on and let me finish. I’ve studied the photographs of Will’s body again and I can’t help agreeing with your theory that Michael Patel touching an obviously dead body was a highly suspicious thing to do. He was tangled up in a robbery with Will and on the scene at the time he died. The data disk hidden inside the computer indicates that Will either wanted evidence against his partners if things turned bad, or he was trying to blackmail them for a bigger share of the loot. Taking all of this into account, I now think it’s highly probable that Michael Patel killed Will Clarke. Are we all agreed on that?’
John looked to everyone in turn for confirmation. Lauren and Kerry both nodded.
‘Ninety per cent certain that he killed him,’ Dave said.
James shook his head. ‘Eighty per cent, more like.’
Chloe smiled. ‘Well I’m not going to put a number on it, but I think he probably did.’
Mr Schott nodded.
John looked at Millie last. She seemed upset and for a second James thought she was going to start blubbing again. Her eyes narrowed into determined little slits as she spoke. ‘I’d like to see Michael Patel go to prison for a very long time.’
‘So we agree,’ Dave said, looking at Mr Schott, ‘but to get Michael convicted of murder, you’ve got to convince a jury of twelve people beyond any reasonable doubt. We don’t have anything strong enough to do that, do we?’
Mr Schott shook his head. ‘Not even close. We’re all basing our presumptions of guilt on the fact that Patel touched the body, but a smart lawyer will defend Michael by claiming that he acted strangely because he was traumatised by what had just happened. Even if some of the jury members thought Patel was probably guilty, the judge would instruct them to find him innocent even if they entertained moderate doubts.’
‘We’ve all got doubts ourselves,’ Chloe reminded everyone.
‘Does that mean we’re bummed?’ Lauren asked.
‘There’s little chance of turning up more evidence via conventional investigative methods,’ John said. ‘We’re going to have to get a confession.’
‘You’re tripping,’ James said, shaking his head. ‘Tarasov and Patel will never confess, not in a million years.’
John smiled. ‘Credit me with some intelligence, James. I’m not planning to take Tarasov and Patel down to Palm Hill police station, make them a nice cup of rosie and ask them to do the decent thing. I’m talking about a sting operation. We’re going to have to devise a trap.’
‘How?’ James asked.
‘I’ve got a few ideas,’ John said. ‘But it’s going to take time and a lot of detailed preparation to get all of the elements into place.’
‘How long?’ Dave asked.
‘Ten days, perhaps,’ John shrugged. ‘Maybe a fortnight.’
‘So what do we do until then?’ Lauren asked.
‘James and Dave stay at Palm Hill, keeping in with the Tarasovs and seeing what else they can dig up. I expect you and Kerry will be able to go back to campus until a day or two before we’re ready to roll.’
29. KISS
The plan took longer than expected to come together; not that James minded. He spent the nineteen days after John announced his scheme bumming around Palm Hill with Max and Charlie: playing football, riding bikes, cruising the shops, hanging out at the reservoir and making out with Hannah whenever her parents weren’t keeping tabs. It wasn’t as much fun as the CHERUB hostel would have been, but James was determined to enjoy himself because he knew it was the closest to a summer holiday he’d get.
Tuesday, 20:58
What started out as a low-key mission had turned into the most technically complex CHERUB operation James had been involved with. The sting was going to be controlled from the suite adjoining the one John Jones had been living in.
James passed through the connecting door, stepping gingerly over a dozen tangled cables. There were three satellite dishes rigged up on the balcony. The beds had been put in storage and replaced by metal racks stacked up with computers, monitors, tape drives, telephones, back-up power supplies and two-way radio equipment. The only active screens showed Internet weather forecasts, one from the BBC and one from CNN.
Chloe was crawling behind the racks with a bunch of cables draped over her shoulder and she looked stressed out. James leaned over one of the computers and menacingly wiggled a finger in front of the reset switch.
‘Here, Chloe, what would happen if I pushed this button?’
‘Don’t you dare,’ Chloe yelled. ‘Unless you fancy spending the next