English country inn. The walls were covered in ivy and a vine grew over a wooden frame that enclosed the outdoor seating area next to the main entrance. They went into the bar. It was quiet and they were able to find a secluded table next to the fire. They ordered sandwiches and started to discuss what their next move should be. Harry knew that they needed to move fast. Richards was a dangerous man and there was a limit to how long they could keep him chained up in the cellar. Whilst he would prefer to observe Highworth for a few days before making a move, he knew that he didn't have the time. He would have to do his best and just accept the risk that came with his lack of reconnaissance. The woods at the back of the house were useful in terms of gaining access to Highworth's house. If the house that was for sale was empty, then it might also provide a way of approaching Highworth's property without being seen from the road.

They ate their lunch and discussed the options. After an hour or so, they had the makings of a plan. It wasn't perfect but it would suffice. Harry went outside to have a cigarette and to phone Ganesh. He didn't doubt that Ganesh could keep Richards under control but surprise was essential to his plan and he wanted to check that there was no way that Richards could communicate with Highworth. ‘Keep him secured,' said Harry when he got through. ‘We can look at letting him stretch and go to the toilet after we've seen Highworth but, for the moment, I don't want to take any chances. If Richards were somehow to send a message to Highworth, it would make life very difficult for us.'

Ganesh understood. He was a little perplexed as to why Harry thought he would consider letting Richards go, even to the toilet. He knew what the man was capable of. He'd asked the girls not to go into the cellar and to avoid discussing anything that might jeopardise what Harry was doing in case Richards overheard them. He wasn't being unnecessarily cruel to Richards. He'd fed him breakfast and was ensuring that he drank sufficient water to remain hydrated but, beyond that, he'd no intention of being friendly. Richards had tried engaging him in conversation a few times but Ganesh had ignored him. They had both done the same training and Ganesh realised that Richards was trying to create a bond with him. Research suggested that captors were less likely to kill or mistreat their prisoners if they started to relate to them as people rather than seeing them just as targets. But Ganesh wanted Richards to remain afraid of his captors and for that reason he remained silent and continued to wear his balaclava whenever he went to see him.

The tour of the house was interesting. Lucy and Harry pretended to be a couple looking to relocate from London. Hemraj was introduced as a security expert, invited along by the couple to give a view on the house's security. The agent asked a few questions but seemed to accept their story. ‘Why wouldn't he?' suggested Harry when they had discussed the plan earlier. ‘He wants to sell the house and he has no idea whether or not we are genuinely interested.'

The house had been beautifully renovated by the current owners who, it transpired, had recently moved to the Cayman Islands, presumably, thought Lucy, for tax reasons. Hemraj asked a few security related questions and then disappeared off with the agent's permission to check perimeter security. This gave him an ideal opportunity to study Highworth's house. He took several discrete photographs of the rear of the house and of the woods that backed onto the garden. Content that he had seen enough, he rejoined Harry and Lucy on their tour of the house. For plausibility, he suggested to the agent that, with a few minor modifications, the house could indeed be made very secure.

They spent the rest of the afternoon and the early part of the evening discussing how best to approach and then get into Highworth's house without being seen or heard. The photographs that Hemraj had taken were invaluable, as were the images that they were able to download from Google Earth. Google's Street View, in particular, reinforced their initial impression that the house was too visible from the main road for them to try and approach the front door undetected. After several hours of exploring every possible option, they agreed to have an early supper in the town of Fleet before making their move. About thirty minutes from Farnham, Hemraj knew the town well and took them to one of its many Nepalese restaurants. He explained that when the UK Gurkha Battalion had been based in Church Crookham, Fleet had been the nearest shopping centre. Though the battalion was now long gone, a fair number of ex-soldiers and their families had settled in the area and it therefore retained something of its old Gurkha identity.

After supper, they drove the car to the far side of the woods that backed onto Highworth's house. It was already dark and there was little chance of them being seen but all three wore black fatigues, balaclavas and web belts. Harry and Hemraj had the Glocks whilst Lucy had a short length of rope over her shoulder. Hemraj led the way through the woods until he came to a slight rise in the ground. He stopped, checked his bearings and, kneeling down, indicated that they had arrived at their destination. He'd identified the spot on an Ordnance Survey map that afternoon. Harry was impressed with Hemraj's selection. The slight hill provided a reasonable amount of cover as well as giving them a clear view of the back of Highworth's house. They settled down to wait.

Highworth arrived home late evening. From what the three were able to see, he was alone in the house with his wife. They had dinner in the large kitchen that faced the garden and then watched TV for a few hours before going upstairs. There were no signs of dogs but they made the assumption that the doors and windows would be alarmed. When they were viewing the house next door, Hemraj had noticed that one of the upstairs windows in Highworth's house had been open. It had frosted glass and Hemraj had assumed that it was a bathroom. Perhaps surprisingly, the window was still ajar. When they had discussed it they had agreed that there was no way that anyone could get access to the window without a ladder unless, Lucy had suggested, they were an exceptional climber. After much discussion, they had agreed that Lucy should try and climb up to the window. If this failed, then they'd decided that they would simply skirt round the side of the house, knock on the front door and, when it was answered, force their way in at gun point. ‘Crude but effective,' Harry had said.

‘Provided we're not seen from the road,' Hemraj had added with a slight smile. ‘In which case it won't be at all effective as someone will no doubt call the police!'

They waited another hour to give Highworth and his wife a chance to fall asleep. Harry looked at his watch. ‘Ready?' he asked Lucy.

‘As I'll ever be,' she replied, slipping her balaclava over her face. Harry watched her as she checked her equipment. The combats were loose fitting. This and her height helped disguise her female shape. She was wearing climbing ‘stickies'. They had bought these in Aldershot at a specialist climbing shop. Their sole was completely smooth and rigid but they gave tremendous grip, enabling the wearer to use even the tiniest feature as a foot hold. She put chalk on her hands to absorb the fine film of sweat that had formed and, with a final wave of her hand, she sprinted out of the woods, neatly jumping a small fence and landing on all fours in Highworth's back garden. She paused for a second to get her bearings and then sprinted for the rear wall of the house. Harry and Hemraj watched with their hearts in their mouths.

‘She moves like Ganesh,' whispered Hemraj. ‘Like a cat.'

‘Yes,' replied Harry, ‘only she's much prettier!'

Hemraj looked at him out of the corner of his eye. He knew Harry well and he thought he'd sensed something between his old friend and Lucy when they were at Ellie's house. He was pleased. From what he'd seen of them together, they were a good match.

‘Good luck!' he said to Harry.

They watched as Lucy leaned her back to the wall below the open window and uncoiled the rope. She clipped one end of it to her webbing belt, turned round and started to climb. The wall was made of red brick. Though it appeared to be smooth, the pointing between the bricks had weathered over the years and she was able to find enough gaps to pull herself up. Slowly, she began to ascend. At one point, one of her hands slipped and she hung by one arm. Harry gasped and Hemraj started to move forward but she swung the free arm up and was soon putting her hand through the gap in the open window. A few minutes later, she had the window fully open and had tied the rope to something inside the room. She waved at the boys, the signal for them to follow her.

Harry went first. Again, he jumped the fence and then sprinted to the wall. Within a few minutes, he had joined Lucy in what turned out to be a very large and well appointed bathroom. He noticed that the rope was secured to an old fashioned cast iron radiator. ‘Thank goodness they don't have under-floor heating,' he said to himself as Hemraj's head appeared in the open window. When they were all inside, they pulled up the rope and closed the window. It was dark but there was sufficient light for Harry to make out a door. He opened it slowly. Peering through the crack he could make out a large bed with two forms in it. He took out his pistol and unclipped a small torch that was attached to his webbing belt. Hemraj did the same. They opened the door and crept into the bedroom. Harry went down one side of the bed whilst Hemraj went down the other. On the count of three, they both turned their torches on and aimed them at the faces of the two sleeping people. Highworth woke up first. ‘What the fuck's going on?' he shouted as he began to come to his senses.