Silent Night - By Tom Barber Page 0,50

join him.

Archer turned to Kruger. ‘Excuse me.’

‘Of course.’

He rose, tossing his foam cup of tea in the trash beside the desk. As he walked towards the stairs, Josh joining him, he turned and saw Kruger move over to the empty seat by Maddy and put his arm around her. In the hug, her head on Kruger’s shoulder, she and Archer made eye contact.

Her face was cold.

Once they got upstairs, Archer and Josh headed straight into the briefing room. Shepherd was in there with Marquez and Rach, and there was a freeze-frame on the screen on the wall. Judging by the ice rink and familiar surroundings, Archer guessed it was a camera in Bryant Park. He looked at the top right corner and saw Bry Park 42nd SE. The clock next to it said 11:35:34.

‘What do we have?’ Josh asked.

‘Not much, I’m afraid,’ Rach said. ‘This looks out over the area in front of the café.’

They looked closely. The view should have been unobstructed, but the wooden Christmas stalls and tall decorations had blocked off the view by the rink.

‘This is the best shot I can get. And the patisserie doesn’t have any CCTV. Trying to find whoever killed Hansen on camera is a dead end.’

Josh swore.

‘But we’ve got something else,’ Shepherd said. ‘Run the recording, Rach.’

She withdrew the camera shot from the screen and pulled a fifteen second sound clip up instead. She hit Play.

‘Bleeker, where the hell are you?’ a voice said, filling the room. ‘I’ve been trying you all morning. You haven’t told me where we’re meeting tonight and we need to discuss payment. This thing had better be what you say it is.’

‘A tech next door pulled that from Paul Bleeker’s cell phone,’ Rach said. ‘Call came in this morning at 11:05.’

‘British accent,’ Shepherd said, turning and looking at Archer. ‘You recognise a region?’

‘Posh.’

‘Not the kind of guy who mixes with a low-life neo-Nazi.’

‘But sounds like he knows about the virus,’ Marquez said. ‘This thing had better be what you say it is.’

‘He could be another member of the neo-Nazi group?’ Rach suggested.

‘They didn’t seem familiar,’ Shepherd said.

‘OK, so someone he met in prison?’

‘He didn’t exactly sound like a guy who’s done time in gen pop either.’

‘How about employment?’ Josh said. ‘He sounded superior. As if he’s used to calling the shots.’

Shepherd looked at him. Then he turned to Rach.

‘Bleeker’s file?’

Rach nodded and pulled it up onto the screen.

‘Scroll down.’

The team examined the screen. Just like his conviction sheet, the employment history list was long. He’d either quit or been fired from every job he’d had save one, the current.

‘Janitor at Lloyd, Garrett and Jacobs,’ Rach read. ‘Law firm based in the Financial District. Been working there for three months. That could be something.’

She typed the name of the firm into Google and came up with a homepage. She clicked on it, and the page opened up. It was a typical legal firm internet site, a photo of a client and lawyer shaking hands at a desk overlooking Manhattan on a sunny day. There were a series of different headers at the top of the website.

She clicked on About.

A blurb came up describing how the law firm had come into existence, underneath which was a bio of the three senior partners. Each person in the room scanned them. First John Lloyd, then Simon Garrett. Neither of theirs was relevant. Both men were from West Virginia and both had gone to Harvard, which is where they must have met. The two profile photographs were of middle-aged men sitting at a desk and smiling at the camera, self-assured and successful.

‘Hang on,’ Marquez said. ‘Check out Jacobs’ profile.’

They all looked at the bottom of the screen.

Born in Oxford, England in 1975, senior partner Alistair Jacobs was educated at Harrow School and went on to read Law at Cambridge University.

‘No way,’ Josh said. ‘It can’t be him.’

Rach scrolled back to the homepage. She hovered the arrow over the welcome video and pressed Play. During this, a detective from downstairs had appeared in the doorway. Everyone was so engrossed with the screen that no one had noticed him. He was looking at Shepherd.

‘Sir?’

Shepherd was distracted and didn’t hear him. The video on the screen was a welcome package, showing footage from inside the law firm and introducing the senior partners. Lloyd and Garrett both introduced themselves, then Jacobs came onto the screen and started talking.

‘Here at Lloyd, Garrett and Jacobs, we strive to offer...’

‘Holy shit,’ Josh said.

Rach looked at Shepherd. ‘That’s a