Page 24 of End Game

‘So, what’s next?’ asked William, looking back down at the agenda.

‘Ticket touts,’ said Rebecca.

‘They’re harmless enough,’ said William. ‘Just lock them up overnight.’

‘I wish it was that easy,’ said Rebecca, ‘but it’s not the usual bunch of wide boys who will be out hoping to make a quick buck. These are a far more sophisticated group who are working the major hotels selling expensive hospitality packages that don’t even exist.’

‘Then arrest them.’

‘They’re fly,’ came back Paul, ‘and not that easy to catch.’

‘Then how do you know about them?’ demanded William.

Paul handed William one of the counterfeit tickets. ‘The head porter at the Ritz bought a dozen tickets from one of them, hoping to make a return by selling them on to his guests, but when he checked them against a real ticket, he quickly realized they were forgeries and immediately got in touch with West End Central.’

‘And if you want to hear the bad news,’ said Rebecca, ‘Bronze Crime tells us he thinks it could be Miles Faulkner who’s behind the scam. He’s got no evidence to prove it, as his only witness is now refusing to talk. However, he’s pretty sure it’s Faulkner. Apparently, he’s charging five thousand pounds just to attend the opening ceremony.’

‘Couldn’t be better,’ said William, taking them all by surprise. He turned to Jackie and asked, ‘Do we still have a reserved block on the far side of the stadium that we’re holding in case of an emergency?’

‘Yes, sir,’ came back Jackie. ‘We got the idea from the match secretary at Wimbledon. They always keep a small stand empty to handle emergencies such as this.’

‘How many seats does our stand hold?’

Jackie checked her notes. ‘One hundred and forty,’ she said.

‘Will they have a good view of what’s taking place on the track?’

‘They will be on the back straight opposite the finishing line,’ said Jackie, looking down at a stadium printout. ‘But if we do that, sir, the only winner will be Miles Faulkner.’

‘Not if we end up with one hundred and forty contented customers who were rescued at the last minute. And you can be sure that among them will be lawyers and politicians, who always make good witnesses whenever a case comes to court.’

‘So this time Faulkner may have caused his own downfall,’ said Paul.

‘Not to mention having to pay a hefty fine when I let the judge know how much I think Faulkner made out of the scam.’ William paused. ‘I may be tempted to exaggerate.’

The team began to bang the table with the palms of their hands.

‘So what’s our next problem?’ asked William, looking back down to his list.

‘The Olympic torch relay,’ said Paul, opening yet another file.

‘Why?’ demanded William.

‘The torch will set out from Land’s End first thing on Monday morning before making its way towards the capital.’

‘Remind me what happens when the torch arrives in London?’ was William’s next question.

‘The Mother Flame will spend the night in the Tower ofLondon before starting out on its journey around the capital,’ said Jackie, ‘ending up at the Olympic Stadium in plenty of time for the opening ceremony.’

‘To be greeted by large crowds, no doubt,’ said William.

‘We are expecting the torch relay team to be met by a vast number of fans as it continues on its journey through the city,’ said Jackie, ‘and we certainly don’t have enough police officers to man the entire route should any of them turn out not to be fans.’

‘I don’t think it will be the crowds who cause the problem,’ volunteered Paul.

‘Then who?’ demanded William.

‘The Russians,’ announced Paul, which caused William to remain unusually silent.