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Chapter 94

Poecould scarcely believe what he had just seen. Under Ania’s instruction, he had tugged at one of the bookcases in Elcid’s office, not entirely convinced he wasn’t being pranked. But, to his astonishment, after slight resistance, no more than it would take to open a fridge door, the bookcase had swung away from the wall. It was flush-mounted on heavy hinges and had rollers concealed under the bottom shelf. He let go of it and it slowly closed. It was weighted to gently swing back to the wall. Poe opened it again and looked behind it. A small magnet was fixed to the back of the bookcase. That explained the slight pressure he’d had to apply to open it. He studied the floor. Now he knew what he was looking for, he recognised the faint marks on the flagstones as groove tracks left by the rollers. Elcid must have been opening and closing the bookcase door for years.

Poe let it close again. He stepped back and studied it. There was no way to tell the bookcase was actually a concealed door. The craftsmanship was exceptional.

‘Are you kidding me?’ he said. ‘A secret door. What is this, an episode ofScooby-Doo? Should we be looking for an evil janitor?’

‘This isn’t as uncommon as you might think, Poe,’ Bradshaw said. ‘They’re called Murphy doors and there are several firms in the UK who specialise in them, three within fifty miles of where we are now.’

But Poe had stopped listening. Because as surprising as the hidden door was, he was far more interested in what was behind it.

It was a gun safe.

Except it wasn’t a gun safe, it was a strong room. The narrow door was thick with a reinforced frame. It was made of steel,painted dark green and looked impregnable. There was a handle and a mechanical keypad. Poe put on a forensic glove and tried to open it. It was locked. They needed either the code or a locksmith.

‘No luck with the safe company, I’m afraid,’ Tai-young Lee said, stepping back into the room.

‘Why not?’ Poe asked.

‘This model of door is obsolete. They’ve offered to bring an engineer out of retirement if we’re willing to pay his airfare and put him up in a hotel, but it’ll take at least a week for him to get here.’

‘That long? I know they’re a German firm, but they’re in Hannover and Tilly says there are regular flights to London. He could be here in ten hours.’

‘He’s in a cabin in the Black Forest, apparently. Due back next week and he isn’t contactable.’

‘And we can’t just call a local locksmith? Get someone to bash it in with a hammer?’

‘It’s two inches thick, Poe,’ she replied. ‘It’s bulletproof and explosive-resistant. The woman I spoke to said not even diamond crown drill bits can penetrate it.’

‘A sledgehammer then.’