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Chapter 67

Thedrive north was straightforward. The ten-car convoy left at 7 a.m. exactly and arrived at Carleton Hall, Cumbria Constabulary’s headquarters building in Penrith, six hours later. They were ushered towards a sectioned-off area of the car park.

Detective Superintendent Jo Nightingale, the head of Cumbria CID, greeted them. SCAS had previously worked a few major cases with her. They knew her well. She was shrewd, intuitive and one of the few senior managers Poe had time for.

‘You can set up in Conference Room A,’ she said after introductions had been made. ‘I take it he hasn’t been in touch with a location?’

‘We’re expecting something tomorrow,’ Mathers replied. ‘I doubt we’ll get much notice.’

‘We’re pretty central here. With blues and twos it’s an hour to Barrow and fifteen minutes to Carlisle. West Cumbria might be problematic as the roads aren’t always great and communication can be patchy.’

‘Air support?’

‘The National Police Air Service have moved three EC135 Eurocopters to their Newcastle base. From six a.m. tomorrow, at least two will be hovering above Cumbria at any one time.’

‘And on the ground?’

‘One hundred uniformed officers, fifty more in reserve. All CID leave has been cancelled and, unless they are actively involved in a case, they will be strategically placed in all towns and larger villages. We undertook a mock exercise last night and believe we can throw a ring around any location within twenty minutes.’

‘That’s thorough,’ Mathers said.

‘It is. Which is what’s worrying me. Why risk the exposure? He must know we’ll put in every measure we can.’

‘Maybe he won’t show. Could just be a way of getting the core investigators out of London.’

‘Is that what you think, Poe?’ Nightingale asked.

‘I think he will show, ma’am.’

‘So he wants to be caught?’

‘No, ma’am,’ Poe said. ‘I believe he thinks he can meet with Henning Stahlandevade arrest. I’m not saying he will, obviously, just that he thinks he can.’

‘Why Cumbria? Up until now, every case has been in London.’

Poe shrugged. ‘No idea,’ he said. ‘It’s rural up here, but so is Wales, and that’s much closer to London. I assumed he’d want somewhere crowded, somewhere he could meet Stahl then melt away into a crowd. I’ve been racking my brain and I can’t see any tactical advantage to Cumbria. None whatsoever. And that means there’s something we haven’t thought of.’

‘You’re not filling me with confidence, Poe,’ Nightingale said.

‘That’s because I’m not confident. I reckon there’s a one in ten chance tomorrow.’

‘Of him evading us?’ Mathers said. ‘I suppose I can live with those odds.’

‘You misunderstand me, ma’am,’ Poe said. ‘I think there’s a one in ten chance we catch him.’