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  ‘You don’t have a driver?’ said Lamont, as Wall climbed behind the wheel and switched on the ignition.

  ‘Cutbacks,’ he growled.

  07.14 GMT

  William spotted him the moment he entered the terminal. A dark blue double-breasted blazer, white shirt and striped tie. The commander probably slept in double-breasted pyjamas.

  ‘Good morning, sir.’

  ‘Good morning, William. Carter’s booked on BA flight 003 to Rome, departing in an hour and a half, and we’re on an Alitalia plane which takes off in forty minutes. Lieutenant Monti will meet us at the airport before driving to Civitavecchia. We’ll hang about here for a few more minutes to make sure Carter checks in. If he suspects someone might be following him, he could abort his whole trip, in which case we’ll be heading back to Scotland Yard, not Rome.’ The commander was still speaking when he grabbed William by the arm and nodded in the direction of the BA desks. Carter was striding towards the check-in counter, accompanied by a man William didn’t recognize, who was carrying a bulky holdall and pushing a trolley with two small suitcases.

  ‘I have a feeling I know what’s in that holdall,’ said Hawksby. ‘But there’s not a lot we can do about it.’

  ‘We could have them searched by security before he boards the plane.’

  ‘That’s the last thing we want.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘For two reasons,’ said Hawksby as Carter was issued with his boarding pass. ‘First, we’d need to have reasonable suspicion that he’d committed a crime before we could consider checking his luggage, and secondly, if we didn’t find anything suspicious, we would have warned them off and blown our cover.’

  ‘Do you recognize the other man?’ asked William as they headed towards passport control.

  ‘Damien Grant, GBH, former weightlifter, and more recently club bouncer. He’s only there to make sure that holdall reaches its destination.’

  ‘Last call for Alitalia, flight number . . .’

  10.07 GMT

  Once they had settled in Superintendent Wall’s office, the three police officers checked and double-checked every detail of Operation Blue Period. When Lamont had answered his final question, Wall checked his watch. ‘Time to go down to the basement car park and brief the troops. It’s the only space we’ve got that’s big enough to accommodate your private army.’

  Lamont and Jackie followed the superintendent out of his office and down a flight of well-worn steps into the car park, where a couple of dozen policemen and two policewomen were chatting as they waited to find out why they were there. They fell silent the moment the superintendent appeared.

  ‘Good morning,’ he said, tapping his swagger stick against his leg. ‘We are joined today by two officers from the Met. We are here to assist them with a special operation that will be taking place on our patch. I’ll hand over to DCI Lamont, who will brief you on the details.’

  Lamont waited until Jackie had set up an easel and placed an aerial photograph of a large country estate on it.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ said Lamont, ‘the Met have been preparing this operation for several months, but we have always known that its outcome will depend on the professionalism of the officers on the ground.’ He pointed at them. ‘That’s you!’

  Laughter and a smattering of applause broke out.

  ‘We have reason to believe,’ continued Wall, ‘that a well-organized gang of criminals will be raiding this property tonight.’ Jackie pointed to the photograph of a large Lutyens mansion surrounded by several acres of parkland.

  ‘The gang’s purpose is to steal a Picasso worth several millions, and be out of harm’s way long before the police arrive. But we’ll be waiting for them. You may ask why we need such a large force for this operation, when there will only be three or possibly four thieves involved. That’s because we know who’s behind this scam, and he’s beaten us once too often in the past. So this time we’re going to cut off his balls before he thinks about doing it again.’

  A second, louder round of applause followed.

  ‘For this particular well-planned operation, I can assure you the villains have done their homework,’ continued Lamont. ‘They know the owners are on holiday, and they also know that the nearest police station is twenty minutes away, which they believe will give them more than enough time to vanish into thin air long before the police turn up. My second in command, DS Roycroft, will now take you through the details of Operation Blue Period, and the role you’ll be playing. DS Roycroft.’

  Jackie took a pace forward, delighted to be greeted by so many enthusiastic faces who were clearly looking forward to catching some real villains, and nailing one in particular.

  12.45 CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME

  The Alitalia flight landed at Da Vinci airport a few minutes behind schedule. The first thing William saw as he descended the aircraft steps was Lieutenant Monti waiting by the side of an unmarked car.

  William introduced Hawksby to Monti, who saluted, opened the back door and waited for them both to climb in. Hawksby was surprised that the lieutenant was unshaven and his breath stank of garlic, but he didn’t comment.

  ‘No passport control, no customs?’ asked William.

  ‘If it had been just you, William,’ said Monti, ‘I would have met you in the arrivals hall, but when my comandante heard that Commander Hawksby would be accompanying you, he ordered me to pull out all the stops. I hope that’s the appropriate English expression?’

  ‘Spot on,’ said William. ‘The meaning derives from an organist pulling out the stops of his instrument to increase the volume.’

  ‘Thank you, constable,’ said Hawksby. ‘Most interesting.’

  ‘It’s not a long journey to Civitavecchia,’ said Monti, as they sped off. ‘But we need to be there well ahead of Carter and Grant. They’re booked into the Grand Hotel – grand in name only.’

  ‘And where are we staying?’ asked Hawksby.

  ‘I’m afraid your hotel is even less grand. But it does have the advantage of being on the quayside, so I’ve booked you a room overlooking the port.’

  ‘And William?’

  ‘He will be with me at all times. The harbourmaster informed me that Carter has chartered a small, fully equipped shallow search and recovery vessel for seven days. It’s ideally suited for expeditions in search of seabed treasure.’

  ‘Why seven days,’ asked William, ‘when they will be taking on board what they’re looking for?’

  ‘It’s just for show,’ Monti explained, ‘although we can’t be sure how many of the crew are in on the scam. But we assume the captain and the two divers must be.’

  ‘So do we just sit in Civitavecchia and wait for them to return before we arrest them?’

  ‘Certainly not,’ said Monti. ‘I’ve signed us both on as deckhands. They clearly want as many innocent onlookers as possible to witness their remarkable discovery.’

  ‘But my Italian isn’t that good,’ William reminded him.

  ‘I know,’ said Monti, ‘so once we’re on board, leave the talking to me. And I ought to warn you, these can be choppy waters.’

  ‘And I ought to warn you,’ said William, ‘I’m not a good sailor.’

  12.21 GMT

  ‘Any questions?’ asked Jackie when she’d come to the end of her briefing.

  A hand shot up. ‘Which of the two teams is more likely to be needed?’

  ‘We won’t know until the last moment. There are two exits from the house, here and here, where the buses will be hidden,’ said Jackie, pointing to the map. ‘But we have no way of knowing which one they’ll take. If for any reason we don’t manage to intercept them, we’ve got a helicopter on standby.’

  ‘I should stress,’ interjected Lamont, ‘that while you’re waiting, you can’t listen to the radio, or even chat among yourselves, because the slightest sound will alert them. Just be sure you’re not the idiot who frightens them off.’

  ‘What sort of vehicle are you expecting them to