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Chapter 87

‘Hehas two passports?’ Poe said.

‘That I know of,’ Bradshaw replied. ‘One under his real name, the other under the name Stuart Rich.’

‘How did he get the second one?’

‘It’s perfectly legal to have more than one passport, Poe.’

‘It is?’

‘Yes, Poe. If your job involves a lot of international travel you might need more than one passport so you can send one off for a visa while you’re using the other. It’s quite common.’

‘But not in two different names, surely?’

‘No, that’s less common. But you can apply for a second passport using a document like an affidavit, a deed poll or a statutory declaration. All he would have needed was evidence that he was using his new name.’

‘Didhe use his new name?’

‘He did, Poe. After the exposé in the newspaper, despite being a leader in his field, he struggled to find work—’

‘Or he didn’t want to draw attention to himself while he planned all this?’

‘I hadn’t considered that, but keeping a low profile makes much more sense. Anyway, he ended up in a small flat in Kenilworth, near Coventry. He used his council tax forms to apply for a passport in his new name. As soon as it was issued he left the country.’

‘How did you find him?’

‘It was on the HM Passport Office database.’

‘And how did you …? You know what, it doesn’t matter,’ Poe said, electing for plausible deniability. ‘We’d better get someone to check out that address in Coventry.’

‘It’s been rented out several times since then, Poe.’

‘Where did he fly to?’

‘Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome.’

‘Damn,’ Poe said. Da Vinci was a hub airport, servicing forty-five million passengers a year. From Rome you could fly anywhere in the world.

‘Did you track him after that?’

‘He didn’t use a connecting flight, Poe.’

‘He didn’t?’

‘Perhaps he acquired another passport?’ Bradshaw said. ‘An illegal one this time.’

That wasn’t so unlikely. He remembered seeing an NCA bulletin a few years ago about a batch of faulty Italian passports. Thousands had been on their way to be pulped when they’d been stolen. You could buy one, complete with supporting documents, for around ten thousand euros. And in Sweden you could lose your passport six times a year and get six replacements. Europe had a massive problem with passport fraud.

‘I’d better call Detective Chief Superintendent Mathers,’ he said. ‘It might help with her Interpol blue notice.’

He was searching through his recent contacts when Mathers called him.

‘What’s up, ma’am?’ he said. ‘I was just about to ring you.’

‘I need you and DI Flynn back here.’

‘The boss has just finished her shift, ma’am. I’ll wake her if it’s important, but she’s been putting in some serious hours over the last few days.’

Mathers paused. ‘Just you then.’

‘What is it?’

‘We think we’ve found something.’

Poe looked at the slow-roasted goat again. ‘I’ll be right there,’ he sighed.