talk or something. Everyone’s been working so hard on this and the mood out there is suicidal.’
‘Later,’ Ross said, as his eyes widened with a sense of purpose. ‘Maybe we’re not as far up shit creek as everyone seems to think. Close my door on the way out, I need to make a phone call.’
Once the sergeant was gone, Ross pulled an address book out of the jacket hooked up by the door and looked up M for Mitchum. Jennifer Mitchum’s office said that she’d retired, but one of the administration staff at Nebraska House children’s home called back a couple of minutes later and gave him a home number.
‘You came to my rescue when I needed somewhere safe for Dante,’ Ross explained into the handset, after a brief exchange of pleasantries. ‘You only spoke in the vaguest terms about where Dante would go and what CHERUB does, but my investigation just came to a grinding halt and I’m wondering if they might be able to help.’
17. CHOPPER
Six days later
The Bell 430 had taken off from an airfield in North London seventy-five minutes earlier. With a jet engine mounted a few metres behind the cockpit, helicopter travel is never genteel and for police officers Neil Gauche and Ross Johnson the experience became more alien ten minutes after take-off when the co-pilot ordered them to don full-face helmets with blacked-out visors.
They were only allowed to remove helmets after they’d landed on the helipad in front of the main building on CHERUB campus. With a top speed of more than 250kph Ross realised that the helicopter could have taken him anywhere in England and Wales, or even into the southern borders of Scotland.
The co-pilot pointed the two officers towards a man in high-visibility white who stood in front of a sinister concrete bunker. Ross felt oddly powerless as he walked, blinded by the sunlight as his eyes adjusted from the blackness under the helmet.
‘Steep stairs,’ the man in white warned. ‘Hold the railing.’
Ross gripped a metal rail and clanked below ground, into a structure that reminded him of Victorian fortifications he’d seen while holidaying on the south coast.
Inside, another burly guard stood up from behind a desk. Ross and Neil exchanged a glance and Neil quipped, ‘Where do they keep the flying saucers?’
‘Welcome to CHERUB campus,’ the guard said. ‘I’m sorry if our security procedures have disturbed you in any way. Now I need you to confirm that you’re carrying no recording equipment, mobile telephones or other electronic devices including hearing aids or pacemakers.’
‘The pilot stripped ’em before we left,’ Neil explained, as the guard waved a metal detector wand over their clothing before pointing them towards a row of booths.
‘Please step into a booth and remove your clothing, including your underwear, and jewellery including watches and earrings. Then put on the orange suits and sandals provided.’
The booths were similar to shop changing rooms, apart from the lack of privacy curtains. While Neil and Ross stripped, the guard carefully went through the photographs and documents inside Ross’ briefcase, before transferring the contents to a clear plastic bag. The guard then weighed the bag, and attached a sticky label.
‘Don’t dispose of anything from the bag while on campus,’ the guard said, adopting a flat tone that made it clear he’d done the speech a hundred times before. ‘It will be weighed and inspected again when you leave. If you’re given anything to take away from campus, keep it separately and present it for inspection when you leave. Do not remove anything from campus without authorisation. By entering campus, you agree never to mention its existence to anyone.
‘You also agree that you may be x-rayed, searched, or given a rectal or oral examination by campus staff. In the event of any security breach before or after today’s visit you may be arrested and detained for an indefinite period. If you agree to all of the following sign the form and proceed through the x-ray barrier. Your liaison is waiting on the other side of the barrier. Have a nice day.’
The plastic sandals and baggy orange suits didn’t make it easy to move quickly. As police officers, Neil and Ross were used to being in control, but the hooded flight and intimidating security arrangements left them both out of their depth.
After the x-ray they entered a more familiar space. The waiting room had a filter coffee jug, magazines and a water cooler, but the two cops didn’t need it because a woman and a boy