“I DON’T like it,” Annie said over an early lunch in the Queen’s Arms with Banks and Gerry Masterson. “I don’t like it at all.”

“I’m sorry,” said Banks, putting aside his bacon sandwich for a moment. “But it’s done now. And you know as well as I do that it had to be done.”

“But I’m the one who convinced her to talk in the first place, arranged the sketch artist, had Vic get the fingerprints from the card.”

“None of this is your fault, Annie. You were only doing your job. And it was good police work. Alex Preston herself volunteered the information about Tanner’s visit, even after he had threatened her to keep silent.”

“I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to her. Or Ian.” She gave a shudder.

“It won’t come to that.”

“You can’t guarantee it, short of locking them in a cell. Even then—­”

“There’s no point jumping to worst-­case scenarios,” Banks snapped. “At the moment, Tanner’s the one in a cell.”

“Yes, but you and I know damn well how long that will last. That Harvey Nicks lawyer of his will have him out on the street the minute his twenty-­four hours are up. What are you going to do then? Put Alex and Ian in the witness protection program? We don’t have one.”

“I’m sure something along those lines could be arranged, but it’s not necessary yet.”

“You mean you won’t do anything until you’ve brought Tanner’s accomplices into the open. You’re using Alex and Ian as bait?”

“That’s not fair,” said Gerry.

Annie shot her a dark look and turned back to Banks. “It’s true, though, isn’t it? That’s why you had Gerry here in on the interview and not me. You didn’t trust me to keep my cool. These ­people are out there covering their tracks, and the closer we get the more danger all the ­people on the fringes are in. They’ve got rid of Spencer and perhaps Ross. They’re after Michael Lane, maybe they’ve even got to him already, and now there’s Alex and Ian, too.”

“It’s Lane they want,” said Banks. “Not Alex or Ian.”

“No, but they’ll use her and Ian as a means to an end, won’t they? And we’ve seen just how much respect for human life they have. I saw Caleb Ross’s and Morgan Spencer’s bodies in the pass, too, you know.”

“I know,” said Banks. “But this all started with Spencer. He wasn’t killed as a part of any cleanup operation, or for information, as far as we know. We don’t know why he was killed, but I think Michael Lane does. There’s a different motive for his murder, and as far as we can be certain, there’s been only one murder so far. We might suspect that Caleb Ross’s van was sabotaged, but we have absolutely no evidence of that. The CSIs have managed to get the pieces back to the forensics garage and they’re still working on it. Until they can tell us something definite, we’re only investigating one murder: Morgan Spencer.”

“Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better.”

Gerry Masterson nibbled on her chicken in a basket and looked from one to the other. “I’ll get back to the computer with the lists straight after lunch,” she said. “We’ve got plenty of names from a number of sources. Maybe it’s Venture Properties?”

“Venture?” said Annie. “What makes you think that?”

“Just that someone who has invested in the new shopping center development would be in a good position to know the state of negotiations and the lie of the land at the airfield. I mean, I doubt the place was chosen just at random.”

“Good point,” said Annie grudgingly. “I must admit I had a funny feeling about Venture.”

Banks laughed. “I always have a funny feeling around property developers. It doesn’t mean they’re all murderers.”

“I’m not saying anything about murderers,” said Gerry, tucking a stray tress of red hair behind her ear. “It’s probably just a business to them.” She glanced at Banks. “And I’m not saying Venture is involved, only that their lists might provide a connection.”

“Have you got anywhere with that name I gave you yesterday? Montague Havers?”

“As a matter of fact, I have,” said Gerry. “It took a bloody long time and a lot of perhaps less than legal maneuvers, but I got the name.”

“He’s on the Venture list?”

“Indeed he is.”

“Why didn’t you say so before?”

Gerry blushed. “I just got it, the moment before we came out to lunch, sir.”

“Well, go on,” Banks urged her.

“It might not lead anywhere.”

“But Havers is an investor in the shopping center?”

“Indirectly, yes. That’s why it took so long. To cut a long story short, sir, he’s connected with a company called Retail Perfection Ltd., or a smaller division of that, a company within a company.”

“You’re losing me, Gerry.”

“High finance and corporate finagling aren’t really my area of expertise, either, sir, but let’s say he’s on the board, a major shareholder, of a branch of Retail Perfection Ltd. that handles property acquisition and development. His main business is international financing, but he’s got his finger in a number of pies, or companies, I should say.”

“That’s the connection we were looking for.”

“Yes, but there are lots of other investors.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Banks. “Joanna gave me Havers’s name as someone they were keeping an eye on for Operation Hawk. Apparently he’s clever and slippery and they’ve not been able to get him for anything yet. He’s obviously careful and makes sure he never handles anything that can be traced back to the thefts and transportation. But if he’s also an investor in the Drewick shopping center development, then he’s in a position to know that it would be a good place to use as a depot. All he has to do is know and pass on that knowledge. He doesn’t have to organize anything himself, get his hands dirty. It’s ideal. That’s great, Gerry. Well done.”

“Wait a minute,” said Annie. “Gerry said there are a lot of other ­people involved in investing in the airfield. What about them? Shouldn’t we check all of them out?”

“We could, I suppose,” said Banks. “But I vote that Havers gets first attention. It’s a double hit, Annie. He’s invested in the airfield development and he’s on Joanna MacDonald’s Operation Hawk list. Also, he drove up here on the Sunday we think Morgan Spencer was killed at the hangar.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Annie said. “What are you going to do?”

“Go see him. I was going anyway, but now I’ve even got a bit more ammunition, thanks to Gerry.”

Gerry Masterson blushed, and Annie looked sulky. “While Alex and Ian just wait around for someone to kill them or abduct them?”

“Don’t be absurd. They’ll be well protected.”

“Sure.”

Gerry stood up. “I should get back to the squad room now, if that’s OK? I’ve got the Venture stuff to finish, then a whole lot of abattoirs to look into.”

“Absolutely,” said Banks. “And dig up all you can on Montague Havers.”

Gerry left, and they watched her go. “She’s come on a lot,” said Annie.

“Indeed, she has.”

“Still a bit sensitive, though.”

Banks smiled. “And you’re still a bit acerbic.”

“Whatever that is. I’m working on it.”

Banks touched her hand on the table. “I know you are. And your concern for Alex and Ian hasn’t gone unnoticed. We’re going to make damn sure their security is tight and that neither of them is going to be damaged by this.”

“But for how long?” asked Annie, banging her fist on the table. The glasses rattled and one or two ­people looked over. “I just feel so damn responsible.”

“As long as it takes. As I said before, they’re not interested in Alex. True, she’s a means to an end, but as soon as that end no longer matters, neither does she. We’ve got to increase our efforts to find Michael Lane.”

“So why not just kill her, then?”

“Because I think we’re dealing with businessmen, and it wouldn’t be to their advantage. They’ve no reason to. Look at Spencer. We don’t know why they killed him, but it was hardly as a warning, an example or to hurt someone else. They were hoping his body would be incinerated, for crying out loud. All we’ve encountered so far has been the pond life—­Tanner, Ross, Spencer, Lane. The man with the bolt gun, whoever that is. But there’s someone else calling the shots, someone whose orders they obey, someone with brains. That’s who we want to get to. And that’s why I’m going to see Montague Havers.”